Daily Dose of Social Media: Alcaraz shares moments with young fans, Gauff & Fritz enjoy Aussie adventure

Ons Jabeur showed her return to the court ahead of the start of the season, while ATP and WTA stars prepare for the start of the 2025 season. Carlos Alcaraz, Hubert Hurkacz, Jack Draper, and Anna Kalinskaya are among those who appeared in their pre-competitive work that we reviewed in a new Daily Dose of Social Media.

On the other hand, Emma Raducanu left a special greeting to her fans for the end-of-year holidays and received a response from Paula Badosa, while Alcaraz shared with young fans after his last training session.

Back on court: Jabeur kicks off Aussie Open campaign

Ons Jabeur is already anticipating her return after sharing a video on the plane on her trip to Brisbane. The Tunisian has ended her season early to take time to recover from a lower back injury, which has caused her problems in recent years. The video shows the 30-year-old's arrival at the airport and her first day training on the Court in Australia.

The 3-time Grand Slam champion runner-up played her last match in the loss to Naomi Osaka in the first round of the Canadian Open (3-6, 1-6) and will return in Brisbane International, 5 months after her last appearance on the Tour. A few weeks ago, Jabeur was present at the WTA Finals, although this time off the court, as she attended as an ambassador for women's tennis in Saudi Arabic.

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Raducanu's holiday post: Badosa sends greetings

Emma Raducanu wished fans a Merry Christmas as she enjoys her final days of the off-season. The 2021 US Open champion ended the season with an injury at the Korea Open, but managed to recover for the Billie Jean King Finals, where she won all three of her matches on the UK's way to the semifinals, where they were eliminated by surprise package Slovakia.

After ending the year at world No. 56, the Brit remained in London training at the LTA, but decided to travel to spend the holidays in New Zealand as she recently revealed. Raducanu will start the season at the ASB Classic, where she is the 6th seed and shares draw with players like Madison Keys, Amanda Anisimova, Naomi Osaka and Sofia Kenin. In a recent Instagram post she shared a carousel of photos from her last days and wished happy holidays to her fans. “merry christmas :) hope you all had a nice day x.” The post received a response from one of her colleagues - Paula Badosa. “Cutie❤️,” commented the Spanish world No. 12.

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Gauff & Fritz enjoy Aussie adventure

Coco Gauff and Taylor Fritz had. A busy day at the United Cup promotional activities. The No. 1 male and female will lead the USA in the mixed team tournament, where they will be the first seeds and share a pool with Canada and Croatia. Fritz has participated in the previous two editions of the tournament, but paired with Pegula, while this time Gauff is preparing for his tournament debut.

“Quokkas, Cray Dogs, The Basin and a helicopter ride! Team USA spend the ultimate day at Rottnest Island 🏝️🇺🇸” poisted the official Instagram account of the United Cup.

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Sinner enjoys holiday break in the Alps

Jannik Sinner briefly interrupted his pre-season work in Dubai to travel to Italy for the holidays. The San Candido native was at a ski resort in the Italian Alps, where he caused a sensation among the Italians who flocked to get a close-up look and a photo with the world No. 1. This morning Jannik shared photos with his family on the short vacation he took before traveling to Australia.

The Italian still has a few weeks of preparation ahead of his first challenge at the Australian Open, where he is the defending champion, having beaten Daniil Medvedev in five sets in early 2024. Sinner will be one of the few players who will arrive at the tournament without playing previous tournaments.

Draper focuses on Australian Open recovery

Jack Draper continues his off-season work after suffering a hip injury. A few days ago the Brit had planned to train with Carlos Alcaraz at the Juan Carlos Ferrero Academy in Spain, but reported that due to physical discomfort he would not be able to play. Draper was confirmed in the United Cup to join Katie Boulter for Great Britain, but on medical advice he withdrew from the tournament that starts on December 30.

The Brit changed his schedule after the injury, and also withdrew from the Davis Cup at the end of January. However, Draper is counting on being in Melbourne for the Australian Open, which starts on January 14: “While we are very positive about competing in the Aus Open this year, I know I won't be able to jump straight into a packed schedule as I manage and strengthen my hip... gutted as I was really looking forward to playing in the United Cup for the first time.”

Alcaraz connects with young fans

A video on social networks reveals a new training session of the 4-time Grand Slam champion with his coach Juan Carlos Ferrero. According to user @Alcarazdaily, the Spaniard reportedly spent more than 3 hours on the Court, as he fine-tunes details for the first challenge of the year at the Australian Open.

The world No. 3 showed a noble attitude by taking time to share with his younger fans, collecting several balls that had been used in training to give them to the children who were present and taking pictures with the people who were waiting for him at the side of the Court. Alcaraz remains in Spain before traveling to the Australian Open, where he will seek to win the last Grand Slam remaining in his trophy cabinet.

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Hurkacz back to work: training with Massu

Hubert Hurkacz lost notoriety in 2024 after falling out of the top-15 in the rankings. The Pole decided to make changes for the 2025 season and decided to part ways with coach Craig Boynton, his coach for 5 years. A few weeks ago he announced an interesting partnership with 7-time grand Slam champion Ivan Lendl and double Golden medalist Nicolas Massu. Lendl previously led Murray to his first Grand Slam, similar to Massu, who coached Dominic Thiem to his US Open title.

As he prepares for his United Cup debut, a video surfaced on social media of Hurkacz training in Perth at a high level alongside Team Poland Captain Mateusz Terczynski and his new coach Massu. Hurkacz will join Iga Swiatek in looking to improve the Europeans' participation this year, after they came within a whisker of the 2024 title, but lost in the final to Germany, with Hurkacz even wasting a couple of champoinships points against Zverev.

Kalinskaya gears up for Australian Open

Although Anna Kalinskaya keeps a low profile on her social networks, it didn't stop her from unveiling today a video of the world No. 14 training for the new season. The Russian tennis player will have a tough challenge in the coming weeks, as she defends points for reaching the quarterfinals of the Austrian Open earlier this year. Kalinskaya plans to make her way through the Brisbane International and Adelaide Open to kick off the season before traveling to Melbourne for the first Grand Slam of the season.

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