Daily Dose of Social Media: Aryna Sabalenka takes well-deserved break, Jannik Sinner becomes golf cart driver

Aryna Sabalenka quickly took a break at the beach after her loss in the Australian Open final, while a video of Jannik Sinner having fun in a golf cart at Melbourne Park emerges, highlighted as some of the moments in a new Daily Dose of Social Media.

WTA stars had fun in a reflex game during the Linz Open, while the players who will be present at the Davis Cup this weekend have already posed for the tournament's official photos.

WTA Stars play fun reflex game at Linz

WTA stars participated in a fun reflex test game in a video shared by the official WTA Upper Austria Linz social media. Some of the top names in the tournament joined the game, including Karolina Muchova, Maria Sakkari, Elina Svitolina, and Eva Lys, among others.

The WTA 500 tournament is now at the quarter-final stage, where Muchova and Sakkari remain the top favorites for the title, at least according to the rankings. Defending champion Jelena Ostapenko won’t defend her crown as she didn’t enter the tournament, while Alexandrova, the 2024 finalist, is still in the competition.

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Great Britain players test their knowledge with fun video game challenge

The Great Britain team participated in a photo game while preparing for their Davis Cup participation. The British No. 2 in this series, Billy Harris, and former world No. 1 doubles player Joe Salisbury had fun in the “guess not so familiar old school video game faces” game, where they were shown old animations of ATP stars.

The particular video game animations featured fun faces of players like Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Bjorn Borg, Novak Djokovic, and Andre Agassi. The Europeans are the 10th seed in the first round of qualifiers and will face a tough Japan team on the road, led by Kei Nishikori and Yoshito Nishioka. The Brits lament the absence of world No. 16 Jack Draper, their No. 1 singles player, and will have to face the tie with Billy Harris and Jacob Fearnley attempting to fill the gap left by the current best British player.

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Sinner shares fun moment driving golf cart at Australian Open

A video on social media shows Jannik Sinner driving a golf cart in the middle of the Australian Open while moving around Melbourne Park. The carts are commonly used to transport players when they need to cover larger distances within the complex, but it is unusual for one of the players, especially a world No. 1 like Sinner, to be behind the wheel.

Nevertheless, the Italian appeared to have fun and joked with his team while driving: “The times after practice session, I take my car and I drive a little bit. It’s a nice way to relax, I started to play some golf, so I’m usually the golf packing guy,” mentioned the 2-time Aussie Open champion. In the video, you can also hear his team members joking, comparing him to Charles Leclerc, the renowned F1 driver and friend of Sinner, who has attended several F1 competitions to watch him, including in Monte-Carlo and Abu Dhabi.

Zheng Qinwen celebrates Chinese new year after early Australian Open

Zheng Qinwen shared a photo on social media of her Chinese New Year celebration dinner a few days ago. The world No. 8 started the year with a disappointment at the Australian Open, where she was considered one of the top contenders, but she only reached the second round, falling to veteran Laura Siegemund in straight sets in a lackluster performance filled with errors, especially at critical moments.

The 2024 Paris Olympic gold medalist was unable to defend the points she earned for reaching the Australian Open final last year, which caused a drop in her ranking, pushing her out of the top-5. Zheng took advantage of her days off to travel back to China and celebrate the holiday with her family. Her next challenges will begin on February 10th during the Middle East Swing, where she will play the Doha Open and then the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. Over the next few months, Zheng doesn’t have many points to defend, so a couple of strong performances could help her get back on track and climb the rankings after a shaky start to the season.

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Sabalenka shares beach moments after Aussie Open defeat

Aryna Sabalenka enjoys some well-deserved time off after losing in the Australian Open final. The three-time Grand Slam champion shared photos from the beach just days after her defeat in the year’s first major. The world No. 1 had a 20-match winning streak in Melbourne but ended up losing to American Madison Keys in a highly contested final, which gave Keys her first major title, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5.

The Belarusian appeared particularly frustrated after failing to achieve her goal of securing three consecutive Australian Open titles, replicating what Martina Hingis did between 1997 and 1999. “I think when you get to the point of finals, it’s trophy or nothing,” she said. “Nobody remembers the finalist, you know? Nobody puts, like, next to the winner (the) finalist’s name.”

“At this point, yeah, I go for titles. Of course, I have to be anyway proud of myself with the finals, three finals in a row. That’s something crazy. I hope that next year I’ll come back as a better player, and I’ll hold Daphne (the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup) one more time,” she added.

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Daily Dose of Social Media: Stefanos Tsitsipas makes waves in Paris Fashion Week, Iga Swiatek shares optimism after Australian Open

Davis Cup Qualifiers: Top teams set for first-round showdowns

Official photos of the players who will be competing in the Davis Cup this weekend have been released. The main ties are highlighted in the first round as teams battle for a spot in the Finals. A total of 26 teams – 16 finalists from 2024 plus 12 winners from the World Group I – will fight for a place in the September Qualifiers. Notable matches include Australia vs. Sweden, Spain vs. Switzerland, Great Britain vs. Japan, and USA vs. Chinese Taipei.

The official photos shared by the Davis Cup feature players such as Casper Ruud, Kei Nishikori, Alex de Minaur, and Alex Michelsen. The ties will be played over the weekend, with two singles matches each day and a doubles match on the second day, followed by the remaining singles matches if necessary. Italy, led by Jannik Sinner, has a reserved spot in the Finals as the reigning champions of the Nations Cup, while the Netherlands starts in the second round of the qualifiers after being finalists in 2024.

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