Latest - Australia's world number one Ash Barty was delighted to return to competing again after 11 months although her comeback in Adelaide ended on a losing note against Simona Halep of Romania.
Ash Barty. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
The 24-year-old skipped the U.S. Open and also decided not to defend her title at Roland Garros and had not played a competitive match since last February, opting to stay at home amid health concerns due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"It's absolutely fantastic to be back. I've genuinely missed this so much," Barty said in an on-court interview after a narrow 3-6 6-1 (10-8) defeat by world number two Halep in an exhibition event in Adelaide.
"I have been getting a little bit impatient the last two or three months, getting ready to play."
Novak Djokovic, Rafa Nadal, Dominic Thiem, Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka also took part in the "Day at the Drive" event in front of a crowd of 4,000 to kick off the Australian tennis summer.
Barty will next headline the Yarra Valley Classic, a WTA 500 event at Melbourne Park from Sunday before the Feb. 8-21 Australian Open is played at the same venue.
Two-time Grand Slam winner Halep said her opponent did not look like someone who had not played for so long.
-Reuters
Suarez Navarro dreams of Olympic return after cancer treatment
Former world number six Carla Suarez Navarro said she dreams of a return to competitive action following cancer treatment and this year's Tokyo Olympics would be the perfect stage to call time on her career.
Spaniard Suarez Navarro said in September she was diagnosed with early stage Hodgkin lymphoma, a type of cancer, and would need to go through six months of chemotherapy. But the 32-year-old said on Twitter on Monday she had completed her final session.
The world number 85 last played in February 2020 and faces a race to qualify for the postponed Games, with the top 56 singles players qualifying based on rankings as of June, but Suarez Navarro is not giving up hope.
"I don't want people to remember me in a hospital bed so I'd like to go again into a big tournament," Suarez Navarro told BBC Radio 5 Live.
"It would be a dream to do that - an Olympic Games to say 'bye' to my tennis family and also all my tennis fans."
Suarez Navarro returned to practice in December with Italian Sara Errani in Barcelona.
-Reuters
Detry grabs halfway lead at Dubai Desert Classic
Belgium's Thomas Detry, eyeing a maiden European Tour title, surged to the top of the leaderboard at the halfway stage of the Dubai Desert Classic.
Detry, who started three shots behind overnight leader Richard Sterne, carded five birdies to match his first-round score of five-under-par 67 in a second successive bogey-free round at Emirates Golf Club.
Two of Detry's three runner-up finishes on the Tour came during last year's UK swing and he is hoping to go a step further in Dubai - a place he will soon call home.
Scotland's Robert Macintyre, who also began the day three strokes behind Sterne, recorded four birdies in his impressive round of 68 to move up to second at nine-under.
South African Justin Harding and Kalle Samooja of Finland shared third spot with five-time European Tour winner Tommy Fleetwood, who eagled the final hole to join them on eight-under.
-Reuters
Premier League, WSL to trial concussion substitutes
The Premier League and Women's Super League will introduce concussion substitutions trials from Feb. 6, England's Football Association said.
The decision comes after the game's rule-making body IFAB last month gave the go-ahead for trials of additional "concussion subs".
Under the protocols teams will be allowed a maximum of two concussion substitutes each per game in cases of head injury.
The trial will allow an additional concussion replacement, regardless of the number of substitutions a team has made.
The new protocol will also come into force in the FA Cup from the fifth round, which will be played from Feb. 9-11, and will be used in the Women's Championship from Feb. 6.
"The trial is a result of the IFAB's consultation with stakeholders and recommendations from their concussion expert group to allow additional substitutions for players with actual or suspected concussion," a joint statement from the FA and Premier League read.
-Reuters
