Tennis Today: Rafa Nadal to go sleeveless

ATP Tour

In Tennis Today, we have the latest on Rafael Nadal’s attire for the Australian Open while the papers have some hard-hitting stories.

What’s on the site
The Australian Open is just days away so do give our piece on the top contenders for the men’s title a read. Beware, it doesn’t feature Novak Djokovic or Stan Wawrinka.

In the news, get the latest on Rafael Nadal’s knee while Bernard Tomic says not being awarded a wildcard for the Australian Open is “not a problem”, but he also takes a swipe Tennis Australia.

What’s in the papers
You will find a good read in Telegraph Sport as Charlie Eccleshare is doing a three-part series “on the state of tennis away from the elite tour”. His special report includes “cheating claims, Christmas McDonald’s and throwing matches to catch flights”.

And to go with that, they also take a look at the 2018 Australian Open prize money where the winner will receive £2.32m while a first-round loser will earn £28.9k.

More hard-hitting stuff in the Daily Mail as they have translated Marion Bartoli’s interview in Lequipe.fr on how her ex-boyfriend pushed her to lose weight and called her “fat every day” and made her life “hellish”

The former Wimbledon winner will make a comeback this year after retiring four years ago.

The Express is at its clickbait best as “John Isner has made an enormous claim about Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal’s rivalry”.

We’ll spare you the click as the American believes Federer still has a few years left to play, but says the physical game is starting to take its toll on Nadal.

Finally, it’s the news we have all been waiting for. Nadal will go sleeveless again for the Australian Open.

It will be the first time in 10 years that he will opt for this look, but it has nothing to do with showing off his muscles as Spanish paper Marca says he asked Nike to produce shirts to help fight the heat in Melbourne.

Naturally, the Nadal fans are excited.

What’s on social media

Three’s a crowd! @carowozniacki #ausopen

A post shared by Australian Open (@australianopen) on

What’s on TV
Australian Open Qualifying
See which players receive the final few entries into the 2018 Australian Open.

06:00-08:30 (Thursday morning)
LIVE – Eurosport 1

Tie Break Tens
Big names like Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka will all feature in this new exhibition event.

08:30-11:00 (Wednesday morning)
LIVE – Sky Sports Arena

WTA Sydney International
Two-time Grand Slam winner Angelique Kerber will take on Dominika Cibulkova in one quarter-final while Barbora Strycova and Ashleigh Barty are also in action.

04:00-10:00 (Thursday morning)
LIVE – BT Sport 1

11:00-13:30 (Thursday morning)
LIVE – BT Sport 1

ATP Sydney International
The likes of Fabio Fognini, Adrian Mannarino, Benoit Paire and Paolo Lorenzi have all made it into the quarter-finals.

04:00-06:00 (Thursday morning)
LIVE – Eurosport 1

Hobart International
Heather Watson will be back in action as she clashes with Donna Vekic.

03:00-09:00 (Thursday morning)
LIVE – BT Sport 3

10:00-12:00 (Thursday morning)
LIVE – BT Sport 3

Marion Bartoli Rafael Nadal Tennis Today

Latest