The Atlanta Falcons added to their revamped front office Thursday, hiring Chicago Bears assistant general manager Ian Cunningham as their new GM. The team officially announced Cunningham’s addition Thursday evening.
Cunningham, 40, previously interviewed for the Falcons’ president of football position, then interviewed twice for the GM opening after Matt Ryan was hired. Given his experience in college scouting and player personnel, his responsibilities alongside Ryan and new head coach Kevin Stefanski seem apparent.
Advertisement
Ryan will reportedly have authority over decisions in Atlanta’s front office, which means the Bears will not receive two compensatory third-round draft picks for losing Cunningham. That was a condition of the “Rooney Rule,” intended to encourage promoting minority candidates.
However, the NFL considers Ryan the primary football executive with the Falcons, according to reports. Thus, Cunningham is essentially making a lateral move, even if he has the general manager title. (Because of that, the Bears could have blocked Cunningham from going to the Falcons, according to Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio.)
Cunningham’s background in player personnel likely gave him the edge over Houston Texans assistant GM James Liipfert, with whom the Falcons also conducted a second interview.
For the past three years, Cunningham has been the Bears’ assistant GM under Ryan Poles. His NFL front-office career began in 2008 with the Baltimore Ravens, where he worked as a personnel assistant before advancing to area scout during his eight years.
Cunningham moved to the Philadelphia Eagles in 2017, spending two years as director of college scouting before becoming assistant director of player personnel. Cunningham was eventually promoted to director of player personnel, a role he held for a year before leaving for Chicago.
Prior to his front-office work, Cunningham spent one season with the Kansas City Chiefs as a practice squad player. An offensive lineman, he played college football at Virginia, making 31 career starts for the Cavaliers.
Advertisement
Over the past two years, Cunningham interviewed for GM openings with the Washington Commanders and Jacksonville Jaguars. He now replaces Terry Fontenot, who was fired along with head coach Raheem Morris after Atlanta’s Week 18 regular-season finale.
Milton Williams has a different view of the New England Patriots now that he plays for the team and is about to play in Super Bowl LX.
Speaking to reporters Thursday, Williams admitted that he was not a Patriots fan as a young football watcher.
Advertisement
“I always tell people, and y’all gonna kill me when I say this, but I did not like the Patriots,” Williams said in front of his locker, via NBC10’s Nicole Menner.
Williams was like so many NFL fans, tired of seeing the Patriots win the Super Bowl during the Bill Belichick-Tom Brady era. He wanted to see somebody different hold up the Lombardi Trophy at the end of the season.
Asked if that opinion has changed, considering which team he now plays for, Williams said, “Oh, for sure.”
“I mean, I’m here now so I love the Patriots,” he added with a smile.
Advertisement
Local reporters pushed a bit more, inquiring as to what motivated Williams’ past dislike of the Patriots. Did he hate Brady?
“I wasn’t a Tom Brady hater,” Williams said. “You know when somebody always wins? It’s like, let somebody else win. But when you really get in it, and you really understand what comes with it and the work you gotta put into it, to consistently be doing that over and over again, you really can’t say nothing.”
Growing up in Crowley, Texas, and playing college football at Louisiana Tech, Williams had no local reason to root for or admire the Patriots. (Though local ties don’t always affect someone’s rooting interests.)
Advertisement
Drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in 2021, he also didn’t have to contend with New England being a playoff contender or potential Super Bowl opponent as his first four NFL seasons coincided with the Patriots’ decline after Brady left for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Facing a Washington Wizards team that previously had the fewest wins in the NBA with 11, the Bucks lost 109-99 and fell to 18-28. They still sit in 12th place in the Eastern Conference, 4.5 games out of a playoff spot.
Advertisement
Antetokounmpo hasn’t played since last Friday due to a calf strain and is expected to miss 4-to-6 weeks. In his absence, Myles Turner led the Bucks in scoring with 21 points plus a team-high 14 rebounds and 6 blocks. As a team, Milwaukee shot 41 of 98 (41.8%) from the field and 10 of 38 (26.3) from 3-point range, while getting outrebounded 61-43.
The win actually moves the Wizards from the worst record in basketball to only fourth-worst at 12-34, as the 12-36 Indiana Pacers, 12-37 Sacramento Kings and 12-37 New Orleans Pelicans all have worse win percentages right now. Given the stakes of the 2026 NBA Draft, that’s not necessarily a triumph.
The Bucks are not in a good place right now. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)
(Scott Taetsch via Getty Images)
In an ESPN article published Tuesday, the Bucks were reportedly described by potential trade partners to be “more open than ever” to moving on from Antetokounmpo. Milwaukee has been consistently hesitant about such a move, but the franchise’s recent struggles and Antetkounmpo’s potential decline at 31 years old have made the idea more feasible than ever.
Advertisement
The Bucks don’t need to move the 10-time All-Star at next month’s NBA trade deadline, especially if they believe they can get more for him during the summer. If the gates are indeed open, there is no shortage of contenders who will be interested.
Olympic gold medal sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson was arrested and charged with speeding in Florida on Thursday, according to the Orange County, Florida sheriff’s office.
Richardson, 25, was arrested for allegedly driving 104 mph on a highway in the Orlando area. She was “dangerously tailgating and traveling across lanes of travel to pass other motorists,” said a sheriff’s department spokesperson (via The Associated Press).
Under Florida’s new “super speeder” law, it is illegal to drive 50 mph over the speed limit or over 100 mph, according to NBC News. A first conviction results in a prison term of up to 30 days or a $500 fine. A second or subsequent conviction is punishable by a 90-day prison term or $1,000 fine. If that second conviction comes within five years, driving privileges are revoked for at least 180 days.
In July, Richardson was arrested for domestic violence after shoving her boyfriend at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. The arrest was made based on security camera footage. Her companion, fellow U.S. sprinter Christian Coleman, declined to press charges. As a result, the case was cleared.
No NBA player younger than Cooper Flagg has scored more points than Flagg did on Thursday.
Facing the Charlotte Hornets and his former Duke roommate, Kon Knueppel, Flagg posted a career-high 49 points in a 123-121 loss for the Dallas Mavericks. No teenager has ever scored that many points in NBA history, and it’s also a Mavericks rookie record.
Advertisement
The latter record was previously co-owned by Flagg and Mark Aguirre. In a fun twist of fate, the Mavericks were retiring Aguirre’s No. 24 on Thursday night.
Knueppel also posted a career high with 34 points on 10-of-16 shooting, including a franchise-record eight made 3-pointers, plus 4 rebounds and 3 assists. In addition to finishing one point shy of 50, Flagg had 10 rebounds and 3 assists while shooting 20-of-29.
The game came down to both players. Flagg tied the game at 121 with a 3-pointer with 34 seconds left, but Knueppel got a steal at his expense on the next Dallas possession and ended up shooting a pair of free throws to take the lead.
Flagg had a chance to tie the game and hit the half-century mark, but his buzzer-beater missed long after shooting through a double team.
Advertisement
Regardless of the result, Flagg continued to enter rare company at only 19 years old. In addition to having the most points by a teenager, he is now one of three players to post multiple 40-point games at 19 or younger, joining LeBron James and Anthony Edwards.
The win is a welcome one for the 21-28 Hornets, who are now 2.5 games back from the Chicago Bulls for the final play-in spot in the Eastern Conference. Knueppel’s star performance continued a strong rookie year for the No. 4 pick pick, who ranks second among NBA rookies in points per game with 18.9, behind only Flagg.
MOBILE, Ala. — As the Dallas Cowboys scoured defensive coaches to replace coordinator Matt Eberflus, they expected to glean a plan for defensive improvement from candidates.
The Cowboys knew they wanted to employ more five-man fronts next season to capitalize on their trio of talented defensive tackles.
Advertisement
They knew they wanted to shore up their coverage in the secondary, tamping down on the explosive plays they allowed in 2025.
What the Cowboys anticipated less, but nonetheless learned more about while interviewing defensive coordinators: the value of receiver George Pickens.
“Talking to these defensive guys we brought in, we were a pain for them,” Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones told Yahoo Sports from Senior Bowl practices. “They start talking about, ‘Oh my gosh, when we had to play you guys, that was a problem.’ They have to decide, ‘Hey, put your best cornerback on one and double the other,’ or do a lot of moving parts how they did it …
“[Candidates] said: ‘Your offense caused a lot of problems.’”
The Cowboys dealt the Pittsburgh Steelers a 2026 third-round draft pick (and swapped a 2027 fifth for sixth) to acquire Pickens in May despite already having a No. 1 receiver in four-time Pro Bowler CeeDee Lamb. In the season that followed, Lamb still had 1,077 receiving yards and three touchdowns in 14 games. But Pickens posted a career-best 1,429 receiving yards and nine touchdowns in 17 contests.
With that duo, quarterback Dak Prescott led the league with 404 pass completions, ranking second with 600 attempts and third with 4,552 passing yards. The Cowboys ranked second in overall offensive production and seventh in scoring.
The Cowboys knew when they traded for Pickens that just one year remained on the contract of the talented but mercurial player. A trial season, to determine whether Pickens thrived in head coach Brian Schottenheimer’s offense and to determine whether he would stay out of trouble, ensued. Pickens was benched to start the Las Vegas Raiders game after he missed curfew on the road trip following a series of late arrivals to meetings.
Advertisement
He returned to play 45 of 67 offensive snaps and caught nine of 11 targets for 144 yards and a touchdown.
The Cowboys must decide now how much they value Pickens and how to act on that value. If Dallas wants to retain Pickens in 2026 but doesn’t yet feel confident enough to offer a long-term deal, the club could place the franchise tag on him. A franchise tag could also buy time from March to July to negotiate a multiyear deal.
Executives and talent evaluators from several teams at Senior Bowl practices this week told Yahoo Sports they would keep Pickens if they were the Cowboys, though they disagreed on how they would approach that continued union. Some preferred a multiyear deal over a franchise tag projected to cost $28 million, per Over The Cap, all of which would hit the cap in 2026. Others preferred to see Pickens’ off-field behavior another season before a long-term commitment, one NFC executive saying the “cost of certainty” on the difference in average annual value would be worth it. Another NFC executive wondered if Pickens’ cost would make Lamb a trade candidate in 2026 or 2027, the executive projecting Pickens to command a price range similar to Lamb’s $34 million per year average annual value.
Jones wasn’t looking to negotiate publicly, but he did voice confidence they would keep Pickens past the looming expiration of his current contract.
Advertisement
“That’s just something we’ll have to work through,” Jones told Yahoo Sports from Senior Bowl practice. “Obviously, we think George is going to be back and we can effectuate that. But at the same time, we want to be open-minded to anything.”
George Pickens is looking at a hefty raise after one season with the Cowboys. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images)
(Cooper Neill via Getty Images)
Why Cowboys believe Christian Parker can save their defense
In 13 seasons coaching, including seven in the NFL, Parker has learned defense from some of the league’s best coordinators in Vic Fangio and Vance Joseph. Parker communicated in interviews a philosophy reflecting each of their influences but also some of his own twists, Jones said. The Cowboys valued Parker’s vision for individual players like linebacker DeMarvion Overshown, cornerback Shavon Revel Jr. and cornerback DaRon Bland as well as his plans to employ five-man fronts.
Advertisement
“The bigger thing, which is we started to do some but we didn’t get to do it much in camp so it was kind of on the fly, but a lot of five-man fronts,” Jones said. “When we ran those five-man fronts, [it] creates a lot of one-on-ones for our better players going the three big guys plus [Donovan] Ezeiruaku and whether it’s a [Jadeveon Clowney] or someone like that.
“The things you can do with the exotic pressures … we obviously have a lot of interest in. We felt like we could have done a better job last year of getting more pressure and then obviously we need to cover better.”
Trading three-time All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers one week before kickoff challenged the Cowboys’ defense this season. A slow acclimation to Eberflus’ principles, including his zone coverage assignments, further left Dallas defenders often misaligned. Some improvement followed the trade-deadline acquisition of defensive tackle Quinnen Williams, bolstering an interior defensive front that already featured Osa Odighizuwa and Kenny Clark. But the growth wasn’t linear.
Advertisement
The Cowboys own two first-round picks, 12th and 20th overall, in April. Edge rusher and cornerback are their top needs and targets, though they don’t believe in passing up a far more talented player for a position of need as they showed when selecting Lamb in 2020.
With Parker in house, the Cowboys are optimistic about their ability to develop players. The Philadelphia Eagles selected cornerbacks Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean in 2024, needing quick acclimation from each after salary-cap resources tilted heavily toward offense.
Parker didn’t just help the young defensive backs improve their technique in areas they’d already worked in college, former colleagues say. He helped DeJean master the spatial awareness and route feel to become a first-team All-Pro slot cornerback in his second year despite playing outside cornerback in college. And Parker helped Mitchell pick up the nuances of press coverage, improving his footwork, transition skills and physicality at the point of attack.
Colleagues from past stops rave about Parker’s schematic and emotional intelligence.
Advertisement
“He’s a genius,” one former colleague told Yahoo Sports. “Talking about somebody who has a true understanding of the game, big picture conceptually, he understands the whys behind things and he is able to teach them. It’s extremely relatable. And he’s able to teach those whys.
“He has principles that he stands on, but he’s also reasonable. So let’s say they get a veteran player who’s used to being taught one thing one way. He’s not so stubborn that he’s going to be like, ‘No, you have to do it.’
Two of the world’s best men’s tennis players will compete against one another in the men’s semifinals at the Australian Open. No. 4 seed Novak Djokovic, proving he’s still competitive after more than two decades in the game, will face off against No. 2 Jannik Sinner, winner of the last two Australian Open men’s titles. (Djokovic has won the tournament a whopping ten times. No big deal.) The winner of tonight’s semifinal will face either Carlos Alcaraz or Alexander Zverev.
The men’s match begins at 3:30 a.m. ET, airing live on ESPN and streaming on ESPN Unlimited. Here’s what you need to know about the Sinner vs. Djokovic match at the 2026 Australian Open.
Advertisement
How to watch Jannik Sinner vs. Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open:
When is the Jannik Sinner vs. Novak Djokovic match at the 2026 Australian Open?
The semifinal match between Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open will be on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026.
Jannik Sinner vs. Novak Djokovic match start time:
The match between Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic will start at 3:30 a.m. ET. The match will be available live on ESPN Unlimited and ESPN.
Advertisement
Australian Open channel:
In the U.S., tonight’s semifinal will air on ESPN and will stream on ESPN Unlimited.
How to watch the 2026 Australian Open:
Where to watch the 2026 Australian Open without cable:
If you want to catch every match of the Australian Open and don’t currently subscribe to ESPN+, cable or a live TV streaming service, in Australia a majority of the action will be streaming free with ads on 9Now.
Don’t live in the land down under? Don’t worry, you can still stream like you do with the help of a VPN. A VPN (virtual private network) helps protect your data, can mask your IP address and is perhaps most popular for being especially useful in the age of streaming. Whether you’re looking to watch Friends on Netflix (which left the U.S. version of the streamer back in 2019) or tune in to tennis coverage without a cable package, a VPN can help you out. Looking to try a VPN for the first time? This guide breaks down the best VPN options for every kind of user.
9Now. Plus it’s Engadget’s pick for the best premium VPN. ExpressVPN offers three tiers of subscriptions: The Basic Plan (starting at $3.49/month), the Advanced Plan (starting at $4.49/month) and the Pro Plan (starting at $7.49/month).
ExpressVPN also offers a 30-day money-back guarantee, in case you’re nervous about trying a VPN.
Australian Open 2026 schedule:
All times Eastern
Advertisement
Tuesday, January 27
(Day 10) Men’s and Women’s Quarterfinals: 3:00 a.m.
(Day 11) Men’s and Women’s Quarterfinals: 7:00 p.m.
Wednesday, January 28
(Day 11) Men’s and Women’s Quarterfinals: 3:00 a.m.
(Day 12) Women’s Semifinals: 7:00 p.m.
Thursday, January 29
(Day 13) Men’s Semifinal: 10:30 p.m.
Friday, January 30
(Day 13) Men’s Semifinal: 3:30 a.m.
Saturday, January 31
(Day 14) Women’s Final: 3:30 a.m.
Sunday, February 1
(Day 15) Men’s Final: 3:30 a.m.
Who is playing in the 2026 Australian Open?
The top 10 seeded players for the singles draws are listed below.
Men’s singles seeds for the Australian Open 2026
1. Carlos Alcaraz
2. Jannik Sinner
3. Alexander Zverev
4. Novak Djokovic
5. Felix Auger-Aliassime
Women’s singles seeds for the Australian Open 2026
1. Aryna Sabalenka
2. Iga Swiatek
3. Amanda Anisimova
4. Coco Gauff
5. Elena Rybakina
Australian Open prize money:
For 2026, the men’s and women’s singles winners of the Australian Open each get $4,150,000, with the runner-up receiving $2,150,000 and Semi-finalists $1,250,000.
Novak Djokovic will go for an unprecedented 25th Grand Slam title in the Australian Open final against Carlos Alcaraz after dispatching Jannik Sinner in five sets 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 during Friday’s semifinal.
The No. 2 and 4 ranked players exchanged set wins until the fifth when Djokovic, a 10-time Australian Open winner, finished off the match.
Djokovic’s semifinal win snapped a run of four straight Grand Slam semifinal defeats. He last reached a Grand Slam final at Wimbledon in 2024 and last won a Grand Slam event at the 2023 U.S. Open.
Advertisement
“It feels surreal, to be honest,” Djokovic said afterward. “The level of intensity and the quality of tennis was extremely high and I knew that was the only way for me to have a chance to win tonight against him.”
Sunday’s men’s singles final will be the 10th meeting all-time between Djokovic and Alcaraz. They have faced one another five times in Grand Slams and twice in Grand Slam finals (both at Wimbledon).
Djokovic holds a 5-4 lifetime advantage over Alcaraz.
“I know I have to come back in a couple of days and fight the No. 1 in the world,” Djokovic said. “I just hope that I’ll have enough gas to stay toe-to-toe with [Alcaraz]. That’s my desire.”
Advertisement
Carlos Alcaraz is one win away from tennis immortality
Carlos Alcaraz will go for another Grand Slam title after a grueling five-and-a-half-hour match against Alexander Zverev.
With a 6-4, 7-6, 6-7, 6-7, 7-5 win over Zverev on Friday, the world No. 1 advanced to his first career Australian Open final. If he wins on Sunday, he will complete the career Grand Slam at only 22 years and 272 days old, the youngest player to ever accomplish the feat.
His countryman Rafael Nadal is the current youngest to complete the career slam at 24 years and 101 days.
At one point, the match looked lost, with Alcaraz physically struggling with apparent cramps, having blown a two-set lead and down a break in the fifth set. He still found the gear he needed, at the expense of another Grand Slam disappointment for Zverev.
Advertisement
He called “it one of the most demanding matches I have played in my short career.”
The first semifinal match didn’t even see Alcaraz at his sharpest, as the oppressive heat in Melbourne was wearing down both players early. It didn’t get any better as the match stretched into its fourth hour, then its fifth. Then its sixth
The first set saw Zverev hand Alcaraz an easy break with a pair of double faults and an unforced error. The German had hope in the second set when a break put him up 5-2, but Alcaraz roared back with his own break then won the tiebreaker to take full control of the match. It was in that tiebreaker when Alcaraz’s more daring side came out, such as when he won back-to-back points with his trademark drop shot.
The young Spaniard was 59-0 in Grand Slams after taking a two-set lead, and Zverev didn’t have the form to make history. The drama arrived in the third set, when Alcaraz appeared to tweak something. Zverev clearly believed it was just cramping and profanely objected when Alcaraz received time to get his thigh treated (supporting evidence: Alcaraz could be seen motioning for something to drink at the end of the second set).
Advertisement
Whatever it was, Zverev went on to win the third set via tiebreak. The fourth set also went to a tiebreak, with a clearly limited Alcaraz committing regular unforced errors and Zverev becoming far more consistent with his serve.
The fifth set seemed like it would be far more when one-sided after Zverev immediately broke Alcaraz. However, Alcaraz stayed in the match, playing through the discomfort and avoiding a double break, then breaking Zverev back when all the German needed to win the match was to hold serve. One more hold of serve followed, then another break, and Alcaraz had one of the most incredible wins of his career.
Alcaraz already has two French Open titles, two Wimbledon titles and two US Open titles at an age where even the elite professionals feel fortunate if they’ve a single Grand Slam. In the case of the Australian Open, he had never advanced past the quarterfinal before 2026 due to some top opponents (Zverev in 2024, Djokovic in 2025), but he’s looked different this year.
And now he’s three sets away from something that would put him ahead of all the sport’s immortals.
When it was finally over after 4 hours and 9 minutes of tennis that didn’t make a lot of sense at times, Novak Djokovic raised his arms to the sky, smiled and made the same victorious walk to the net he’s made 37 times previously after a Grand Slam semifinal.
Pushing 40, playing part-time on the ATP Tour and faced with the reality that Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz are younger, fitter and have been flat-out better tennis players over the last 16 months, it’s a walk Djokovic had no right to think he’d make again.
Advertisement
But even after all the titles, all the money and the unofficial title of greatest to ever play, he still hungered to feel that walk just one more time. And when he did, having defeated Sinner 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 in one of the most improbable Australian Open semifinals you’ll ever see, he had a message for his much younger rival who had beaten him convincingly in their last five meetings spanning over more than two years.
“Thanks for allowing me at least one.”
At this stage of the game, though, Djokovic should give himself more credit. Nothing was allowed. He just took it. And now he’s one more win from upping the historic ante to an absurd level. If he can get the job done on Sunday, the player who supposedly completed every possible goal when he won the Olympic gold medal in 2024 will have one more record in his possession. He has a chance to supplant Ken Rosewall as the oldest man in the Open Era to win a major title.
And to do it? He’ll have to beat Alcaraz, who has a chance to become the youngest man at just short of 23 years old to complete the career Grand Slam.
Advertisement
After a pretty humdrum Australian Open, how’s that for drama?
If you were wondering why the 38-year-old Djokovic is still pushing his aging body to do this after 24 majors, 101 overall titles and 428 weeks at No. 1, well, there’s your answer.
It’s because he figured that if he could just extend his career out a couple more years, even if it didn’t look like there would be a payoff at times, there might be a chance somewhere for the stars to align.
And goodness, have they here.
Would Djokovic have been able to physically survive a five-setter with Sinner if not for getting a walkover against 20-year-old rising star Jakub Mensik in the round of 16? Would he have even had the chance to get this far if not for Lorenzo Musetti suffering a significant enough injury that he had to retire after going up two sets on Djokovic in their quarterfinal?
Advertisement
We’ll never know, but there’s no asterisk. That’s tennis. And it set Djokovic up with a pretty full tank to go out against Sinner and play a really smart tactical match where he used down-the-line shots to get his opponent out of rhythm and then tried to unload on forehands whenever he saw one with the potential to end a point.
Sure, he got some help. Sinner, who actually won more overall points in the match (152-140), was unusually erratic. He had a ton of looks at break points in the fourth and fifth sets that he just couldn’t pay off, missing several routine forehands that he will regret as he replays the match in his mind. But again, that’s the sport. Sinner had a bad day, but Djokovic played a significant role in making it bad.
Novak Djokovic (R) embraces Italy’s Jannik Sinner after their men’s singles semifinal. (Martin KEEP / AFP via Getty Images)
(MARTIN KEEP via Getty Images)
And after they embraced at the net, Djokovic went to his chair and buried his head in his hands — often a look of despair for him over his career. But this time, when he revealed his face, there were smiles instead of tears. He really couldn’t believe what he’d just done.
Advertisement
None of us, including him, should take that for granted.
Because even if Alcaraz beats him Sunday — and let’s be real here, that’s what should happen — there was no guarantee Djokovic would ever make another Grand Slam final.
Age is real. Physicality does not improve for a tennis player coming up on his 39th birthday, especially when it requires surviving more than four hours on court. Yes, Djokovic made the semifinals of all four Grand Slams last year, but after he lost in straight sets to Alcaraz at the U.S. Open, he almost conceded that he couldn’t do it anymore at the Alcaraz/Sinner level in a best-of-five match.
“I think I have a better chance in best-of-three, but best-of-five, it’s tough,” he said. “I’m not giving up on Grand Slams in that regard, having said that. I’m going to continue fighting and trying to get to the finals and fight for another trophy at least. But, you know, it’s going to be a very difficult task.”
Advertisement
When reminded of that quote by Jim Courier in his on-court interview Friday, Djokovic emphasized that he never said it would be impossible.
But we can go ahead and get in front of this: If Djokovic does win his 11th Australian Open and 25th major, it will seem like defying the impossible.
Men’s tennis has never been more physical and taxing than it is right now. Sinner and Alcaraz have existed in a world of their own for the last year-plus. If anything, they came into the semifinals projecting an image that they’d separated even further from the rest of the field at the start of 2026. And then in his quarterfinal, Djokovic did not look at any point like he still had the level of tennis in him to beat a Musetti-level player much less Sinner or Alcaraz. If Musetti doesn’t get hurt, Djokovic is almost assuredly back at his home in Greece right now.
But funny things can happen with the all-time greats: Jack Nicklaus winning the 1986 Masters, Tom Brady winning a Super Bowl at 43, Nolan Ryan throwing no-hitters into his 40s.
Advertisement
And this might really be Djokovic’s last, best chance to put No. 25 on the mantle. Recovery from a five-setter against Sinner won’t be easy, but beating the two of them back-to-back to win the Australian Open would be the greatest achievement of his career. This will be the most interesting physical and psychological moment for Djokovic he’s probably ever had.
It’s also going to be fascinating to see how Alcaraz responds after a great five-set escape in his semifinal against Alexander Zverev, a match impacted by cramps and some type of quad discomfort.
When they played in the 2024 Olympic final — a similar situation with a physically compromised Djokovic looking at his last gold medal shot — he played free and aggressive while Alcaraz was stressed out from start to finish and did not play his best. Experience and nerves won Djokovic that gold medal.
Advertisement
Now, time has passed. Alcaraz has reascended to No. 1, gotten better physically, matured emotionally and is putting together a career that could eventually match Djokovic’s. But this is his first time to play for the career Slam. There will be a different kind of pressure on him than he’s probably ever felt before.
If Djokovic is ever going to do it, now’s the time.
After watching what he conjured to beat Sinner, probably best not to count him out.
San Francisco 49ers TE George Kittle suffered an Achilles tear in the team’s win over the Philadelphia Eagles in the wild-card round. He missed the 49ers’ loss to the Seahawks in the next round and his status for the start of the 2026 regular season is up in the air.
Now, to begin, Boone points out that by no means is he a doctor. But there was some potential positive news on Kittle’s Achilles tear. Because the injury was higher up on the Achilles, it is believed that Kittle could have an easier time recovering from the tear. Had he sustained a worse Achilles tear that is further down toward the heel, Kittle would likely be out until around November, which would mean he’d miss most of the 2026 regular season.
Kittle talked about his injury and says that he could come back before November. We know the 32-year-old Pro Bowler is going to do everything in his power to return as quickly as possible. That said, Boone thinks it would be wise for the 49ers to not rush this process for a player who will turn 33 during the 2026 season.
While it seems like a long shot still for Kittle to be ready for Week 1, this does seem like the tight end will be able to return and make a fantasy football impact at some point next season.
Advertisement
Boone doesn’t have Kittle in his early 2026 tight end rankings but is thinking he’ll have to put the San Francisco star in there somewhere, possibly as a fringe-TE1. You can check out Boone’s TE rankings for 2026 here. For now, Boone does have 49ers backup TE Jake Tonges on the list as TE30, though that should change after the offseason.
Kittle finished the 2025 season as the TE11 in fantasy scoring and TE2 in fantasy points per game (12.8), though he only appeared in 11 games. In those games, Kittle had 57 catches on 69 targets for 628 yards and seven touchdowns.
