. —— no ashleigh barty. -- no ashleigh barty. they were able to net... -- no ashleigh barty.hey were able to get... he won that title _ to get... he won that title fantastically. here he turns up in melbourne looking to win a 22nd grand slam title, drawing him level with nadal. he looks like this will be the year when he goes out on his own with the most grand slam singles and the men's game. one man to look out for is nick kyrgios. the aussie favourite, the wimbledon finalist won the australian open doubles men's titles last year. he's giving it all the big brag with curiosity saying he's hungry and confident. there we say it, nadal and djokovic on different size, that could be the final that nick kyrgios will have something to say about. thanks to chetan pathak. _ the men's hockey world cup begins on friday and, for the first time, the likes of england, germany and belgium will be joined by part—timers wales. the team train in their spare time and have to partly fund the programme themselves. but now they'll be taking on the best in the world in india, as tom brown reports.

the pack in a more dominant way than barty ever managed, winning two grand slams in paris and in newe, it's a bit fast for her. she likes a bit of a slower court where she can have more time, but she is the dominant player. she has almost, i think, twice as many ranking points as the player ranked number two right now and it's her tournament to lose. that said, there are some real contenders in the draw, particularly number three, jessica pegula, who beat swiatek pretty handily in the first week of the year. she could play her in the sami—finals potentially. so some roadblocks along the way, but i think swiatek is pretty much as clear a favourite on the women's side as djokovic is for the men. and just briefly, the australian open is referred to as the happy slam, isn't it? what separates it from the other three slams? you know, i think everyone here in the northern hemisphere just looks at it and lusts for that sunshine they have during our coldest months here and knows what kind of happiness that brings, everything's dark up north. and it really is a place where the players enjoy b

that's right, ashleigh barty retired l right, ashleigh barty retired but she also announced last weekrber, a three—time grand slam winner, and in her message last august she said that she just felt like it was two against one and that isn't fair. now, there are also women, female tennis players in the past you have taken a break for their pregnancies and gone on to win a grand subtitle. it is like evonne goolagong cawley, they have come back and won battles, so of course arena williams, one of the all—time greats to —— took a break in 2017 she came back imaged finals and retired last year. it is also worth mentioning that the women's tennis association has made great strides in order to accommodate pregnant women after they come back after having given birth, so don't count naomi osaka out, she did say she would be back next year. tatjana patitz, one of the original supermodels who dominated fashion in the 1980s and �*90s, has died aged 56. she reportedly died on wednesday morning according to a source from the manhattan—based agency model coop. the germany—born model was among a hand

the favourite would be iga swiatek, who succeeded ash barty.is and new york last year. she doesn't love the conditions in melbourne, it is a bit faster her, she likely a bit of a slower court where she can have time, but she is the dominant player, almost twice as many ranking points as the ranked number two player, and it is her turn in toulouse. there are some real contenders in a row, particularly number three, jessica pegula, who beat swiatek pretty handily in the first week of the year, any semifinal, she could play her. some roadblocks along the way, but pegula is a clear flavoured on the women's side as djokovic as for the men. —— but swiatek is a clear favourite on the women's side. everyone hid in the northern hemisphere just looks at it and looks for that sunshine he for their coldest months here knows what can happen it brings everything is dark up north and it is the place where the players enjoy being in the warmth, everyone is healthy and rested. the tennis's and is pretty nonstop, server and comes to stray any pretty good mood. a

let's turn to women now, last year's champion ash barty shocked the tennis world when she retired lastswiatek. she exhibited a slower court where she has the time, but she is the dominant player, twice as many points as the number two ranked now,. there are some real contenders, particularly number three, jessica padilla, who beat swiatek pretty handily at the beginning of the year, she could play her in the semifinals —— jessica pegu. so i think swiatek is about the favourite in the women's. the australian open is often referred to as the happy slam — what separates it from the other three slams? everything is dark up north and that is where the players and joining in the warmth, they are healthy and in peak fitness and everyone comes to australia any pretty good mood. that sounds like such _ australia any pretty good mood. that sounds like such a fun place to be. thank you for filling us in on the details. ben rothenberg, that's all for now — stay with bbc news. hello there. the first half of the month was very wet, it was also very mild. but the weather this week is going to look ve

but i feel really honestly the defending women's champion ashley barty was back on since accord at kids day events on saturday since winning in melbourne a year ago thought he has retired from tennis and announced that she is expecting her 1st baby. yeah, i'm feeling really good. thank you. feeling right and yeah, he started to be back. i'm with both grow so many great memories. i often think of what i plan on this one. there's so many kids here enjoying it in to look to say so many. absolutely. feeling and brilliant. hopefully we'll have some fun. both he teamed up with current will number one, he gives fiance, kathy events, the poll as credits at basi for pushing her to become a better player. when i played against her, i felt like she, she just, you know, she has all these different game styles and slice and are given her book. she says that she has like 5 types of slice. i don't know how that's possible i'm. i still haven't figured out only on the one type but um, but yeah, i have like huge respects for ash and she really, she gave me a huge motivation at the beginning of last seaso

yeah, barty circuit's an absolute machine as well. he's very similar to andy murray.ing to who's going sort of going to see who's going to able to last the most and to be able to last the most and last the longest out on their list, whether andy's got enough in the tank. those two in the tank. having those two five bank bode five sets is in the bank bode well for the next few months or so. do you think he could carry this form into into wimbledon just absolutely. he's got to take a lot of confidence from this. he's mixing it with the top guys in the world. so he's always said as long he's competing with them, he feels like wants keep going. and like he wants to keep going. and for the shown he for me, the shown for sure he can compete the top guys can compete with the top guys and. tony away the and. we've tony away from the tennis for far too to get back and watch the game it's great to hear you. then we'll hear from you. then we'll hopefully on again hopefully have you back on again in very near future. thanks in the very near future. thanks very yeah. hell of a ver