China question casts pall over WTA, uncertainty about Finals' future

Tommy Paul's run to the semifinals of the Australian Open is “one of the many examples of the ways in which U.S. men are suddenly relevant again in tennis,” according to Howard Fendrich of the AP. This "breakthrough" for Paul “comes on the heels” of Frances Tiafoe's trip to the semifinals at the U.S. Open last September. This is the “first time U.S. men reached the final four at consecutive Slams in 16 years,” bringing more evidence that U.S. men's tennis players “must be taken more seriously.” Paul, Ben Shelton and Sebastian Korda “became the first trio of Americans in the men's quarterfinals in Melbourne since 2000.” Fendrich notes with Paul “set to crack the top 20 for the first time by the end of the Australian Open, and big jumps by others,” there are “projected to be 10 Americans in the ATP top 50 on Monday, something that last happened in June 1995.” Shelton: "I don't see why, at the end of this year, we couldn't have five, six guys in the top 20, with the way that some of these guys are playing” (AP, 1/26).

Wimbledon will be "expected to step up security" at this year’s Championships to "avoid a repeat of the pro-Russia demonstrations that erupted" at the Australian Open on Wednesday, according to Simon Briggs of the London TELEGRAPH. Chants in support of Russia were "allowed to ring out for several minutes before guards appeared" in Melbourne Park, and even then, they "initially stood and watched before taking action." Eventually, the police "became involved" and four of the main agitators "were questioned." The All England Club is still "expected to admit Russians and Belarusians to this summer’s Wimbledon." Players from those two nations were "controversially banned" from last year's championships as "punishment for Russia's invasion of Ukraine." The main difference is that this year, the government’s stance is "considerably less hardline." The priorities for Wimbledon’s security this summer will "include bag searches in an attempt to find and eliminate unwanted flags." It is, however, "difficult to prevent" people from wearing politicized clothing (London TELEGRAPH, 1/26).

The five franchises for the inaugural Women's Premier League season in India have been sold for £465M ($576M). The WPL, which takes place in March, is a women's version of the Indian Premier League, the world's biggest Twenty20 franchise competition. Owners of three existing IPL teams -- Royal Challengers Bangalore, Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals -- secured the rights for the women's franchises, while the other two teams were awarded to Adani Group (Ahmedabad) and Capri Global (Lucknow). The owners of four other IPL franchises -- Kolkata Knight Riders, Punjab Kings, Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad -- were unsuccessful with their bids. The Board of Control for Cricket in India previously sold the media rights for the WPL to Viacom 18 for approximately £96M ($119M) (BBC, 1/25). The eight franchisees in the men's IPL were sold for $723.6M "before the maiden edition" in 2008. The WPL player auction will take place next month. The BCCI on Monday had cleared 17 technical bids for the closed door bidding that took place Wednesday (TIMES OF INDIA, 1/25).

English soccer clubs spent £1.78B ($2.2B) -- "more than three times that of any other country" -- on men's international transfers in 2022, according to data from FIFA. Italian clubs were second on the list, having spent a total of £543M ($672M). The top 10 most expensive moves accounted for 12.5% of the total £5.24B ($6.5B) spent on such transfer fees (BBC, 1/26).