De Minaur, Kvitova win

Sydney, January 12

Australian teenager Alex de Minaur claimed his first career title in style when he wore down Italian veteran Andreas Seppi 7-5 7-6(5) to win the Sydney International after his second match in five hours. 

Seppi hit 27 winners to De Minaur's 21, but the youngster made eight fewer unforced errors and won 20 points at the net to help seal the victory, showing no signs of fatigue having earlier beaten Simon after rain washed out the match on Friday. De Minaur, who earlier beat Frenchman Gilles Simon 6-3 6-2 in the semifinals, burst onto the tennis scene when he reached the Sydney final a year ago while ranked 167th in the world but lost to Russia's Daniil Medvedev. 

Kvitova digs deep to outlast Barty 

Petra Kvitova outlasted Ashleigh Barty in a final-set tiebreak to win the title for the second time. The Czech 2015 champion and fifth seed fought back from dropping the opening set and an early break in the final set to beat the top-ranked Aussie 1-6 7-5 7-6 (7/3) in two hours 19 minutes. It was a gutsy performance from the two-time Wimbledon champion who only finished her semifinal against Aliaksandra Sasnovich in the early hours of Saturday. 

Sandgren downs Norrie to claim first ATP title

Auckland: American Tennys Sandgren brushed aside Britain's Cameron Norrie 6-4 6-2 to win his first ATP title at the ASB Classic in Auckland. Sand

gren, the world No. 63, took one hour and 18 minutes to see off his opponent, who is ranked 30 places below him, converting his second championship point when Norrie went long with a forehand off his second serve. 

 American Sofia Kenin secured her second trophy in two weeks after an easy 6-3, 6-0 win over Anna Karolina Schmiedlova of Slovakia at the WTA Hobart International. — Agencies

Nadal shrugs off injury concerns 

• Rafa Nadal shrugged off concerns about his fitness ahead of the Australian Open and paid tribute to fellow 'Big Four' rival Andy Murray, a day after the emotional Briton revealed plans to retire. The 2009 winner Nadal pulled out of the Brisbane International warm-up with a thigh strain, raising fears about his campaign at Melbourne Park after his 2018 season ended early with ankle surgery and an abdominal injury. However, the 32-year-old declared himself ready to throw himself into a 14th campaign in Melbourne, starting with a first round match against Australian wildcard James Duckworth. — Reuters