Djokovic, Sinner, Osaka win; Azarenka, Kyrgios out

MELBOURNE, Australia>> In his first match with former rival Andy Murray as his coach, Novak Djokovic dropped his opening set at the 2025 Australian Open on Monday night to Nishesh Basavareddy, an American who left Stanford University and turned pro last month, before eventually asserting himself for a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 victory.

On a busy and warm Day 2, the winners included No. 2 Iga Swiatek, No. 3 Coco Gauff, No. 7 Jessica Pegula and Naomi Osaka among the women, and No. 1 Jannik Sinner and No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz among the men.

Noteworthy exits came from two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka, 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko, and two-time major finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas. .

Also one-and-done: Nick Kyrgios, who played one match the past two seasons because of injuries. Kyrgios was defeated by Jacob Fearnley 7-6 (3), 6-3, 7-6 (2).

Edwards fined $50K for obscene gesture, bringing his season total to $285K

NEW YORK>> Anthony Edwards has yet another bill to pay to the NBA. The Minnesota Timberwolves star has been fined $50,000 for making obscene gestures toward a game official.

The league announced the punishment before Minnesota played at Washington. It cited his conduct in the 127-125 loss to Memphis on Saturday when Edwards received his NBA-leading ninth technical foul this season.

Edwards has been penalized a total of $285,000 by the league this season for five different behavioral transgressions, mostly for language.

LiAngelo Ball signs music deal with Def Jam label

LOS ANGELES>> LiAngelo is expanding his life playbook, taking a pivot from his hoop dreams to a fresh focus on music with a new record deal. Ball signed with Def Jam and Universal Music Group, a representative from the label confirmed Monday.

The 25-year-older, who had a brief stint in the NBA and overseas, created positive waves with his rap debut “Tweaker,” which has gone viral garnering millions of views on social media.

Texas man charged with stalking Fever star Clark

Authorities in Indianapolis have charged a 55-year-old Texas man with felony stalking of Indiana Fever star and WNBA rookie of the year Caitlin Clark.

Michael Thomas Lewis is accused of repeated and continued harassment of the 22-year-old Clark beginning Dec. 16, the Marion County prosecutor’s office wrote in a court filing Saturday.

Authorities say Lewis directed numerous posts — some sexually threatening — to Clark on X. Prosecutors wrote in the filing Clark felt terrorized, frightened, intimidated and threatened as a result. The FBI learned the X account belonged to Lewis and that the messages were sent from IP addresses at an Indianapolis hotel and downtown public library.

Schauffele withdraws from The American Express

LA QUINTA, Calif. >> Xander Schauffele is withdrawing from The American Express this week in the California desert. That makes two of the top players in the world ranking to have withdrawn in the last two weeks. Schauffele’s manager said he withdrew for medical reasons.

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler had to withdraw last week. . The WDs leave former U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark as the only top-10 player in the field.

— The Associated Press