The big story: Federer could meet Murray or Djokovic as early as the third round

Roger Federer will be the 17th seed for the Australian Open and could face Andy Murray or Novak Djokovic as early as the third round. Federer, who has won the Australian Open four times, has not played a competitive tournament since Wimbledon last year.

Meanwhile, world No. 1 Andy Murray is the top seed, for the first time in a Grand Slam. Rival Djokovic is the second seed and will be in the other half of the draw. Rafael Nadal is seeded ninth and could meet any of the top four seeds in the last 16. Canada’s Milos Raonic is seeded third while reigning US Open champion Stan Wawrinka is fourth.

In the women’s draw, defending champion Angelique Kerber was named the top seed. Last year’s runner-up Serena Williams is seeded second. Agnieszka Radwanska is seeded third, Romania’s Simona Halep fourth, while US Open finalist Karolina Pliskova rounds out the top five.

Other top stories

Tennis

  • Former world No. 1 Nadia Petrova announced her retirement after being plagued by injuries. The 34-year-old Russian had not played on the WTA Tour since 2014.
  • Agnieszka Radwanska defeated Barbora Strycova 6-1, 6-2 on Thursday to advance to the Sydney International final. She will face Johanna Konta or Eugenie Bouchard in the title clash.  
  • Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza and her Czech partner Barbora Strycova beat the American-Russian pair of Vania King and Yaroslava Shvedova 6-1, 6-2 to enter the final of the Sydney International on Thursday, The Times of India reported.  
  • Yuki Bhambri inched closer to the Australian Open singles main draw after defeating Serbian Pedja Krstin 6-3, 6-4 in the second round of the qualifying event, PTI reported.
  • Vijay Amritraj says brother Anand Amritraj was the India’s best captain in the last three decades. The Indian tennis stalwart said he was surprised by his sacking. 

Cricket

  • Ajinkya Rahane scored 91 as India A beat England by six wickets in the second warm-up match at Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai on Thursday.
  • Cricket Association of Bengal President Sourav Ganguly will have to go on a “cooling off” period of three years from June, having completed three years at the state association as secretary and president.
  • Mumbai were 208/3 at stumps on Day 3 of their Ranji Trophy clash against Gujarat. They lead by 108 runs in the second innings. Shreyas Iyer was the top-scorer with 82 runs.
  • JP Duminy’s unbeaten 62 helped South Africa past the 100-run mark after a shaky start on Day 1 of the third Test against Sri Lanka.

Football

  • Southampton beat Liverpool 1-0 at St Mary’s to secure a slender lead in their first-leg semi-final of the League Cup on Thursday.  
  • Barcelona beat Athletic Bilbao 3-1 to progress to the semi-finals of the Copa Del Rey on Thursday. Goals from Luis Suarez, Lionel Messi and Neymar ensured that Barcelona progressed on a 4-3 aggregate.
  • Chelsea have been given permission by the local council to build a new £500 million 60,000-seat stadium.  

Boxing

  • Former world champion L Sarita Devi will make her professional debut against Zsofia Bedo of Hungary in the Indian Boxing Council’s January 29 fight night to be held in Imphal.