It's Bai's second time playing in the second round here in Melbourne. Fashion notes: Sabalenka is in her BRIGHT orange, pink and black dress. Bai is in a classic (almost football jersey-esque) blue T-shirt, black shorts and white cap. Share On to the match at hand, and Sabalenka will be hoping for a smoother run than her first-round match in which French wildcard Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah provided a somewhat tricky start.
On telly, Mac's talking about Anisimova, whose time is surely coming. She was close to a major last year and if she continues improving perhaps even if she doesn't one will surely be hers soon. Her backhand is one of the best shots in the game, she's working out how to win big matches, and her easy power is an absolute joy.
Women's Super League leaders City cruised to a 6-0 win at third-tier Bournemouth, after Khadija Shaw opened the scoring with a thumping 19th-minute header. Three further goals - a Lauren Hemp drive and a double from Laura Coombs - settled the contest before half-time, with substitute Vivianne Miedema netting twice after the break as City stretched their unbeaten run to 16 games in all competitions.
Paris Saint-Germain picked up another injury on Wednesday as forward Désiré Doué went off in the second half of their 1-1 draw at lowly Lorient. Doué clutched his right thigh before being removed on a stretcher in the 61st minute with his hands on his face. "It was a bit of a strange injury, I don't know yet what his condition is," PSG coach Luis Enrique said. "I hope it is not a serious one, but we must wait and see."
Jack Wilshere, the former Arsenal and England midfielder, is reportedly close to taking over as the Luton manager. The 33-year-old has emerged as first choice to replace Matt Bloomfield, who was sacked this week, after holding talks with the club's board at Kenilworth Road. Wilshere filled in at Norwich at the end of last season where he took charge for the final two games after Johannes Hoff Thorup's sacking, but did not get the job permanently.
Bristol City's first-half blitz saw them move up to third in the Championship table with a 3-0 victory over struggling Sheffield Wednesday. Bristol started on the front foot and benefitted from a sixth-minute Harry Amass own goal, as the debutant deflected Rob Dickie's strike past Ethan Horvath from close range. Emil Riis should have made it 2-0 shortly after, but did get Bristol's second goal just 12 minutes later, meeting Anis Mehmeti's lovely ball through the goalkeeper's legs.
The game between the two playoff-chasing sides leapt into life as Chicago scored two in quick succession inside the opening 10 minutes, as Jonathan Bamba opened the scoring for the hosts, before Philip Zinckernagel doubled the lead. After the interval, Chicago netted their third, as Hugo Cuypers found the bottom left-hand corner to make it 3-0 in the 68th minute.
We really missed him in the final stages. Generally, we are improving our team step by step. We have a very hard-working group. We've analysed 15 videos in the last three days. The players work tirelessly... they're incredibly hardworking and do whatever it takes on the pitch. Playing against Spain is an additional incentive for us, against the European champions at home.
Dango Ouattara scored his first goal for Brentford as Keith Andrews claimed his first Premier League win as manager with a surprise 1-0 victory over Aston Villa. A 3-1 defeat to Nottingham Forest last week furthered pre-season expectations of a difficult season for the Bees following the departure of manager Thomas Frank, now at Tottenham, and star forward Bryan Mbuemo.
