Iga Swiatek bakes for Christmas, Naomi Osaka explores NYC while Kvitova is honored at Golden Canary Gala

In a new Daily Dose of Social Media, ATP and WTA stars continue to navigate the pre-season and off-season ahead of the Australian Swing. Several players are preparing with intense training sessions, such as Denis Shapovalov and Hubert Hurkacz, who shared photos and videos from their training bases before traveling to Oceania to kick off the 2026 season.

On the other hand, Iga Swiatek shared a photo of her afternoon baking Christmas cookies, and Naomi Osaka posted snapshots from her days out in New York, while former World No. 2 Petra Kvitova was honored in her home country following her retirement from professional tennis this year.

Hubert Hurkacz is already preparing his return to the courts after a complicated 2025, in which an injury left him out around the middle of the season. The former World No. 6 underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee on July 2, following a season marked by constant injuries and little regularity on tour. He finished the year with a 15-11 record and as World No. 73, after missing the last 6 months of competition.

At the end of 2024, Hurkacz made an important change to his team after stopping work with Craig Boynton—who had accompanied him since his junior days—and adding Nicolas Massu as head coach (Dominic Thiem’s coach during his campaign to the US Open title). However, injuries complicated things for him in 2025 and he played his last match at the Libema Open in June, defeating Roberto Bautista Agut in the first round, but later had to withdraw from the tournament due to injury. In the following weeks, he tried to recover, but finally opted to undergo surgery and miss the rest of the season. Hurkacz will return to the courts during the first week of January at the United Cup, where he will once again join Iga Swiatek, after having reached the finals in 2024 and 2025.

Petra Kvitova was honored at the "Zlatý kanár" (Golden Canary) gala night in Czechia, receiving a tribute at the ceremony that awards the best of Czech tennis, organized by the Czech sports magazine Tenis with the Czech Tennis Association. The 2-time Wimbledon champion did not take the award for best athlete this time—which went to the hands of Jakub Mensik—but was honored after ending her career this year.

The former World No. 2 won her country's main prize on three occasions (2011, 2014, 2020), in addition to a handful of other awards at the same ceremony over the years, such as progress of the year, talent of the year, or part of the team of the year together with the Czechs of the Fed Cup (currently Billie Jean King Cup team). "This time it was a Golden Canary without a Canary for me, but even more full of beautiful memories of what tennis was for me - and what it will be for me forever. ❤️ ❤️"

Denis Shapovalov continues working on his pre-season and shared some photos on social media of his work days in Dubai at the Rackets Academy, where he is doing hard gym work ahead of the start of 2026. The Canadian managed to finish the season as World No. 23, thanks to titles won at the Dallas Open and Los Cabos.

The Canadian had finished five consecutive seasons inside the top 30 (2018-2022) but had fallen in the rankings during the last couple of seasons amidst various injuries. This 2025 saw an important rise thanks to those titles, and he returns to occupy a spot as a seed for the Australian Open. Shapo has his first tournament set for the Brisbane International, where he will share the draw with players like Daniil Medvedev, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, and Joao Fonseca.

4-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka is enjoying her free time in New York after participating in the Atlanta Cup exhibition, where she faced World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, but ended up falling in the super tie-break. The Japanese star is taking advantage of the off-season time to tour New York City before traveling to Australia to play the United Cup with Japan. The former World No. 1 will join World No. 100 Shintaro Mochizuki, a 22-year-old player who is currently the Japanese male No. 1, teaming up for the first time in the United Cup.

The Asian team was drawn in Group E in Perth, where they will have very tough rivals: Greece with Maria Sakkari and Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Great Britain with Emma Raducanu and Jack Draper. It will be the first preparatory tournament for Osaka, who hopes to arrive with renewed ambitions at the Australian Open, following great campaigns in the 2025 North American hardcourt swing, in which she reached the final of the Canadian Open and semifinals at the US Open. The 2018 and 2020 Aussie Open champion arrives as World No. 16 and will return to occupy a seeded position in Melbourne for the first time since 2022.

Iga Swiatek left some photos on her Instagram stories about how she is starting to experience the upcoming Christmas, baking some Christmas cookies from her residence in Poland. The 6-time major champion is taking advantage of her off-season time before traveling to the Australian swing, and shared with her fans some photos of her afternoon in the kitchen with traditional Christmas cookies.

The World No. 2 finished the season after being eliminated in the Round Robin of the WTA Finals, in a year where she secured three titles—including Wimbledon—and reached at least the semifinals in another 6 tournaments, including the Australian Open and Roland Garros. Her first challenge of the season will be at the United Cup starting January 5, where she will join Hurkacz to seek a title that has been elusive for them, after falling in the finals of 2024 and 2025. However, the great objective will be set on the Australian Open, a tournament where she has never surpassed the semifinals and which is the last major she is missing to complete the Grand Slam; that is, winning all four majors during her career.