The Daily Dose that actually matters: Nadal and Ivanovic’s bromance, Poland’s long-waited trophy party and Paolini’s Melbourne ball-kid takeover.

In a new Daily Dose of Social Media, it was a Sunday of celebration following the first week of competition, as Team Poland — led by Iga Swiatek and Hubert Hurkacz — enjoyed their celebrations after lifting the United Cup title, including champagne toasts and a tribute from the ball kids inside the stadium.

Meanwhile, world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka celebrated another title in Brisbane, while in Spain there was a special reunion between two former world No. 1s and Roland Garros champions, as Ana Ivanovic visited the Rafa Nadal Academy and reunited with the 22-time Grand Slam champion to get a close look at the work being done at his academy.

A special reunion of former world No. 1s took place this weekend, as 22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal welcomed former world No. 1 Ana Ivanovic to the Rafa Nadal Academy in Manacor, Spain. The Serbian visited the facilities in detail and posed for several photos alongside the Spanish legend.

Ivanovic, the 2008 Roland Garros champion who retired in 2016, shared the day with Nadal, who officially stepped away from professional tennis in 2024. Interestingly, there is only a one-year age difference between them, with Nadal being slightly older despite retiring much later.

“Thank you for such a warm welcome and showing us around the impressive @rnadalacademy! Can’t wait to be back @RafaelNadal,” Ivanovic posted on social media after the visit. The official Rafa Nadal Academy account also responded, thanking her for stopping by and expressing hope to see her again soon.

Team Poland claimed the title in Sunday’s United Cup final after defeating Switzerland in the mixed doubles, getting revenge for the finals lost in 2024 against Germany and in 2025 against the United States.

This time, the Polish team — once again led by Iga Swiatek and Hubert Hurkacz — were able to celebrate the long-awaited triumph, counting on a strong mixed doubles pairing of Jan Zielinski and Katarzyna Kawa. Swiatek was one of the first to take to social media, posting a photo with the trophy to celebrate a great start to the season. “WHATTT⁉️ Kasia, Janek, Hubi and the rest of our amazing team... thank you. I’m so proud,” she posted.

Celebrations were big for the Polish team, who opened bottles of champagne to toast and celebrate. On United Cup social media, the moment can be seen when all team members pop champagne bottles and soak each other during the celebrations, with Swiatek and Hurkacz laughing and enjoying the moment alongside the rest of their teammates.

The Polish players also left the central court through a guard of honour formed by ball kids and tournament staff, who applauded and greeted each of the team members during the celebrations.

World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka was another major winner this weekend, successfully defending her Brisbane International title for the second consecutive year after defeating Marta Kostyuk in straight sets in the final.

The four-time major champion begins the season once again with a trophy in Australia and will now head directly to Melbourne in pursuit of the first Grand Slam of the year.

In her social media post, where she is seen kissing the trophy, Sabalenka also gave a shout-out to her close friend Paula Badosa, with whom she partnered in doubles during the week as part of the Spaniard’s return. Although they won their opening match against Zhang and Samsonova, the ‘Sabadosa’ pairing withdrew before the quarterfinals against Perez and Bucsa.

“Thank you @brisbaneinternational for all the love, it feels so good to be back. Gummy bears and playing doubles with @paulabadosa made this tournament even better. Australia, we are just getting started,” Sabalenka wrote.

Lorenzo Musetti experienced a unique Sunday at the Hong Kong Open, competing in both the singles and doubles finals on the same day, with mixed outcomes.

In singles, the Italian fell to second seed Alexander Bublik, losing his seventh consecutive final. Despite the setback, Musetti took positives from the week by lifting the doubles title alongside compatriot Lorenzo Sonego.

The Italian duo had previously reached two doubles finals together and lost on both occasions, but this time found redemption by defeating Andrey Rublev and Karen Khachanov in the final.

“Two finals, one unforgettable day. Congrats to @bublik on the singles, you deserved the win! So happy to have won the doubles with a friend. Thanks for this amazing week,” Musetti posted.

Two-time Grand Slam champion Barbora Krejcikova shared several photos from her participation at the United Cup 2026, where she led the Czech team alongside Jakub Mensik. However, the team ended up being eliminated in the quarterfinals.

The former world No. 2 is now preparing for her next challenge at the Hobart Open, in search of more ranking points and wins at the start of the year, following a significant drop in the rankings at the end of 2025 after several months affected by injuries and limited time on court.

Krejcikova managed to climb back up the rankings to No. 55 after recording wins over Malene Helgo and Maya Joint, although she was defeated by Elise Mertens in the decisive tie against Belgium in the quarterfinals. That match ended up being key in Belgium’s qualification for the semifinals.

“Beyond honored to wear the Czech colors and compete with such an amazing team! Every moment was unforgettable, and I’m so grateful for this experience. Can’t wait for what’s next!” she wrote.

Jasmine Paolini starred in a special moment at the Australian Open upon her arrival in Melbourne, as official preparations were coming to an end ahead of the start of the qualifying rounds on Monday, January 12.

The two-time Grand Slam runner-up took part in a tournament launch activity that brought together all the ball kids who will be part of the first Grand Slam of the year. Paolini posed for several photos with them and showed her good humour, taking time to joke around and have fun with the ball kids.

The Italian will be looking to improve on her Australian Open 2025 performance, where she was eliminated in the third round by Elina Svitolina, suffering a bagel in the third set. This time, Paolini aims to once again be a protagonist at the Grand Slam tournaments and arrived early in Melbourne following her participation at the United Cup, where she teamed up with Flavio Cobolli and was eliminated in the round-robin stage of the competition.