Amanda Anisimova's backhand continues to dazzle, Tsonga hits out at Mouratoglou as 'worst wildcard ever' goes viral
WTAWednesday, 07 January 2026 at 23:30
In our Daily Dose of Social Media, we look back at the top moments you may have missed over the last 24 hours in the run-up to the Australian Open.
The best entertainment, match moments and social content from both the ATP and WTA tour including Eva Lys, Amanda Anisimova, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga among others.
Eva Lys shares new year snaps
Eva Lys stunned the tennis world with her incredible display against Iga Swiatek at the United Cup only just losing out to her and she also stunned in her New Year snaps.
Playing in Sydney in the United Cup, she brought in the new year there and shared images from her festivities on social media.
Elena Rybakina is dreaming big
Elena Rybakina is dreaming big on and off the court as she continues her campaign also in Brisbane. She did an introducing feature where she was asked questions about her life.
Often soft spoken and doesn't give much away which adds to her steely determination on the court, it is the thrill of roller coasters on her days off that gives her the biggest buzz.
While Rybakina said that she likes pizza and also a lot of sweets when it comes to her cheat meal so very much someone who like most of us only eats healthily for what she does over a want to eat healthy.
A good look at the Kazakh who is extremely popular but also is someone with not a lot known about her under the surface.
Jessica Pegula highlights shown to kangaroo
Jessica Pegula also opened her campaign as she again had trouble but saw off Anna Kalinskaya who is often a thorn in her side albeit doesn't have a win over her but is enough that she never really gets a simple win over the Russian.
That was the case again albeit the WTA also used it as an opportunity to show a kangaroo highlights of the American. Why? Your guess is as good as mine but if they wanted the tennis to take you off your seat, Pegula produces that whether it is sometimes something that is tougher than it should be remains to be seen. But Pegula as ever through to face Dayana Yastremska in Brisbane.
New season, same old stunning backhand...
Amanda Anisimova set pulses racing on Wednesday morning as she raced through her opener at the Brisbane International and showed that she is very much still the player to be feared outside of Aryna Sabalenka.
Anisimova's backhand has always been the shot to marvel over and was again against Birrell as the Aussie had her on the stretch only to produce a last gasp backhand to skim the line which left the commentator purring. The World No.3 now back in business and continues to stay wining.
Anisimova also shared a latest Instagram post after sealing the opening win. In what is no shock to anyone really, Priscilla Hon appeared who can only be described as a close friend to most of the top names.
Anisimova appears to be staying with the Aussie while she is in Brisbane and Hon is known to be close also to Karolina Muchova and also Emma Raducanu among others so very much a player to keep on side it seems.
But it was all smiles for the American as she opened her new season in style. She returns on Thursday for her next match and given her season last year and also her start to this one who can bet against her.
The viral clip of 'the worst wildcard' ever
Doing the rounds on Wednesday was a clip of a player dubbed the worst wildcard ever who was playing in a W35 in Nairobi. She won three points in the whole match and made 20 double faults. It was since viewed over 3m times over the course of the day.
Losing in just 37 minutes and saw her hit 20 doubles faults with 20 coming from the Egyptian and had people wondering if she had paid or someone else had paid for her to be involved.
Two of the wildcard's three points came from those double faults in the fourth game of their first set. The third and final came after Schaedel overhit a backhand return in the second game of the second set. So in reality Abdelkader never won a point off her own racquet.
Futures tournament directors on social media called for this to be investigated after it went viral calling for the ITIA to act in event of there being some kind of wrongdoing or foul play. She supposedly has been playing since the age of 14. But has never played a professional match and it is pretty easy to understand why.
Tsonga claps back at Mouratoglou
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga has hit back at comments made by Patrick Mouratoglou after comments that the Frenchman made about the Sinner-Alcaraz generation.
“I would have liked to see Carlos Alcaraz win Roland Garros by beating Juan Martín del Potro, Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic in the semi-final, and Rafael Nadal in the final. Because today they dominate head and shoulders above the rest, and for now, they are two.
"Referring to Stan Wawrinka and Del Potro, they are unbelievable players for sure. But you see how unbelievable they are throughout the course of their entire careers. At 29 years old, Stan Wawrinka was a good player—nothing more. At 31, he was a three-time Grand Slam winner.
"Of course, the guys who have achieved more over their whole careers have more titles and potentially a few Grand Slams when others don’t. And don’t forget that Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner beat Novak Djokovic, who had already won 23 Grand Slams, to start winning Grand Slams themselves.
"When Novak won three out of four Grand Slams, and made the final of the fourth one, he lost that fourth one to Alcaraz.
"And I don’t believe that saying those guys are winning so much because of the level of the other top-10 players gives them 100% of the credit they deserve. The level is unbelievable. Unbelievable.”
Tsonga then responded on Instagram story to him translated from French. "You'll remain just the coach. You will never have felt what it's like to be a tennis player, to step into the arena. You're not the best placed to give me lessons on the high level."
claps 0visitors 0
Just In
Popular News
Latest Comments
- Venus Williams should not be given any wild cards. They should be given to younger players only. It is a disgrace to see a senior citizen struggling and moving like a SLOTH out there on court. She looks like Mike Tyson in his last fight. It is a disgrace.
- Old (very old), unimportant, meaningless 'news'. Normally this screams "PAY ATTENTION TO ME". But hard to tell who is seeking the attention??
- A few of the consistent players who had successfully climbed the charts last half of last season look to be for real again (Yastremska, Eala, Lys, Anisimova, and so). Barring injury or exhaustion this could be a Top 20 battle for top spots this season.
- She'll be "stacking" losses.
- Gross, unnecessary, and UNFAIR TO YOUNG COMPETITIVE PLAYERS.
- Thanks for sending It home.
- First round loss as usual, plus she moves like a sloth. It is unbelievable that she actually went 3 rounds with someone. Women tennis needs to be abolished, because if they cannot find quality players or give younger players a chance at these wild cards, there is no use to have their side of the sport exist. It is getting more and more ridiculous. And unwatchable.
- I see Emma has already begun her "reduced" schedule! Ha-ha-ha
- I agree 100% on axing the post-match Runner-up mandatory speech. There is so much wrong with that -- hanging time up to 20 minutes; cameras in your face as you wait on the bench to tell everyone how "amazing" they are, how "amazing" your opponent and his/her team are; pretend how happy it is to finish in Second Place; how much you "love the venue and atmosphere"; what restaurants & shops you visited and so. It's an unnecessary added and RIDICULOUS pressure..
- She can't hide the dropping of sponsors at this point. BTW: Nike reduced their $ponsor$hip last year (people have short memories). Bye, Bye Wilson!
Loading
