Daily Dose of Social Media: Sabalenka shares Putintseva’s hilarious net encounter as Alcaraz unveils haircut ahead of Australian Open

In a new Daily Dose of Social Media, we revisit entertaining moments from the last day. Aryna Sabalenka revealed the funny message from Yulia Putintseva during their net exchange after their clash at the Brisbane International. Meanwhile, social media buzzed with Carlos Alcaraz's new look ahead of the Australian Open, and Eugenie Bouchard weighed in on the "dress debate" from 10 years ago.

On another note, ATP and WTA stars participated in fun games, with the men trying to guess tennis references based on emojis, while the women shared their predictions about the big breakthroughs of the season.

Aryna Sabalenka and Yulia Putintseva shared a funny moment after their Round of 16 clash at the Brisbane International. The world No. 1 recounted the amusing exchange she had with the Kazakh player at the net after defeating her 7-6(2), 6-4.

At the end of the match, the two greeted each other at the net, and Putintseva left a comment that made both of them laugh. However, the cameras didn’t capture exactly what she said, so Sabalenka later explained the words of the world No. 29.

"I got an invitation for her birthday celebration next Friday, and after the match, she said, ‘You’re not coming,’” explained Sabalenka. “But I said, ‘I’ll make sure I bring you a good gift so you’ll be okay with me.’”

The world No. 1 has now reached the semifinals—after a straight-sets win against Marie Bouzkova—and is set to face teenager Mirra Andreeva. Sabalenka leads the head-to-head 2-1, though their most recent match went to the Russian in the quarterfinals of Roland Garros. They meet this Saturday in their first hardcourt showdown for a place in the final.

Simona Halep shared photos of her New Year's Eve celebration on social media. The former world No. 1 posed in a sparkling black dress beside a Christmas tree, captioning her Instagram post with "2025❤️," which quickly filled with comments from her fans.

The 2-time Grand Slam champion is still fighting to return to the top level of the Tour after a doping ban that lasted nearly two years. While the Romanian has been eligible to compete since March last year, recurring injuries have prevented her from playing regularly.

Recently, she had received wild cards for Auckland and the Australian Open qualifying rounds, but she announced on social media a few days ago that she would not travel to the tournaments in Oceania.

"After discussing with my team at length, we agreed it is sensible to delay the start of my season," the 33-year-old Romanian wrote. "It's not what I wanted, but I would like to thank the tournament organisers in Auckland and Australia for the wild cards, and I'm sorry I won't be able to take them this time,” she posted a week ago.

Spanish star Carlos Alcaraz has debuted a fresh haircut in preparation for the Australian Open. Known for sporting new hairstyles before Grand Slam tournaments, the 4-time Grand Slam champion shared a photo with his hairdresser in Australia. Alcaraz aims to secure his first Australian Open title and complete the Career Grand Slam. At just 21, he could become the youngest player to achieve this feat, breaking Rafael Nadal's record, who completed the milestone at 24 during the 2010 US Open.

On Friday, Alcaraz had his final training session in Murcia before flying to Melbourne on Saturday to finalise his preparations for the year’s first major. The world No. 3 still has 12 days before the tournament begins and has confirmed his participation in two charity exhibitions ahead of the event. He is set to face Alex De Minaur on 8 January and Alexei Popyrin on 10 January.

The ATP stars at the Hong Kong Open participated in an "Emoji Challenge," where they tried to guess tennis-related concepts and player names based on emojis. Participants included Andrey Rublev, Karen Khachanov, Kei Nishikori, Arthur Fils, among others.

The tournament has already reached the semifinals stage, with none of the seeds remaining in contention. The 19-year-old Chinese star Shang Juncheng will face former US Open finalist Kei Nishikori in the first match, while the second semifinal will feature Spain’s Jaume Munar—who defeated Musetti and Borges along the way—against Alexandre Mulles, who recently overcame Arthur Fils.

WTA stars shared their predictions for the 2025 season, answering questions about who they think will achieve certain milestones this year. Aryna Sabalenka, Ons Jabeur, and Emma Navarro were among the players featured in the video.

The first question asked was, "Who will reach their first Grand Slam final this year?" Kalinskaya, Badosa, and Andreeva backed themselves, while Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur supported the Russian teenager for her maiden Grand Slam final.

Next, they speculated on the winner of the first WTA 1000 event at the Doha Open. "If I’m not playing... I give it to Iga," said World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka. "Me, with my crowd. See you in Qatar," replied Jabeur. Watch the full video with the players’ answers below.

Eugenie Bouchard revisited the controversial dress debate that divided the internet 10 years ago. The former Wimbledon runner-up shared a photo of the garment on social media, which back in 2015 sparked widespread international discussion after some people perceived the dress as blue and black, while others saw it as white and gold.

The debate escalated across social media due to the unusual lighting of the photo, which created an optical illusion, leading to varying interpretations based on individual perception. The Canadian – who now balances her tennis career with appearances in the PPA Tour playing pickleball – reposted an image of the dress shared by a user on January 1, marking the 10-year anniversary of the viral phenomenon. "Can we all finally admit that it’s black & blue?" she posted.