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Aryna Sabalenka, Elina Svitolina roll into Aussie semifinals

Tennis: Australian OpenJan 25, 2026; Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; Aryna Sabalenka in action against Victoria Mboko of Canada in the fourth round of the women’s singles at the Australian Open at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne Park. Mandatory Credit: Mike Frey-Imagn Images

Top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka is through to a sixth consecutive Grand Slam semifinal after routing 29th-seeded Iva Jovic 6-3, 6-0 on Tuesday in the Australian Open at Melbourne.

Sabalenka will take on No. 12 seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine, who only needed 59 minutes to complete a stunning 6-1, 6-2 knockout of No. 3 Coco Gauff.

Sabalenka won the Australian Open championship in 2023 and 2024, then fell in the final against Madison Keys last year. The 27-year-old Belarusian has won 25 of her past 26 matches in Melbourne.

Jovic, an 18-year-old Los Angeles native, was playing in her first major quarterfinal. She never previously got past the second round in a Grand Slam tournament.

Sabalenka dominated the 90-minute match with her serve. She won 83.3% of her first-serve points and saved all five break points she faced, including two in the final game. Sabalenka wound up with a 6-1 advantage in aces.

“It was a tough match,” Sabalenka said. “Don’t look at the score, it wasn’t easy at all. She played incredible tennis. Pushed me to one step better level. And I’m super happy with the win.”

Sabalenka is 5-1 lifetime against Svitolina, having prevailed in the past four meetings.

Svitolina dismantled Gauff to reach her fourth career Grand Slam semifinal, and first in Australia. She converted six of seven break points against the American favorite, who finished the match with more double faults (four) than winners (three). Gauff had 26 unforced errors, compared to 16 for Svitolina.

“She played really well,” Gauff said. “And unfortunately, usually when people raise their level, I’m able to raise mine, and today I just — I didn’t do that … I just felt like all the things I do well, I just wasn’t doing well today. The backhand wasn’t firing. Forehand wasn’t really firing. Returns. There was just a lot that didn’t go well today.”

Svitolina, 31, is unbeaten (10-0) in 2026 after collecting her 19th WTA Tour singles title in Auckland last month. In fact, she has only lost one set this year against Sonay Kartal in the Auckland quarterfinals.

Svitolina will return to the top 10 in the world rankings for the first time since October 2021.

“Not bad, not bad at all,” Svitolina said in her on-court interview. “Always been my dream to come back in top 10 after maternity leave, that’s always been my goal.”

–Field Level Media

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No. 13 Purdue dominates boards, keeps No. 7 Nebraska reeling

NCAA Basketball: Purdue at NebraskaFeb 10, 2026; Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; Purdue Boilermakers guard Braden Smith (3) gets a rebound against Nebraska Cornhuskers forward Berke Buyuktuncel (9) during the first half at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

Braden Smith finished two rebounds shy of a triple-double as No. 13 Purdue overcame blowing two big leads to beat No. 7 Nebraska 80-77 in overtime in a Big Ten Conference game Tuesday night in Lincoln, Neb.

The Boilermakers (20-4, 10-3) moved into a tie for third in the Big Ten by picking up their second road win over a Top 10 team. Purdue won at then-No. 9 Alabama in November.

Smith had 13 points, eight rebounds and 10 assists while Fletcher Loyer scored 18. Oscar Cluff had 12 points and 14 rebounds, his basket with 5.2 seconds left giving Purdue the lead for good at 78-77. Cluff missed the chance for a three-point play, however, but after Nebraska forced a turnover, Purdue’s Gicarri Harris stole the ball and was fouled. He hit both free throws to seal the win.

Trey Kaufman-Renn had 19 rebounds as Purdue was plus-17 on the boards with 21 offensive rebounds. The visitors hit 13 3-pointers on 46 attempts (28.3%) and were just 11 of 20 from the line, missing several late in regulation and OT.

Nebraska (21-3, 10-3) lost for the third time in four games after a school-record 24-game win streak dating to last season. The Cornhuskers got 18 points from Rienk Mast, who tied the game on a layup with 12.8 seconds in regulation but missed the and-one that would have given Nebraska the lead.

Purdue led 40-24 at halftime and increased the margin to 22 just over a minute into the second half. Nebraska went on a 12-0 run to cut the deficit to nine with 10:32 remaining, then back-to-back 3-pointers by Mast and Sam Hoiberg got the Cornhuskers within 54-49 with 7:14 to go.

A 10-0 Purdue run extended the edge to 14 with 2:45 left only to see Nebraska end regulation on a 15-1 spurt.

Purdue began the game on a 14-1 run, with Loyer and Smith each nailing a pair of 3-pointers. Nebraska missed its first five shots but then started hitting 3-pointers, getting within 21-14.

A 9-0 run put the Boilermakers up 36-19 with six minutes left in the first half.

–Field Level Media

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No. 15 Virginia tops ice-cold Florida State for fifth straight win

NCAA Basketball: Virginia at Florida StateFeb 10, 2026; Tallahassee, Florida, USA; Virginia Cavaliers guard Sam Lewis (5) moves the ball away from Florida State Seminoles forward Alex Steen (25) during the first half at Donald L. Tucker Center. Mandatory Credit: Melina Myers-Imagn Images

Jacari White racked up 19 points and hit five 3-pointers to help No. 15 Virginia rally for a 61-58 victory over Florida State Tuesday evening in Tallahassee, Fla.

White scored 16 of his points in the second half, adding four rebounds and two assists to his game totals. All of those second-half points came in the final 14:45, more than doubling up the rest of his team combined over that span.

Thijs De Ridder added nine points and a team-high nine boards while Sam Lewis also scored nine for Virginia (21-3, 10-2 Atlantic Coast Conference), which has won five straight games.

Lajae Jones and Robert McCray V carried Florida State (11-13, 4-7), combining for 41 of their points in a losing effort that saw the Seminoles’ three-game win streak snapped.

McCray did plenty of scoring and a little bit of everything else with 20 points, four rebounds, four assists, three blocks and two steals. Jones finished with game highs of 21 points and 13 rebounds for his second double-double of the season.

Knotted at 45 with 11 minutes left, the Seminoles went on a 9-0 run capped off with a three-point play by McCray to take a 54-45 lead with 8:22 left.

From there, though, Florida State went ice cold and Virginia ended the game on a 16-4 run. The Cavaliers took their first lead since 15-12 on a dunk by White to make it 59-58 with 1:12 left.

The Seminoles missed their final 11 field-goal attempts, including a would-be game-tying 3-pointer in the final seconds by McCray.

Florida State was held to 29% shooting (its second-lowest total of the season) and 18.2% from 3-point range (its worst mark this season).

The Cavaliers won on the road despite shooting not far above their own season low at 37.3% from the floor, including 10-of-33 (30.3%) from 3-point range.

Virginia jumped out to a 14-10 lead before encountering a 1-for-13 shooting stretch which saw the Seminoles pull ahead 26-19 with 6:53 left in the first half.

From there, though, the Cavaliers rallied with a half-ending 13-6 run to level the score at 32-all at the intermission.

Of the Seminoles’ first-half points, 27 of them came from Jones and McCray. Only four Florida State players scored over the opening 20 minutes.

Virginia, on the other hand, had no player score more than Lewis’ seven but got points from eight of its nine players who saw first-half action.

–Field Level Media

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Jason Pierre Jr. leads SMU past slumping Notre Dame

NCAA Basketball: Southern Methodist at PittsburghFeb 7, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; SMU Mustangs center Samet Yigitoglu (24) and Pittsburgh Panthers forward Cameron Corhen (2) take the opening tip-off during the first half at Petersen Events Center. Mandatory Credit: Philip G. Pavely-Imagn Images

Jaron Pierre Jr. scored 22 points, all but four of them after halftime, as SMU defeated slumping Notre Dame 89-81 on Tuesday in an Atlantic Coast Conference game in Dallas.

SMU (17-7, 6-5 ACC) led by six points at halftime after an 18-point first half by Boopie Miller and 57.1% shooting from the floor. The Fighting Irish owned the first five minutes of the second half and swept to a brief lead before the Mustangs swung back with 14 straight points as part of a 19-2 run that netted it a 64-50 advantage with 10:46 to play.

Notre Dame (11-14, 2-10) responded, drawing to 76-70 after Logan Imes’ fast break layup with 4:42 left. But that’s as close as it would get as SMU added to the margin with a driving layup by Corey Washington and three free throws by Pierre and strolled to the finish line.

Miller finished with 20 points while Washington had 14 and Samet Yigitoglu racked up 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Mustangs, who have won two games in a row.

Notre Dame’s Jalen Haralson led all scorers with 23 points. Braeden Shrewsberry and Cole Certa had 16 each and Brady Koehler hit for 11 points for the Fighting Irish, who have dropped five straight games and are tied at the bottom of the ACC standings.

The Mustangs led by as many as 10 points early on before Notre Dame chipped away and a free throw by Shrewsberry with 3:01 left in the half tied the game at 34-34. SMU built the lead back to six points when Miller produced six straight points, the latter a 3-pointer with 30 seconds remaining. The Mustangs finished the half with a 43-37 lead.

Miller’s 18 first-half points led all scorers. It included a 6-of-7 showing from the floor and making all four of his jumpers from beyond the arc. Haralson paced the Fighting Irish with 10 points at the break.

Notre Dame took the lead on Carson Towt’s layup with 15:54 to play and was up 48-45 after Shrewsberry made a 3-pointer 46 seconds later. SMU went on its run shortly after.

–Field Level Media

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