A recent practice session with the great Serena Williams may have paid off for Alycia Parks, who took down Russian 15th seed Diana Shnaider 1-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5) to begin the Qatar TotalEnergies Open on Sunday in Doha.

Parks, an American ranked 85th in the world, recently told the website Tennis Majors that she considers Williams a “mentor” and said the 44-year-old tennis icon is in great shape and “would kill it on tour” if she weren’t retired.

But Sunday was about Parks showing her own stuff. She shook off her first-set loss and won on her first match point in the tightly contested third-set tiebreaker. Parks finished with an 11-0 edge in aces.

Parks had to win in the qualifying round to make the 56-woman main draw. She actually knocked Shnaider out in the first round at Doha last year before repeating the feat Sunday.

“I’m actually pretty match-ready,” Parks, 25, told Tennis Majors before the main draw. “I’m just riding the wave of having matches under my belt from Ostrava (last week’s tournament). My season has started good. I think I needed that mental break for offseason. So now I’m actually ready to play.”

The highest seed in action on the first day of the tournament was Canadian 10th seed Victoria Mboko, who beat Czech opponent Marie Bouzkova 7-5, 6-2. Mboko overcame six double faults without an ace, saving 4 of 7 break points while converting 6 of 11 opportunities to break Bouzkova’s serve.

Poland’s Magdalena Frech upset No. 13 seed Liudmila Samsonova of Russia 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7). Samsonova had three match points in the third set, two of them during the tiebreaker, but Frech saved them all before pushing ahead and winning on her first match point.

Czech 14th seed Karolina Muchova beat Romania’s Jaqueline Cristian 6-2, 6-3. No. 16 seed Elise Mertens of Belgium sailed 6-2, 6-1 past Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in 68 minutes.

Russian 41-year-old Vera Zvonareva pushed past American Peyton Stearns 2-6, 6-2, 6-3. Other winners on Day 1 included France’s Varvara Gracheva, Italian Elisabetta Cocciaretto, Poland’s Magda Linette, Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic, Australian Daria Kasatkina and American Ann Li.

–Field Level Media

No. 1 Arizona enters its game at No. 11 Kansas on Monday with the best start in program and Big 12 history, topping the Jayhawks’ performance in 1996-97.

Arizona (23-0, 10-0 Big 12) also has achieved the longest winning streak in its history. Its nine straight weeks ranked No. 1 is also a program record.

The Jayhawks (18-5, 8-2) have won seven consecutive games entering the “Big Monday” showdown at Lawrence, Kan.

“Big game; let’s go,” Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd said after his team routed visiting Oklahoma State 84-47 on Saturday. “I’m sure the preparations have already started with the staff. Like I said, I wish we were playing it (Sunday), we’ll come in and we’ll prepare, and then we’ll jump on the plane and let’s see what we got.”

Arizona is among the nation’s leaders in average scoring margin (fifth at 21.0), rebounding (third at 43.4), field-goal percentage (51.6%), points per game (11th at 89.5) and assists per game (18.2).

“They’re men; they dominate people 12 feet and in,” Kansas coach Bill Self said of Arizona. “We’ve got to play bigger. We’ve got to play tougher. We’ve got to play stronger. We’ve got to play smarter.

“And then, they guard, so we got to give them something to defend on the other end. It’ll be a fun game. It’ll be a fun atmosphere. Only one day to prep, but hopefully we can figure something out to at least slow them down.”

Kansas is 38-0 at Allen Fieldhouse in Big Monday games under Self, but the Jayhawks have never defeated an Associated Press No. 1-ranked team in their current arena. They are 0-5 in such games.

The most recent game Kansas hosted a No. 1 team was in 2003, when Arizona was the opponent. The Jayhawks were outscored 52-22 in the second half, squandering a double-digit lead, and lost 91-74.

Kansas has also lost to top-ranked Oklahoma (1989), Kentucky (1977), Notre Dame (1974), and Cincinnati (1962) at Allen Fieldhouse.

“We played there last year,” Lloyd said, referring to Arizona’s 83-76 loss. “I came away thinking, ‘All right, it is different.’ I have a feeling those Jayhawk fans are going to be out for blood.”

Kansas will counter Arizona’s offensive efficiency with a defense that allows just 67.3 points per game and a home record of 11-1 this season.

The Jayhawks’ success hinges on their shooting accuracy (47.9%) and the emergence of freshman standout Darryn Peterson, who is averaging 20.5 points in 13 games. Peterson has been plagued by cramping.

Arizona’s young talent includes freshmen Brayden Burries (team-leading 15.3 points per game) and Koa Peat (14.6 points and 5.6 rebounds a game).

The Wildcats’ presence inside includes Tobe Awaka (9.9 rebounds a game) and Motiejus Krivas (8.3 boards).

Self will rely on Flory Bidunga (14.6 points and 8.9 rebounds a game) to offset some of Arizona’s inside strength.

“To me, there’s not a better defender, regardless of position anywhere,” Self said of Bidunga. “He’s learning how to not gamble and make somebody score over his length.”

Tre White, a guard, is second on the team in rebounds with 7.1 a game. He also averages 14.6 points.

A key matchup will be on the perimeter between Kansas’ Peterson, White and Melvin Council Jr. (13.7 points and 5.1 assists per game) and Arizona’s Burries, Jaden Bradley (13.8 points and 4.5 assists) and Ivan Kharchenkov (9.4 points and 50.9% field-goal shooting).

–Field Level Media

James Harden celebrated his Cleveland Cavaliers debut with a win at Sacramento on Saturday night, but he and his new team will have a tougher challenge when Cleveland visits the Denver Nuggets on Monday night.

Harden had 23 points and eight assists in the Cavaliers’ 132-126 win over the Kings despite not getting a chance to practice first. The veteran guard is learning on the fly, but he has no concerns about it.

“I just got to figure out where I fit in,” Harden said after beating Sacramento. “That won’t be hard at all. I told the guys just do what you all do and I’ll figure it out. I’m good enough to figure it out and insert myself in.”

Cleveland acquired Harden from the Los Angeles Clippers before the trade deadline last week to improve its chances in the Eastern Conference, where it sits fourth, two games behind New York and Boston for second place.

Harden bolsters the Cavaliers’ backcourt and his combined 25.4 points a game this season adds to the guard scoring punch. Darius Garland, who went to Los Angeles in the deal, was averaging 18 points a game but has been out since Jan. 14 with a toe injury.

Donovan Mitchell leads Cleveland with a 28.9 average and combined with Harden they average 14 assists per game. Evan Mobley is third in scoring at 17.9 points a game and leads the Cavaliers with 8.8 rebounds, but he has not played since Jan. 26 due to a calf strain.

He has been ruled out against Denver, which has suffered its share of injuries as well. The Nuggets, already without power forward Aaron Gordon to a right hamstring injury, saw his replacement, Peyton Watson, go down with the same injury.

Watson was hurt in a double-overtime loss at New York on Wednesday night and will miss a month. Denver did get a boost in Saturday night’s win at Chicago with the return of Cameron Johnson from a right knee bruise. Johnson scored 14 points in his first game since Dec. 23 and is averaging 11.8 points for the season.

The Nuggets got another scare in the 136-120 win when Jamal Murray left late in the game in apparent discomfort. Head coach David Adelman said after the game that it was a hip issue.

“He seemed confident that he was OK,” Adelman said.

Murray helped carry the team when Nikola Jokic missed 16 games with a left knee injury. Murray is averaging career-highs in points (26) and assists (7.5) and has 14 double-doubles this season after finishing with 28 points and 11 assists against the Bulls.

Jokic reached another milestone on Saturday night with the 182nd triple-double of his career. That broke a tie for second with Oscar Robertson, behind only former teammate Russell Westbrook, who has 207.

Jokic has not shown any rust after missing a month. In the five games since his return, he is averaging 24.6 points, 12.4 rebounds and 8.8 assists; he is averaging a triple-double for the season — 28.9 points, 12.2 rebounds and 10.7 assists.

–Field Level Media