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PARIS — Just five days after the conclusion of the Australian Open, tennis shifts its attention to the Davis Cup this weekend.

France is the defending champion and starts its campaign at home to the Netherlands while the United States, the record 32-time champions, travels to Serbia.

AFP Sports looks at five key aspects of the first round ties which take place through Sunday:

Stars miss out

The sport’s “big five” are all missing from this week’s first round. Australian Open champion Roger Federer and injured compatriot Stan Wawrinka, key men in Switzerland’s 2014 title success, miss the trip to Kazakhstan.

Also nursing injuries are Novak Djokovic, who sits out Serbia’s home tie with the US while Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray miss the clash between Spain and Britain.

However, World No. 3 Marin Cilic, the runner-up to Federer in Melbourne, leads Croatia’s challenge at home to Canada. Cilic can equal Ivan Ljubicic’s record for most Davis Cup match-wins by a Croatian player if he wins three rubbers this weekend. He has a 33-16 win-loss record in doubles and singles.

Hungary have appetite

Hungary face 2017 runners-up Belgium looking to reach the World Group quarter-finals for the first time and record their best Davis Cup result. The Hungarians have won nine of their last 10 ties with successive promotions in 2014-15, rising from Europe/Africa Zone Group III to Group I by 2016, before winning promotion to the World Group last year.

Mum’s word 

for Japan’s Kiwi

Ben McLachlan was born in Queenstown, New Zealand but the 25-year-old switched his allegiance in 2017 due to his Japanese mother and is in the squad for the home tie against Italy. McLachlan made his debut in the World Group play-off victory against Brazil in September. With Japan missing the injured Kei Nishikori, McLachlan could have a crucial role having made the semifinals of the doubles at the Australian Open alongside Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff.

Golden oldie Hewitt

He may be 36 years old and officially retired, but former World No. 1 and Wimbledon and US Open champion Lleyton Hewitt could still feature in the doubles for Australia in its home tie against Germany. Hewitt, the team captain, was rejuvenated at the Australian Open where he made the quarter-finals with compatriot Sam Groth.

Hewitt has had enough talking about Bernard Tomic. Nor did he want any of his Davis Cup squad buying into the ongoing drama engulfing their former comrade when they fronted the media for the draw in Brisbane on Thursday. 

When the inevitable Tomic question was tossed up to Nick Kyrgios, Hewitt came over the top to interject. 

“We’re not going to go there. These boys have enough to worry about. We’ve got nothing to say,” Hewitt said. 

France look to keep perfect record

Defending champion France hosts the Netherlands at Albertville boasting a 10-0 record in the tournament over their European rivals since its first meeting 93 years ago. Last year, France equalled Great Britain in third place on the list for most Davis Cup titles after winning the title for the 10th time, beating Belgium 3-2 in the final in Lille.

Pep Guardiola has refused to deny Manchester City are considering a deadline day move for Leicester winger Riyad Mahrez.

City broke their club record transfer on Tuesday with the £57 million ($80 million, 65 million euros) signing of centre-back Aymeric Laporte from Athletic Bilbao.

In order to sign Algeria international Mahrez they would likely have to break the record again, with Leicester unlikely to let the 26-year-old leave for less than £90 million.

It is understood City have enquired about the availability of Mahrez, but the two clubs are currently some way apart on their valuation of the player.

Mahrez is reported to have handed in a transfer request, but Foxes manager Claude Puel recently said he would not let him leave the King Power Stadium in January.

City have lost influential Germany winger Leroy Sane for up to seven weeks with an ankle injury and with the club competing on four fronts Guardiola suggested he may require a replacement.

When asked directly about Mahrez, City manager Guardiola said: “Right now, it’s the same as [Alexis] Sanchez, it’s not the place to talk about it. It’s so difficult.

“It happened with Laporte because it’s a buy-out clause, when you have to negotiate it’s always so complicated.

“I have interest in a lot of players, good players, there are many. The window is open until the 31st. 

“We spoke many times with the club to see what is the best with the players we have.

“Right now, we have just three strikers with Raheem [Sterling], for the next month or month and a half. Gabriel [Jesus] is coming maybe in the next five or six weeks.

“If things are not possible, then nothing is going to happen. We don’t have too much and we play every three days. We have to find solutions.”

Accept the challenge

Regardless of whether he can land Mahrez, Guardiola insisted he has been satisfied with the business City have done in the transfer window.

City had been linked with a move for Dutch defender Virgil van Dijk but he joined Liverpool and they missed out on Sanchez, who moved to rivals Manchester United.

“Am I happy? Of course, a lot,” Guardiola said. 

“We are so happy with that. I said many times when the player doesn’t want to come it’s perfect.

“If they want to go to another club it’s perfect, I want the best for the player.

“And I don’t want players here who they believe another solution is better than that. It’s perfect.

“So Laporte didn’t want to come 18 months ago, I said it’s ok, so now it’s a challenge to come.”

City host West Brom on Wednesday with Guardiola still reeling from the approach of Cardiff in their FA Cup tie at the weekend.

The Premier League leaders lost Sane after he was on the receiving end of a challenge from Cardiff defender Joe Bennett.

Cardiff manager Neil Warnock said afterwards that Guardiola should “expect” to receive a physical approach in English football, although the Catalan disagreed with his interpretation of the game.

“I accept the challenge in English football but in 18 months I’ve learned that English football is Liverpool 1980s, Manchester United in the 1990s with Alex Ferguson, that’s English football,” he said.

“I prefer to play my opponents with the best players, West Brom with the best players I can face. 

“The fans go there for the players and when they can play it’s much better for everyone.”

AMMAN — Ramtha will seek to take the lead atop the Jordan Professional Football League standings when they face newcomers Aqaba, while former champs Wihdat have a tougher match against Shabab Urdun as week 13 kicks off on Thursday.

As Leg 2 resumed last week, Wihdat maintained their lead on goal difference after a 3-1 win over That Ras. Ramtha remained second after a 1-0 over Manshieh, while Jazira, who are third after losing to Wihdat in Leg 1, beat Shabab Urdun 1-0 and next play Faisali, who are fourth after a 2-0 win over Yarmouk.

Ahli who were the only team to improve last week, went up two spots to 6th after their 2-0 win over Baqa’a next face That Ras.

This week, Faisali lost their 2018 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League play-off match to Uzbekistan’s Nasaf Qarshi 5-1 and failed to reach the group stages of Asia’s elite club competition. They will now play the AFC Cup — the second-tier Asian club competition alongside Jazira. 

So far this season, reigning league and Jordan Cup champs Faisali beat Jazira to win the 35th Jordan Super Cup. Wihdat beat Jazira to win the Jordan Football Association (JFA) Shield. In the Jordan Cup, Jazira ousted Faisali while Shabab Urdun eliminated Wihdat to reach the final.

Last season, Faisali won their 33rd league title after a four year break and combined it with the Jordan Cup. Ahli beat reigning league champs Wihdat to win the Super Cup, while Shabab Urdun beat Faisali to win their second Shield title after they first won in 2007. Sarih and Sahab were relegated and replaced by Aqaba and Yarmouk from the First Division.

MELBOURNE — Roger Federer savoured the latest chapter of a late-career fairytale that delivered a sixth Australian Open crown on Sunday and a very “special” 20th Grand Slam title.

Federer, a nervous defending champion, survived a second set “freeze” and a late rally by sixth seed Marin Cilic before winning 6-2, 6-7(5), 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 under the closed roof of Rod Laver Arena.

After a five-year drought, a rejuvenated Federer has bagged three Grand Slam titles in the past 12 months, emulating Australia’s Ken Rosewall who claimed the same number after his 35th birthday.

Since his maiden major title at Wimbledon in 2003, several generations of young pretenders have come and gone, yet Federer has outlasted them all.

He has now shared the last five Grand Slam titles with 31-year-old Spanish great and long-time rival Rafael Nadal, a state of affairs, the Swiss said, he could scarcely believe.

But with his other “Big Four” rivals — Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray — struggling with injuries and the “NextGen” talents yet to make a breakthrough, the tally could well rise if he manages his body and schedule correctly.

“Honestly, I don’t know. I have no idea. I’ve won three slams now in 12 months. I can’t believe it myself,” the 36-year-old Federer told reporters.

“I just got to keep a good schedule, stay hungry, then maybe good things can happen. Then I don’t think age is an issue, per se. It’s just a number.

“But I need to be very careful in my planning, really decide beforehand what are my goals, what are my priorities. 

“I think that’s what’s going to dictate how successful I will be,” added Federer, whose decision to skip the entire claycourt season last year despite being fit paid off when he claimed a record eighth Wimbledon title last July.

‘Exciting times ahead’

Although speeding to victory in the deciding set, Federer came into the match a bundle of nerves, having been denied a proper semifinal against South Korea’s Chung Hyeon, who retired hurt in the second set.

“I didn’t fall asleep very well after the Chung match,” said Federer.

“I think it surprised me that at this stage of a competition in semis, to get a walkover, that was very odd for me.

“I couldn’t fall asleep until about three in the morning.

“All of the next day I was already thinking about how should I play Marin, ‘how cool would it be to win 20?’, but no, don’t think of it, ‘but how horrible would it be to lose it’.

“I had it for over 36 hours, to be honest. It was a lot.”

Cilic roared back into the match after the opening set and had break points on Federer’s serve early in the decider.

The Swiss said experience and “a bit of luck” had got him over the line to equal Djokovic and Roy Emerson’s record of six Australian Open titles.

“Defending my title from last year, sort of the fairytale continues,” he said.

“That’s what stands out for me, maybe not equalling Emerson or Novak. They had their own unbelievable careers.

“It’s definitely a very special moment in my life again.”

Meanwhile, Chung Hyeon will miss next week’s Sofia Open after failing to recover from the foot injury that forced him to retire from his Australian Open semifinal against Roger Federer, organisers said on Tuesday.

LONDON — For all Pep Guardiola’s insistence that the quadruple represents an impossible dream, Manchester City have never been better placed to win all four trophies in one season.

A further boost to their chances should be delivered this week with British media reporting that City will break their own transfer record by paying Athletic Bilbao £57 million ($80 million) for Aymeric Laporte.

The Frenchman, who would be eligible for the Champions League, is considered one of Europe’s most promising defenders and would provide cover at left back, where City have been weakened by injury, or at the heart of the back four.

Laporte’s arrival ahead of Wednesday’s transfer deadline would be a welcome boost for Guardiola as he ponders how to martial his resources on four fronts.

That task is made much easier by City’s 12-point lead in the Premier League which they are on course to win in record time, well ahead of the Manchester United team of 2000-01 who did so with five games to spare.

City are also well placed on the other three fronts with a final berth secured against Arsenal in the League Cup, a comfortable-looking Champions League last-16 tie against Basel coming up and a place booked in the FA Cup fifth round.

The best measure of City’s progress is that two years ago they also went into February contesting on four fronts, although six points adrift in the Premier League.

Weakened side

Determined to make up ground, and with a Champions league tie coming up, manager Manuel Pellegrini played a weakened side in the FA Cup fifth-round tie at Chelsea, which City lost 5-1.

Although Guardiola also rotated in City’s fourth-round tie at Cardiff on Sunday, starting Sergio Aguero on the bench, City’s side remained strong with man of the season Kevin De Bruyne directing operations in midfield and Raheem Sterling up front. Aguero was sent on when Leroy Sane was injured.

The Germany international faces a few weeks on the sidelines after limping off at halftime following a foul by Joe Bennett in City’s 2-0 fourth round win.

Guardiola was clearly angered by Cardiff’s physical approach and animatedly spoke to referee Lee Mason after the game.

Speaking about Sane in his post-match news conference, Guardiola said: “He will be out for a while, minimum two to three weeks or a month. We will see tomorrow exactly.”

Guardiola wants referees to do more to protect the players, who he labelled as artists, from being repeatedly fouled.

“I have said many times, all the referees have to do is protect the players — not just the Manchester City players, all players,” added the Spaniard.

Predictably, Guardiola used the German winger’s likely absence over the next few weeks to deflect attention away from quadruple talk.

“I do not have enough players, I have players out injured. It is impossible,” said the Spaniard, who twice won variations of the treble with Barcelona.

Only one British team, Celtic in 1967, have won all four major trophies in one season, but others have gone close.

Liverpool bagged the league, European Cup and League Cup in 1984 while Manchester United secured an even more illustrious treble of Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup in 1999.

Eight years later Chelsea competed on all four fronts until May 1 when Liverpool knocked them out in the Champions League semi finals. The Blues went on to win both domestic cups and finished second in the Premier League.

City look on course to better that and their former England defender Joleon Lescott is among those who think they can.

“If anyone can, they can,” he told the BBC. “If they get some luck, they could do it.”

Just do not mention it to Guardiola.

AMMAN — Faisali will play Uzbekistan’s Nasaf Qarshi on January 30 in the 2018 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League play-off match with the aim of qualifying for Group Stage of the event.

Should Faisali advance, they will play in Group 3 alongside the UAE’s Wasl, Iran’s Persepolis FC and Qatar’s Sadd. Jordanian teams have never before made it past the ACL preliminary round. Wihdat were knocked out in 2017, 2016 and 2015, while Shabab Urdun were eliminated in 2014.

In 2017, then reigning league champs Wihdat were eliminated by the UAE’s Wihda in the playoffs after eliminating India’s Bengaluru FC in the preliminary round. Wihdat were also Jordan’s representative in 2016 and were knocked out early by Saudi Arabia’s Ittihad Jeddah. In 2015, they lost to former titleholders Kuwait’s Qadissieh. In 2014, Shabab Urdun were eliminated by Bahrain’s Al Hidd.

The 2018 AFC Champions League is the 37th edition of Asia’s premier club football tournament organised by the AFC, and the 16th under the current AFC Champions League title.

Faisali hope to build on last season’s success when they combined their local league triumph and finished runner-up to Tunisia’s Tarajji in the Arab Clubs Championships.

Should Faisali be knocked out they will play in the AFC Cup — the second-tier Asian club competition. Last year, Wihdat were eliminated from the 14th AFC Cup West Asia zone semifinals. The West Asia zone champ faced the winner from the rest of the Asian zones to decide the AFC Cup champion.

The AFC Cup was previously won three times by Jordanian teams: Faisali won titles in 2005 and 2006, and Shabab Urdun won in 2007.

MELBOURNE — A determined Caroline Wozniacki held firm to shake off a tenacious challenge from Simona Halep, edging a classic Australian Open final 7-6(2), 3-6, 6-4 to claim her first Grand Slam title on Saturday.

After a captivating tussle played out in stifling humidity at a floodlit Rod Laver Arena, the Dane hung tough in a see-saw final set to claim the thriller when Halep wavered on serve.

The result ensured Wozniacki swiped Halep’s world number one ranking, six years after losing it at the 2012 Australian Open.

“I have to take a second to hug Daphne... it’s a dream come true, and my voice is shaking, it’s a very emotional moment,” a teary-eyed Wozniacki said, cradling the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup at the presentation ceremony.

“I want to congratulate Simona. I know today is a tough day and I’m sorry I had to win.

“It was an incredible match and an incredible fight, again I’m sorry.”

After closing out the nerve-shredding win when Halep netted a backhand, an overwhelmed Wozniacki threw her racket away and collapsed onto the blue hardcourt as the packed terraces roared.

It was third time lucky for Wozniacki following her runner-up finishes at the 2009 and 2014 US Opens. 

Both players battled leg problems in the taxing two hour and 49 minute encounter, the first clash of two non-Slam champions in 38 years at the Australian Open. 

After battling through a fortnight blighted by an ankle problem, Halep was gallant in defeat, but she let Wozniacki back into the match after breaking her three consecutive times in the final set.

“It’s not easy to talk now but first of all I want to congratulate Caroline, she played amazing... It’s been a great tournament to me,” the twice French Open runner-up told the crowd.

“Of course I’m sad I couldn’t win today but Caroline was better than me.”

The temperature was 32°C when the players took the court and they were quickly racked with sweat after a handful of rallies.

Wozniacki’s edge in power told early as she roared to a 3-0 lead in the opening set before Halep could find her range.

The Dane edged a breathless 17-shot rally laden with lobs, volleys and dropshots to keep Halep at bay and held serve to 5-2.

A hollering fan at 0-15 made her pause on serve and she suddenly lost focus to be broken with a tepid slice that floated long.

But there was to be no Wozniacki wobble in the tiebreak.

She closed it out with a blazing shot that all but knocked the racket out of Halep’s hand.

The Romanian was on the back foot and suddenly dizzy, and she called a medical timeout to have her blood pressure taken after holding serve to 3-2 in the second set.

She then began grabbing at her left thigh after points, but somehow found the energy to break Wozniacki with a swashbuckling forehand down the line.

Nothing would come easy for Halep, who saved further break points in a nervous service game before claiming the set with a risky dropshot that Wozniacki failed to deal with.

Romanians in the terraces went ballistic at the breakthrough, but were silenced as Wozniacki took full advantage of her opponent’s weakening second serve to break her to 2-0 with a fiery return.

The grind of a long fortnight suddenly came to the fore as both players threw away their serve, but Halep nudged in front when Wozniacki’s forehand deserted her.

It all looked grim for the 27-year-old Dane as a trainer strapped her leg at the change of ends, but she hung tough to break back before holding serve for the first time in three attempts.

Sensing her moment with Halep flagging as she served out the match, Wozniacki held on grimly until the Romanian finally buckled.

MELBOURNE — World No. 1 Simona Halep quelled a tenacious Angelique Kerber fightback and saved two match points to reach her first Australian Open final with a 6-3, 4-6, 9-7 victory in a compelling scrap on Rod Laver Arena on Thursday.

A wildly unpredictable match veered one way, then the other, before Romanian Halep ended Kerber’s resistance on her fourth match point in a spellbinding deciding set that pushed both players to the limit of their endurance.

Former champion Kerber, who won only five points in losing the opening five games, was jelly-legged at times but fought off two match points in the 10th game of the third set before seeing two of her own go begging two games later.

Halep’s insatiable desire for a maiden Grand Slam title proved the key ingredient in the end as an exhausted Kerber struck a backhand over the baseline.

She will now face Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki in the first Australian Open final between two players still chasing one of the four majors since 1980. To add spice to the showdown between the top two seeds, the No. 1 ranking is also on the line.

“I had confidence in myself. I said to myself ‘I will fight for every point and have a big rest after the tournament’,” Halep, who also saved match points in a three-hour marathon against Lauren Davis in round three, said on court.

“I tried to be calm but today I was like a roller-coaster, up and down. If you don’t give up, you can win the match in the end. I’m really proud of myself actually.”

She will need to dredge the depths of her energy reserves against Wozniacki if she is to join the Grand Slam winners’ circle after losing two heart-breaking French Open finals.

“If it’s going to come, it’s going to come,” added the 26-year-old.

Halep predicted a marathon against former World No. 1 Kerber but when she charged to a 5-0 lead in 14 minutes it looked as though she might have caught the German on an off-day.

Catching fire

However, Kerber roused herself to win 12 of the next 13 points and although Halep closed the set, the touch-paper had been lit.

It felt like Halep was turning the screw when she ran a red-faced Kerber into the ground to seize a 3-1 lead in the second set, but the match was about really catch fire.

Kerber broke back in the next and saved two break points at 3-4 before breaking Halep in the next game when the Romanian struck a wayward backhand into the tramlines.

A netted forehand by Halep set up a decider that will go down as one of the most memorable witnessed at Melbourne Park.

At various times, both players were left propping themselves up with their rackets, lungs heaving, as the rallies grew ever more excruciating.

Kerber won a 22-point exchange featuring drop shots, moon balls and impossible gets to break at the start of the third but Halep hit back immediately, and eventually worked her way into a 5-3 lead. 

Kerber was literally on her knees when she struck a sensational backhand to win a 26-point exchange to break back. Halep had two match points at 5-4 but watched a Kerber winner fly by before missing a backhand.

Halep began to feel the strain, looking daggers at her coach Darren Cahill as Kerber broke to lead 6-5 and then led 40-15, only for Houdini-like Halep to extricate herself.

It was exhausting to watch as the battle raged on but Halep found some extra aggression, crashing two forehand winners for an 8-7 lead before holding her nerve to finish it.

MELBOURNE — A momentary loss of Roger Federer’s trademark cool enlivened an otherwise routine victory by the defending champion over Tomas Berdych as the Swiss player moved into the semifinals of the Australian Open on Wednesday.

Federer’s ninth successive defeat of the burly Czech, this time 7-6(1), 6-3, 6-4, was not all smooth sailing for the 36-year-old who snapped at umpire Fergus Murphy in the first set.

His mini-rant about malfunctioning Hawkeye technology when Berdych served for the opening set said much about the struggle Federer was having to contain the 19th seeded powerhouse.

But in the end all was well for Federer, who reached his record-extending 43rd Grand Slam semifinal where he will face 21-year-old South Korean sensation Chung Hyeon.

It is the 11th time Federer has reached the final four of a Slam without dropping a set and, with Rafa Nadal out of action, he is clear favourite to win a 20th Grand Slam title and sixth Australian Open.

Federer had dropped only two sets in his previous eight matches against Berdych but came desperately close to losing the opener on Rod Laver Arena when the 32-year-old served at 5-3, having secured an early break.

Berdych had one set point but Federer blazed a backhand past him to snuff out the danger, before breaking with an equally sublime swish of his matt black racket to break.

The main talking point of the match had arrived a few points earlier though with Berdych 15-40 down. Federer thought a serve was out despite no call and immediately challenged.

Unfortunately, however, the usual video playback failed and Federer was told by Murphy that the serve was in.

When announcing that Federer had lost his challenge, the Swiss saw red and marched to the chair.

“Are you comfortable with this?” he said, as the crowd booed. “You can’t steal my challenge. You’re okay with this?”

Federer then dumped a forehand in the net before refocussing and taking the set into a tiebreak in which he allowed Berdych one point — taking the set with an impudent drop shot. 

Later, with his 92nd Australian Open victory in the bag, Federer played down the incident.

“I hung around, got a bit lucky, a bit angry, a bit frustrated at the umpire,” Federer said in the now obligatory comedy duo on-court interview with Jim Courier.

After the first-set dramas it was routine with Federer breaking decisively for 5-3 with an easy backhand winner after Berdych’s half volley sat up begging.

Berdych could have thrown in the towel when he fell behind in the third set, but kept Federer on his toes by breaking back.

It only delayed the inevitable, though, as Federer broke again and completed the job with a love service game.

“Coming back from 5-2 in the first set, it was clearly big tonight,” Federer, the oldest man to reach the semis here since Ken Rosewall in 1977, told reporters.

Federer’s said Nadal’s retirement in the fifth set against Marin Cilic the previous evening, scuppering a repeat of last year’s epic final, had played on his mind.

“I feel that’s exactly the moment when you stumble. That’s why I think I was actually very nervous going into this match tonight, and that’s why I struggled early on,” he said.

“I knew the danger of Berdych. Seeing what happened to so many other top seeds here in the draw, I was a bit wary.”