“Smoldering Intensity”! That’s the keyword. Tennis great Roger Federer sent a tweet to Dwayne Johnson showing off his own version of smoldering intensity:

Hey @TheRock, am I doing the "Smoldering Intensity" right? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/5A5ILEXYNK

— Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) January 12, 2018

When the GOAT tweets you, you respond. And The Rock did with an explanation of the term, which comes from his latest …

Defending champion and seven-time champion Serena Williams is out, but six women can leave this year’s Australian Open with the No. 1 ranking, including current No. 1 Simona Halep who has no points to defend.

Unseeded Maria Sharapova and lower seeds such as Angelique Kerber, Petra Kvitova and Madison Keys will keep the Top 10 players on their toes as a first-time champion is likely to break through in Melbourne.

Here’s a …

A good sign for Novak Djokovic. The Serb, who did play in a couple exos this week, had more encouraging news with coach Andre Agassi flying over.

Agassi injured his shoulder which forced him out of an exo in Australia. And with Djokovic’s elbow issue, there was little need for the former champion to fly to Down Under.

But Agassi is on his way indicating that Djokovic’s elbow is doing well enough …

The Australian Open men’s draw really is a tale of two halves. On the top of the draw, sits Rafael Nadal in the customary No. 1 slot, but few foes loom on that page.

In fact, in the entire top half, besides Nadal, Marin Cilic is the only other Grand Slam champion. And he got some great projected seeds in a third round clash with Damir Dzumhur, 16 John Isner in …

A year after coming off a career-threatening knee injury, Roger Federer is remarkably now the healthiest guy among the big names on the circuit. Did anyone see that happening? I sure didn’t.

Truly incredible that at age 36, he’s still the man and still the favorite to win Grand Slams, including the 2018 Australian Open.

And while he’s healthy, Rafael Nadal is again a question mark with his knees. Novak Djokovic hasn’t …

As a custody dispute over baby Leo with ex Billy McKeague continues, 2-time champion Victoria Azarenka withdrew yesterday from the Australian Open.

“It’s unfortunate ‘Vika’ is unable to travel to Australia this year. The Australian Open is her favourite tournament and she’s looking forward to returning to Melbourne next year,” tournament director Craig Tiley said.

The 28-year-old former No. 1 has not played since Wimbledon.

In a surprise announcement, Andy Murray underwent hip surgery Monday in Melbourne, Australia. The Scot was reported to have flown home last week after withdrawing from the Australian Open, but instead flew to Melbourne to have this procedure done. He now hopes to return for the grass season, which means he’ll have missed about a year of action.

“Today I underwent successful right hip surgery at the St Vincent Hospital in …

Americans make up three of the Top 4 seeds this week in Auckland where Jack Sock will attempt to defend his title as the No. 1 seed.

He will face stiff competition from former Grand Slam winner Juan Martin del Potro, fellow Americans Sam Querrey and John Isner, and rising stars Denis Shapopalov and Andrey Rublev.

Here’s a look at the field:

ASB CLASSIC
AUCKLAND, New Zealand; Surface: hard

Seeds: Jack Sock, Juan Martin del …

Julia Goerges is playing the best tennis of her career at age 29.

The big-hitting German was touted as a “next” contender when she came on the scene in 2010-11 with her first WTA titles in Austria and Germany, but that was the end of it for the next six years. The year 2017 saw a resurgence when at the end of the season she won at Moscow and Zhuhai, climbing …

The mercurial Nick Kyrgios began the year with his first title since 2016 on Sunday, defeating unseeded American Ryan Harrison 6-4, 6-2 in the final of the Brisbane International.

It was the fourth career title for the 22 year old, and the first in his home Australia.

“I felt good all week. I felt right at home,” Kyrgios told the crowd afterwards. “Every time I stepped out here you gave me such …

Genie Bouchard and rising star Naomi Okaka add some spice to leading seeds Zhang Shuai and defending champ Elise Mertens at the Hobart International in Australia.

Here’s a look at the field:

HOBART INTERNATIONAL
HOBART, Tasmania, Australia; Surface: hard

Seeds: Zhang Shuai, Elise Mertens, Sorana Cirstea, Alize Cornet, Lesia Tsurenko, Irina-Camelia Begu, Tatjana Maria, Katerina Siniakova

Floaters: Genie Bouchard, Naomi Osaka, Alison Riske, Donna Vekic

Notes: No Top 30 players in the field…Floaters are almost the …

A stellar women’s field and a less-than-stellar men’s slate greet the famed Sydney tour event this week, here’s a look at the field:

SYDNEY INTERNATIONAL
SYDNEY, Australia; Surface: hard

Women’s Seeds: Garbine Muguruza, Venus Williams, Jelena Ostapenko, Johanna Konta, Kristina Mladenovic, Sloane Stephens, Julia Goerges, Anastasija Sevastova

Women’s Floaters: Kiki Bertens, Daria Gavrilova, Sam Stosur, Ekaterina Makarova, (Q) Camila Giorgi, Petra Kvitova, Aggie Radwanska, Dominika Cibulkova, Lucie Safarova, Angie Kerber

Women’s Notes: Four of the …

Doha has been historically good to Gael Monfils.

After a down 2017, the Frenchman on Saturday used the Qatar Open to jumpstart his 2018, winning his first title of the year in the first week with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Andrey Rublev in the final.

The 31-year-old won his first Doha title in his fourth final.

“I like this tournament so much,” said Monfils, who benefited from a semifinal walkover win …

Whatever Gilles Simon’s off-season consisted of, we’ll take one of those.

The 33-year-old Frenchman, who posted a struggling 16-25 record and finished outside the Top 50 in 2017, won his first tournament of the year on Saturday at the ATP event in Pune, India, in the final upsetting No. 2 seed Kevin Anderson 7-6(4), 6-2 to win a first title in more than two years.

“I never beat Kevin before so to …

Last year was a tight finish on the WTA rankings. Six players vyed for the top spot entering the year-end championships. Current world No. 6 Elina Svitolina was one of those players, and this weekend she showed it will be difficult to keep her from ascending to the No. 1 spot for the first time.

Svitolina recorded a 6-2, 6-1 beating of qualifier Aliaksandra Sasnovich to win the Brisbane International title …