Ws spot Rublev now in the tunnel, working through a practice shot with his physio, all messy mop of red hair.

Head to heads

It hasn’t been a bad year for Alcaraz. He’s collected the French Open and Wimbledon titles, Indian Wells, Beijing, plus reaching (if losing) the Olympic final in Paris. He has, though, only pocketed one title since Wimbledon in mid July.

And there is Alcaraz himself, rolling around on a mat in headphones, flicking through a few downward dogs in a pair of lavender shorts.

News from the Ilie Natase group: Sinner sits on top, followed by Fritz, Medvedev and de Minaur – with all four still in contention.

Alcaraz update: he had an easy-going warm-up this morning, but is – apparently – raring to go.

Just getting some glorious pictures of Turin on a crisp winter’s day, the Po flowing with feeling. On screen, Tim Henman, Laura Robson and Gigi Salmon are raving about the facilities.

Thought Jake Paul turning to boxing was random? How about a pro-footballer dedicating himself to tennis. A lovely piece by Tumaini Carayol on Diego Forlán, formerly of Man United, Villarreal, Atlético Madrid and Inter.

Already this morning, the men’s doubles favourites Mate Pavic and Marcelo Arevalo have clocked up a relatively straightforward win against Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden: 7-5, 6-3.

While we wait, you were probably wondering who had the best hair in men’s tennis?

Preamble