Tennis’ on- and off-court battles head to Australia. Plus: Another shock MLB signing

The Pulse Newsletter 📣 | This is The Athletic’s daily sports newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Pulse directly in your inbox. Down Under: Tennis’ most pressing clashes, on and off the court Australian Open action begins in Melbourne tonight. See the full draw here and key storylines here. For now, let’s take a step back and check in on the state of the tennis world. We’ll start on the court, where the word “parity” is on the verge of extinction from the tennis lexicon. Well, at least on the men’s side. Since 2024, only two other men have won a tournament that both Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have entered: Andrey Rublev in Madrid nearly two years ago (Sinner withdrew due to injury) and … amateur Jordan Smith, who won the exhibition “One Point Slam” this week. To further contextualize their dominance: • Alcaraz and Sinner have split all eight Grand Slam titles over the last two seasons. By comparison, the women’s game saw four different Grand Slam champions last year alone. • Reminder: Alcaraz is 22, Sinner is 24. A title in Australia would make Alcaraz the youngest man to earn a career Grand Slam. (Rafael Nadal was 24, Roger Federer was 27 and Novak Djokovic was 29.) • It’s also quite remarkable how evenly matched these two are. Across 16 head-to-head matches, Alcaraz and Sinner have each won exactly 1,651 points against each other. Truly absurd. 🤯 Assuming both are healthy, what are the chances someone not named Alcaraz or Sinner wins any of the four Grand Slams this season? The Athletic’s Charlie Eccleshare weighed in: I don’t disagree with Charlie. These two are constantly one-upping each other. On the women’s side, world No. 2 Iga Świątek could also achieve the career Grand Slam in Australia, but she’d have to get past some familiar obstacles. Meanwhile, off the court, tennis’ governing bodies have faced mounting pressure from players that culminated in a pivotal antitrust lawsuit last year. Chief among the players’ complaints: • An increasingly grueling schedule that runs for 11 months of the year. • An unbalanced revenue split that sees players receive about 15 to 20 percent of revenues from the Grand Slams, a stark contrast from most sports. Last week, The Athletic’s senior tennis writer Matthew Futterman reported that the ATP and WTA held a secret meeting to begin digging the sport out of what has become something of a mess. I followed up with Futterman to get his thoughts on the most realistic change that could materially change the trajectory of the sport moving forward: It sounds pretty simple, but this saga has been anything but. The sides appear to be on an unavoidable collision course this season. Here’s to hoping it doesn’t overshadow a blossoming product on the court. Roughly 12 hours after missing out on Kyle Tucker, the Mets agreed to sign Bo Bichette to a three-year deal worth $126 million (with opt-outs after the first two years). The 27-year-old shortstop was The Athletic’sNo. 2 free agent this offseason and is expected to play third base in New York, per our reporting. The Mets just wanted a star, wherever he fit. After learning of Bichette’s deal yesterday, fellow suitor Philadelphia also went ahead and locked in a reunion with top free-agent catcher J.T. Realmuto. • Duke’s Darian Mensah, one of the top returning quarterbacks in college football, notified the school he intends to enter thetransfer portal — less than a month after he announced his return to the Blue Devils. • In other CFB messes: Ole Miss QB Trinidad Chambliss filed a lawsuit challenging the NCAA’s decision to deny him a sixth year of college eligibility, contending he could lose millions of dollars if forced to enter the NFL Draft. Read our full report. • The University of Nebraska announced plans to add women’s flag football, making it the first athletic department in a Power 4 conference to introduce the sport. So in. • “Heated Rivalry” actor François Arnaud called on the NHL to improve its relationship with the LGBTQ+ community as the league embraces the hit TV show. Strong quotes here. • An update to a story we shared earlier this week: The Angels have committed to insuring injured prospect Rio Fosterthrough 2026, and paying out his contract for the season, after he suffered devastating injuries in a September car crash. • Olympic swimmer Yannick Agnel was indicted by a French criminal court for alleged acts of rape and sexual assault on a minor under 15 years old. More details here. 📺 NFL: Bills at Broncos | 4:30 p.m. ET on CBS A banged-up Bills squad heads to Mile High to take on the No. 1 seed Broncos. This matchup will be much different than last year’s 31-7 Buffalo rout in the playoffs. Our panel of NFL coaches and executives picked the Broncos, but bet against Josh Allen at your own risk. 📺 NFL: 49ers at Seahawks | 8 p.m. ET on Fox Speaking of injury-ridden squads that continue to defy the odds, the 49ers are this weekend’s biggest underdog. Seattle’s defense dominated this matchup in Week 18. Seahawks QB Sam Darnold popped up on the injury report this week, but should be good to go. 📺 Australian Open: No. 3 Alexander Zverev vs. Gabriel Diallo | ~8:40 p.m. ET on ESPN Zverev is a distant No. 3 behind Alcaraz and Sinner. Diallo is a young, 6-foot-8 Canadian who could be dangerous. This is today’s best match played at a reasonable hour. (Alcaraz and Aryna Sabalenka, the No. 1 seeds, both play in the middle of the night in the States.) Get tickets to games like this here. This week is a balancing act for the 12 NFL assistant coaches who are preparing for playoff games — and for head-coaching interviews. Jourdan Rodrigue takes a look at the league’s timing puzzle. Coffee subscription services can guarantee access to the freshest possible beans, conveniently delivered to your door. (Plus, no more morning panic that you forgot to restock!) After months of testing, these are the subscriptions that impressed me and my fellow kitchen experts the most. — Lesley Stockton Test your knowledge of this week’s sports news with this quiz. I really enjoyed Pablo Torre’s interview with Rainbolt, who has one of the better and more encouraging internet stories of the last few years. — Chris Branch With the transfer portal closing yesterday, Antonio Morales examined its frequent flyers and picked college football’s Perpetually in the Portal Team. Pro or semi-pro indoor soccer is a great way to get a live soccer fix with little kids. Lots of action and super affordable. We love our local (first-place!) Crunch. Find a league to tap into. — Chris Sprow Add these small-batch buttermilk biscuits to your list of recipes that use up odd amounts of common leftover ingredients. — Torrey Hart 🎥 “The Athletic Show” played a game of “Who Said It?” with quotes from athletes and other celebrities. LeBron or Taylor Swift? Harder than you might think. Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: The inside story of Mike Tomlin’s final meeting as Steelers head coach. Most-read on the website yesterday: NFL insider playoff predictions. (They nailed every pick last week.) 📫 That’s all for now! Say hello at thepulse@theathletic.com, and check out our other newsletters.