Canada's Stakusic leaves court in a wheelchair as Australian Open warms up

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Canada's Stakusic leaves court in a wheelchair as Australian Open warms up

2026-01-19 15:11 Last Updated At：01-20 15:25

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Helping her opponent Marina Stakusic leave court in a wheelchair wasn't how Priscilla Hon envisioned the scene when she finally returned to the second round of the Australian Open for the first time since 2020.

Hon was leading 1-6, 6-4, 5-3 when her Canadian rival needed treatment for severe leg cramps on ANZ Arena on Monday. The temperature was around 29 Celsius (84 Fahrenheit) and not particularly humid, by local standards in summer.

Stakusic was one of two Canadian players to struggle with cramps on Day 2 of the season's first major, with men's No. 7 Felix Auger-Aliassime also retiring from his match with Nuno Borges of Portugal. Borges led 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 after about two hours when the 25-year-old Auger-Aliassime walked to the net to shake hands.

“I can’t recall ever in my life (cramping) this early in a tournament, this early in a match,” Auger-Aliassime said. “I’m OK, but I just started cramping at the start of the third set. Yeah, it became very difficult to be competitive at this level.”

Stakusic was on court for two hours and was in obvious distress when medical staff called for a wheelchair to help her off the court. Hon held the Canadian qualifier's left leg as she was wheeled toward the exit and the pair were able to talk briefly.

“I really hope she does feel better. That was quite a scene out there,” Hon said. “I had quite a few people come up to me and be, like, ‘Wow, that was so dramatic.’”

Hon said she was comfortable in the conditions, which have been consistently warm but not humid at Melbourne Park.

“I mean, I’m Australian, so I should be quite used to it,” she said. “It was definitely warm out there, and I think as well with the nerves, the stress levels, it just all impacts it.”

Conditions were similar on Day 1 of the tournament, when Turkish qualifier Zeynep Sönmez rushed to the aid of an ailing ballkid during her first-round upset win over No. 11 Ekaterina Alexandrova.

Sönmez was receiving serve in the ninth game of the second set when a ballkid wobbled, lost balance and stumbled backward with what appeared to be heat-related sickness. The ballkid stood up quickly but started wobbling again, and Sönmez went to the courtside and put an arm around her waist to help her into some shade.

The ballkid was treated and quickly recovered , the tournament said.

Maximum temperatures are expected to be slightly cooler during the first week but increase on Saturday.

NATO allies bewildered by Trump's about-face on US troop moves in Europe

HELSINGBORG, Sweden (AP) — NATO allies and defense officials expressed bewilderment Friday at U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement that he would send 5,000 U.S. troops to Poland just weeks after ordering the same number of forces pulled out of Europe.

The apparent change of mind came after weeks of statements from Trump and his administration about reducing — not increasing — the U.S. military footprint in Europe. Trump's initial order set off a flurry of action among military commanders and left allies already doubtful about America's commitment to Europe's security to ponder what forces they might have to backfill on NATO's eastern flank with Russia and Ukraine.

Earlier this month, the Trump administration said it was reducing levels in Europe by about 5,000 troops, and U.S. officials confirmed about 4,000 service members were no longer rotating into Poland from Germany. The dispatch to Germany of U.S. personnel trained to fire long-range missiles was also halted.

But in a post on Truth Social on Thursday, Trump said he would now send "an additional 5,000 Troops to Poland,” citing his strong ties with Polish President Karol Nawrocki, whom Trump endorsed in elections last year.

“It is confusing indeed, and not always easy to navigate,” Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard told reporters Friday at a meeting she was hosting of her NATO counterparts, including U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Ministers from the Netherlands and Norway were sanguine about Trump’s latest move, as was Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braže, who said allies knew the U.S. troop “posture was being reconsidered, and now there is no change of posture. For now.”

U.S. defense officials also expressed confusion. “We just spent the better part of two weeks reacting to the first announcement. We don’t know what this means either,” said one of two officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military matters.

But Rubio said Washington’s allies understand that changes in the U.S. troop presence in Europe will come as the Trump administration reevaluates its force needs. “I think there’s a broad recognition that there are going to be eventually less U.S. troops in Europe than there has historically been for a variety of reasons,” he said.

The latest surprise came despite a U.S. pledge to coordinate troop deployments, including one from NATO’s top military officer, U.S. Lt. Gen. Alex Grynkewich, on Wednesday.

Trump's initial announcement that he would withdraw troops came as he fumed over remarks by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who said that the U.S. was being “humiliated” by the Iranian leadership and criticized what he called a lack of strategy in that war.

Trump told reporters that the U.S. would be cutting even more than 5,000 and also announced new tariffs on European cars. Germany is the continent’s biggest auto producer.

Rubio insisted that Trump’s decision “is not a punitive thing. It’s just something that’s ongoing.”

About 80,000 U.S. troops are stationed in Europe. The Pentagon is required to keep at least 76,000 troops and major equipment on the continent unless NATO allies are consulted and there is a determination that such a withdrawal is in U.S. interests.

The withdrawal of 5,000 troops might drop numbers below that limit.

But Trump's latest post suggests that troop numbers in Europe would not change. Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski welcomed the decision to send more forces to his country, saying it ensures that “the presence of American troops in Poland will be maintained more or less at previous levels.”

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte also welcomed the move. On Thursday, before Trump took to Truth Social again, Rutte had underlined that it was important for Europe to take care of its own security. “We have a process in place. This is normal business,” he told reporters.

At NATO headquarters in Brussels, meanwhile, U.S. officials briefed the allies on the Pentagon's aims for its commitments to the NATO Force Model, which involves contingency planning for Europe’s defense in the event of serious security concerns. It was widely expected that a further reduction of U.S. forces would be coming.

Asked whether any cuts were announced, Rutte said: “I’m afraid it’s much more complicated than that.” He said the procedure “is highly classified” and declined to give details.

Rubio played down concerns about a shift in U.S. force levels in Europe, saying: "Every country has to constantly reevaluate what their needs are, what their commitments are around the world, and how to properly structure that.”

Cook reported from Brussels. Associated Press writer Emma Burrows in London contributed.