The Chapman Report (6)

Jan 3, 2026 by Jeremy

Barring off-night or injury, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz should carve up the tennis Slams between them this year as they are light years ahead of their toiling rivals.

It’s only a week until the Australian Open in which Sinner annihilated Zverev in last year’s final and Bet365 have some interesting specials, not least Sinner at 3/1 to make all four Slam finals – the others being the French, Wimbledon and the US Open – and 11/8 the spindly Italian reaches all four semi-finals. One bet for the bold, the other for the cautious. I recommend backing both. With Djokovic now entering his dotage, who can challenge either of the Big Two?

It’s going to be a fascinating tennis year though hopefully without a repeat of the shoddy Battle of The Sexes. The flickering TV pictures came and went, the poor commentator, based in the U.K., couldn’t enlighten us as to what was going on, then Sabalenka gave us a silly dance to make up for the lack of atmosphere. Woeful.

The one-service rule turned out to favour Kyrgios as Sabalenka’s let her down at crucial moments. What with the odd-looking court, smaller on one side than the other, it just didn’t work and everybody seemed pretty glad when it was over.

The day before the Aussie tennis, on the 11th, we have the Golden Globes which is a sighter for the Oscars in March. Not all the main contenders have reached the U.K. yet but it seems Timothee Chalamet (Marty Supreme) and Jessica Buckley (Hamnet) are the ones to beat though Ethan Hawke, at 5ft 11 somehow persuading us he’s the bitter 5ft nothing lyricist Lorenz Hart in Blue Moon, wouldn’t be a bad 6/1 shot to overturn Chalamet.

The Globes differ from the Oscars as they celebrate TV excellence too and I’m very keen to back Britain in the shape of Erin Doherty at 11/10 for Best Supporting Actress on Television. She plays the psychiatrist in the extraordinarily powerful Adolescence which has already swept the board at the Emmys.

Erin’s scene with the boy charged with murder was hard to take but truly magnificent television. She is odds against because facing her will be the formidable Hannah Einbinder, the beleaguered bisexual comedy writer in Hacks, who is an ever present in this series whereas Doherty, previously recognised for her Princess Anne in The Crown, is just a one-off. Close call.

The golf year is just around the corner though delayed a week because the Kapalua course in Hawaii has been deemed not fit for purpose so The Sentry, the traditional PGA Tour pipe-opener, has been shelved.

We now have the action starting on the two main circuits almost simultaneously on the 15th with the Dubai International and Sony Open. Entries not yet available so I shall just weigh in with a couple of thoughts: the rebel LIV circuit, which tees off in Riyadh at the beginning of February, has ditched 54-hole golf for 72 which surely favours experienced class acts. Expect Ryder Cup heroes Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton, both winless with LIV last year, to put their stamp on proceedings. The 2/1 Hatton with Power to win more than once looks tasty.

Matt Fitzpatrick beat Rory McIlroy in a playoff for the DP World Championship in Dubai last month to round off a spectacular second half to his year. The quiet man from Sheffield is underrated and I’m happy to take 65 on the exchanges for him to grab his second US Open title, this time at Shinnecock Hills on Long Island, New York, in June. He was a good 12th on this tough links-style layout in the 2018 US Open, the last time it was staged there. It’s a par 70 where par is probably a winning score and that’s right up Fitzpatrick’s street.

Fight action in Manchester on the 24th should not be missed. It features Moses Itauma, the hottest heavyweight prospect since Mike Tyson. The Londoner, 21 only a few days ago, has won his last nine fights in a total of 15 minutes. It’s the look of total amazement on the faces of his shell-shocked opponents after they’ve been tagged that marks Itauma down as something exceptional. Only part-time dustmen or has-beens have been used as punchbags so far but Jermaine Franklin is a durable trial horse who will tell us much more about Itauma. Franklin went the distance with Joshua and Whyte but he’ll do well to survive past the fifth if Itauma is as good as I think he is.

You’ll have to wait a while to collect but taking Star Sports’ 5/4 that Usyk and Itauma both go through 2026 unbeaten looks like picking free money up off the floor. The only way that bet would go down is if they face each other and, unless Itauma is badly mismanaged, that’s not going to happen. Hang on to 2027 and Usyk could be retired anyway.