844 million viewers watched this year's ATP Tour matches

Before the start of an emotional season, the ATP revealed that a total of 844 million people watched live broadcasts of ATP tour tennis matches this season.

Starting with the United Cup won by the United States team until Novak Djokovic lifted the seventh ATP Finals trophy, the best tennis players amazed fans around the world.

According to ATP records, quoted Thursday, a total of 844 million live broadcast viewers watched 63 tournaments in 31 countries.

"Fans continue to show their love for this sport, with five million fans attending the tournament and 500,000 new followers on social media," said the ATP on its official website.

The 2024 season will start with a bang, with the world's best players competing in the United Cup.

World number 1 Novak Djokovic and Iga Swiatek will take to the court in Perth. Stefanos Tsitsipas and Angelique Kerber are also among those who will be in action in Sydney in the mixed team event in which 18 countries are participating.

The players have started arriving in Sydney for the second edition of the United Cup, they continued their preparations with training, Wednesday (27/12).

Felix Auger-Aliassime and Alexander Zverev shared the pitch at the Ken Rosewall Arena for a star-studded training session.

Last year, Zverev made the United Cup his comeback after suffering a serious ankle injury he suffered at Roland Garros in 2022.

Apart from the United Cup, 2024 will also be a new start for Rafael Nadal who will appear at the Brisbane International, an ATP hard court event 250 which also features Holger Rune and Grigor Dimitrov.

Meanwhile, Andrey Rublev leads the draw at the Hong Kong Tennis Open, where the tournament will be held for the first time since 2002.

Portugal national team coach reveals a surprise regarding Ronaldo's retirement date

The Portuguese national team's coach, the Spanish Roberto Martinez, revealed a surprise regarding the retirement date of Portugal's all-time top scorer Cristiano Ronaldo, the star of the Saudi Al-Nasr club.

Martinez said in statements reported by the global website “Goal”: “I spoke with Ronaldo when he was very close to reaching 200 international matches, something that no one had ever done before.”

He added: “I said to Ronaldo, ‘Is reaching 200 international matches something that interests you or not?’ But he told me, ‘I am interested in reaching 250 matches with Portugal.’”

Ronaldo, 38 years old, has played 205 international matches so far with Portugal, and if he wants to reach 250 international matches, he must continue to carry his country’s national team shirt until the 2026 World Cup.

Therefore, Ronaldo may continue playing for the Portugal national team until he reaches the age of 41, noting that “The Don” has stated on more than one occasion that he will continue playing as long as his body allows him to do so.

It is noteworthy that Ronaldo is about to end the year 2023 as the best scorer in the world, with 53 goals with Al-Nasr and the Portuguese national team in all tournaments.