BOULTER’S THE HEAD GIRL

ALEXANDER ZVEREV claimed he has the backing of fellow players despite facing a trial over an allegation of assault against his former girlfriend.

A German court ordered the Olympic champion (below) to pay fines of 450,000 euros over the alleged assault against former partner Brenda Patea in 2020. But Zverev’s lawyers contested the ruling so the case will now be resolved back in court.

The 2020 US Open finalist, elected to the Player Advisory

Council of the ATP this month, was asked if he still had the confidence of his fellow players. He said: “Yeah, I think so. I don’t have a reason not to believe that.”

But women’s world No.1 Iga Swiatek said: “For sure it’s not good when a player who’s facing charges like that is kind of being promoted.”

FROM NEIL MCLEMAN in Melbourne KATIE BOULTER tapped her head with her racquet to celebrate her first win at the Australian Open for five years

The British No.1 (below) failed to take two match points against China’s Yuan Yue at 5-4 in the second set when she served a double fault and then dumped a forehand into the bottom of the net.

But she then raced to victory in the tiebreak and shared the moment with her entourage.

Boulter, who won 7-6 7-6, said: “It took a lot of strength to come back from that. I did the racquet celebration quite a bit last year where I’m touching my head, pointing to it. For me it’s just about reminding myself that I’m not going anywhere. I’m staying tough no matter what the situation is. I’m going to back myself in the best moments.

“I don’t feel like it was my best tennis out there but I feel like I found a way. I’m proud of myself for the way that I fought and ultimately found a way to win.”

THE bugs bothered Carlos Alcaraz in his first match at the Australian Open for two years, and so did Richard Gasquet. For the first set, at least.

After taking an hour and 12 minutes to clinch the opener in a tiebreaker, Alcaraz raced through the rest of the match in another hour against the 37-year-old veteran for a 7-6 6-1 6-2 win.

The first two games took a combined 17 minutes, with the second-ranked Spaniard (right) needing a few moments to try to remove a persistent insect that was bothering him near the baseline.

Both players used their rackets to push the bugs away after the eighth game, and Alcaraz was at it again after the first set.

There were few distractions after that until the 20-year-old was serving for the match and he wrapped it up with an ace.