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Tuesday At Melbourne Park Melbourne, Australia Purse: AUD111,500,000 Surface: Hardcourt outdoor MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA (AP) _ Results Tuesday from Australian Open at Melbourne Park (seedings in parentheses): Women’s Singles First Round Katerina Siniakova, Czechia, def. Panna Udvardy, Hungary, 6-1, 6-2. Ashlyn Krueger, United States, def. Sara Bejlek, Czechia, 6-3, 6-3. Tereza Valentova, Czechia, def. Maya Joint (30), Australia, 6-4, 6-4. Taylah Preston, Australia, def. Zhang Shuai, China, 6-3, 2-6, 6-3. Varvara Gracheva, Russia, def. Viktorija Golubic, Switzerland, 6-1, 2-6, 6-1. Janice Tjen, Indonesia, def. Leylah Fernandez (22), Canada, 6-2, 7-6 (1). Men’s Doubles First Round Tomas Martin Etcheverry and Camilo Ugo Carabelli, Argentina, def. Andrey Golubev and Aleksandr Nedovyesov, Kazakhstan, 6-3, 6-4. Women’s Doubles First Round Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini (2), Italy, def. Maia Lumsden, Britain, and Qianhui Tang, China, 6-3, 6-2. Source

Guatemala President Bernardo Arévalo declared a state of emergency following a surge of gang-related violence that included prison riots and the killing of several police officers over the weekend. ___ This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors. Source

Italian designer Valentino Garavani was known for his glamorous gowns and signature “Valentino red,” which were fashion show staples for nearly half a century. On Monday his foundation announced he had died. This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors. Source

SEATTLE (AP) — After he rushed for his third touchdown in the Seattle Seahawks’ 41-6 win over the San Francisco 49ers in the divisional playoffs, Kenneth Walker III chucked the ball into the crowd. Walker, who tied Shaun Alexander’s record for TD runs in a playoff game, was grateful for his opportunity to make franchise history. “It means a lot,” Walker said after Saturday night’s victory. “We worked at it all season. I just got to give the credit to the O-line. They had the holes there, and all I had to do was hit it.” With the Seahawks one win away from the Super Bowl, they will need to rely on Walker as much as they have all season when they host the NFC West rival Los Angeles Rams on Sunday in the NFC championship game. Seattle’s second-leading rusher, Zach Charbonnet, will miss the remainder of the playoffs with a knee injury that requires surgery. “When he’s running the ball like he is,” offensive lineman Grey Zabel said of Walker, “it’s pretty incredible. It’s super fun to block for a guy like that, we just love doing our job up front.” Walker rushed for 116 yards against the 49ers, his most this season. Over his last four games, Walker has 364 yards on 61 carries (a 5.96-yard average) with four touchdowns. He had 1,027 yards rushing and five touchdowns in the regular season, while Charbonnet had 730 yards and 12 TDs. Walker said improved vision contributed to his success, as well as trusting the linemen in front of him to do their jobs. Seattle’s run game, which struggled earlier in the season, has been wearing down defenses in recent weeks. “You can see it when they’re breathing, they’re tired,” Walker said. “They’re slow to get up. You can see it being demoralizing to them. We just got to keep doing that.” If the Seahawks are going to succeed on the ground against the Rams, the load will fall on Walker. He’s the only healthy running back on the roster, although Seattle has options on its practice squad. What’s working While NFL receiving leader Jaxon Smith-Njigba had a quiet night against the 49ers, Cooper Kupp picked up the slack. The 2021 Offensive Player of the Year had five catches for 60 yards, his highest totals since a Dec. 14 win over Indianapolis. Kupp’s regular season was his least productive since 2018, but he provides playoff experience the Seahawks need. What needs help Tight end AJ Barner was not targeted against San Francisco, the first time since early November that he did not have a pass thrown his way. Barner should be part of the game plan against Los Angeles, though. He had four catches for 49 yards and a touchdown in the Seahawks’ win over the Rams on Dec. 18. Stock up The Seahawks’ defense has held opponents to a combined 19 points over its last three games. The last offensive touchdown Seattle allowed was a rushing score by Carolina quarterback Bryce Young in Week 17. Stock down While Rashid Shaheed has been a dynamic contributor on special teams — he returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown against the 49ers — he has done little in the pass game. Over the last four games, Shaheed has two catches for 10 yards on five targets. Injuries In a radio interview on Monday, coach Mike Macdonald said left tackle Charles Cross’ departure from Saturday’s game with a foot injury was a precautionary move. “Day to day with Charles,” Macdonald said. “We’re going to work through that, day-to-day is the best way to put it.” Later Monday, Macdonald said Cross wouldn’t necessarily need to practice in order to play Sunday. Quarterback Sam Darnold played through an oblique injury and is expected to continue receiving treatment throughout the week. Macdonald said Darnold would get the practice reps he needs. Key number 8 — Consecutive wins by the Seahawks. Seattle’s longest win streak is 11 games, set during the 2005 season, which included its first-ever playoff victory and a trip to the Super Bowl. Next steps The Seahawks hope to beat the Rams for the second time this season and advance to the fourth Super…

Ryan Picillo scored what turned out to be the go-ahead goal in the first period, helping propel Mount Olive/Hopatcong/Hackettstown tri-op to a 3-1 victory over Watchung Hills at Mennen Arena in Morris Township.Now 11-7 and winners of six straight, the Marauders also received a third period insurance goal from Ryan Walsh in this one.