It’s the biggest Wednesday of sport in a while. No better way to get through the middle of the week.

The NBA and NHL Playoffs continued this morning, men’s State of Origin kicks off tonight, and there’s plenty of French Open action with the second round in full swing from 7:00pm.

5 
The number of footballers who have won the A League Women’s best player award, the Julie Dolan medal, more than once. Melbourne Victory midfielder Alex Chidiac became the fifth (after Michelle Heyman, Sam Kerr, Clare Polkinghorne, and Taryn Rockall) when she was awarded the medal on Tuesday night. On the same night, Western Sydney Wanderers winger Nicolas Milanovic won the Johnny Warren medal, the equivalent award for the men’s A-League. 

"Queensland will put a very strong team on the park tonight and Queensland will put a very strong team in the Parliament." 
Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers has thrown his support behind the Maroons ahead of tonight's Origin opener. Chalmers represents an outer Brisbane electorate. The comments came during a press conference, where Chalmers thanked Queenslanders for "more than doubling Labor's Queensland contingent in the House of Representatives" at the recent election. The Queensland Maroons will host the NSW Blues in Brisbane tonight for the opening match of this year’s State of Origin series. Kick-off is at 8:05pm.

Hawai'i competes separately from the rest of the U.S. in surfing competitions, because it has been competing in international surfing comps since before it was made a state in 1959.

🏊 12-year-old Chinese swimmer Yu Zidi has put the swimming world on notice with some incredible performances at the Chinese national championships earlier this week. Yu won the women’s 400m individual medley in a time of 4 minutes and 35.53 seconds. It’s the fifth fastest time in competition this year and would have placed her fourth at last year’s Paris Olympics. At the same event, she pulled off a similar feat in the women’s 200m butterfly, winning in the fifth fastest time this year. 

🚴‍♂️ Mexican cyclist Isaac del Toro’s overall lead in the Giro d’Italia has been reduced to just 26 seconds after a chaotic Stage 16. Italy’s Christian Scaroni won the stage, while the favourite Primož Roglič was forced to abandon the race after a crash. The tough mountain finish tested the riders and saw Britain’s Simon Yates (+0:26) and Colombia’s Richard Carapaz (+0:31) both make significant inroads into catching del Toro. Australia’s Michael Storer is seventh, three minutes and 31 seconds behind the leaders. 

🏀 In the NBA Playoffs, the Indiana Pacers are one win away from becoming Eastern Conference champions after beating the New York Knicks 130-121 in Game 4 of the best-of-seven series. The Pacers' Tyrese Haliburton starred with 32 points, 15 assists, and 12 rebounds. The teams will now head back to New York for Game 5, where the Knicks will be playing to keep their championship hopes alive. 

⚽ Teenage footballer Lamine Yamal has committed to staying with Barcelona for the next six years after signing a new contract with the Spanish football club. The 17-year-old scored 18 goals and made 25 assists in 55 matches this season as the club completed a domestic treble, winning La Liga, the Copa del Rey and Spanish Super Cup. He debuted for the club when he was 15 years old and has since become the youngest Barcelona player with at least 100 appearances. Yamal’s career has also seen him win the 2024 Euros with Spain.

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The Tasmanian government has proposed a new bill to fast-track approvals for the proposed stadium in Hobart. The stadium would be the home ground of the Tasmanian Devils’ AFL team, which is slated to enter the league in 2028. 

The estimated cost for the roofed stadium, which will have a capacity of 23,000, is now $945 million. The new estimate marks a $170 million increase from $775 million, the number estimated in late 2024. 

The cause for the increase is that several new food and beverage facilities have been incorporated, and the stadium’s plans have been changed slightly to accommodate other sports such as cricket.    

The bill, titled the ‘Macquarie Point Planning Permit Bill 2025’, will be tabled in parliament in three weeks. The stadium has the support of Liberal and Labor and is expected to pass the lower house. To pass the upper house, it will need the vote of at least two independents. 

Earlier this month, Premier Jeremy Rockliff said: "If the legislation is not passed, the stadium won't go ahead and the team will not go ahead."

As part of Tasmania’s licensing agreement to be granted a team by the AFL, the state is required to have built a stadium for the new team by 2028.

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The opening round of the French Open is officially done. Here’s what happened at Roland Garros to kick off the 2025 edition of the tournament. 

The tournament began with 16 Aussie men and women in the singles draws. Only five have advanced to the second round.

In the men’s draw, Adam Walton, Alexei Popyrin (25), and Alex de Minaur (9) are all still in contention. Overnight, Walton beat German qualifier Maximilian Marterer in five sets (7-6, 4-6, 6-3, 2-6, 6-2) to claim his first-ever victory at the French Open. Alex de Minaur won his first-round match in straight sets, defeating Serbia’s Laslo Djere. 

In the second round, Walton faces 17th seed Andrey Rublev, and de Minaur takes on Alexander Bublik. Meanwhile, Popyrin will play his second-round match tonight against Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo. 

In the women’s draw, 17th seed Daria Kasatkina and Ajla Tomljanović are both through one round. Kasatkina started her first grand slam campaign under the Australian flag with a win, beating Kateřina Siniaková in three sets. She is set to play France’s Leolia Jeanjean next. 

Tomljanović beat fellow Aussie Maya Joint in straight sets and has been handed a tough assignment in Italian fourth seed Jasmine Paolini in the second round.  

The opening round has seen several seeded players exit the tournament much earlier than expected. In the men’s draw, the biggest upset so far saw fourth seed American Taylor Fritz lose to German qualifier Daniel Altmaier. 11th seed Daniil Medvedev and 18th seed Francisco Cerundolo also made early exits. 

In the women’s draw, American ninth seed Emma Navarro was the first to make a shock exit after losing to Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro. Navarro won just one game in the straight-set loss. Czech 14th seed Karolína Muchová’s 2025 French Open campaign also ended in the opening round. 

Men’s defending champ Carlos Alcaraz and world number one Jannik Sinner both cruised through their opening round matches with straight-set victories. The women’s defending champion, Iga Świątek, and world number one Aryna Sabalenka made similarly strong starts. 

The most impressive opening round performance belongs to 35-year-old Victoria Azarenka, who became the oldest player to win a grand slam match without conceding a single game (6-0, 6-0). Azarenka beat Belgium's Yanina Wickmayer.