🎾 Alcaraz goes back-to-back

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Good evening!

It has been another huge weekend of sport, and we are now only 11 days away from the start of the Olympics!

Here’s a cheesy joke to get you excited.

Why is basketball the messiest Olympic sport?

Answer is at the bottom of the 2 minute section.

I’ve got 10 seconds

Stat of the day

5:19.70
The time Jessica Hull ran to break the 2000m world record at a Diamond League event in Monaco over the weekend. The 2000m is not included in the Olympics schedule, however Hull is now touted as one of the medal favourites for the women’s 1500m at Paris. No Australian has ever won an Olympic medal in the event.

Quote of the day

"It sucks not to hold the trophy, but if you'd told me I would come second at the start of the week, I would've been happy.”
Aussie golfer Steph Kyriacou after falling one shot short of her first major title at the Evian Open in France over the weekend. Kyriacou was beaten by Japan’s Ayaka Furue who sunk an eagle (two shots below par) on the last hole to steal the lead. 

Kyriacou (Getty Images)

Random fact of the day

The second tallest man alive is also a Paralympian. Morteza Mehrzadselakjani is the star of Iran’s floor volleyball team and stands an astonishing 246cm tall.

Morteza Mehrzadselakjani competing in Tokyo (AFP Photo)

I’ve got 30 seconds

In case you missed it…

⚽ Spain won a record fourth Euros title this morning beating England 2-1 in Berlin, Germany. Mikel Oyarzabal scored an 85th-minute goal to seal victory for Spain. It is the second successive Euros final which England has played and lost. 

Oyarzabal etches his name into history with a late winner (AP)

⚾ Travis Bazzana has become the first Australian to be picked first in the Major League Baseball draft. Bazzana, who is also the first-ever Aussie to be picked in the first round, was selected by the Cleveland Guardians. The 21-year-old played college baseball at Oregon State with the Beavers.

Travis Bazzana (Getty Images)

🚴‍♂️ Slovenian cyclist Tadej Pogačar has extended his lead in the Tour de France (TDF) to over three minutes over rival and two-time TDF champion Jonas Vingegaard. As the tour crossed the Pyrenees mountains on stages 14 and 15 over the weekend, Pogačar was able to break away from Vingegaard and win both stages. Following a rest day today, the Tour will resume tomorrow evening with six stages remaining. You can read more about how the Tour de France works here.

🚴‍♀️ Cyclist Elisa Longo Borghini won the Giro d’Italia Women on Sunday. She is the first Italian woman to win the prestigious cycling tour of Italy since Fabiana Luperini in 2008. Borghini won a time trial on Stage One and retained her lead in the general classification throughout the race until the eighth and final stage. 

Longo Borghini wearing the Giro’s race leader jersey, the maglia rosa (Getty Images)

⚽ Argentina won a record 16th Copa América, America’s continental football tournament, defeating Columbia 1-0 in extra time today. It is the third major tournament Argentina’s men’s team has won in a row after winning the 2021 Copa and the 2022 World Cup. The start of the match was delayed for over an hour due to fans without tickets rushing through the stadium gates.

🏐 The Adelaide Thunderbirds won the Super Netball minor premiership after beating the Sunshine Coast Lightning 64-62. Four teams, the Thunderbirds, Vixens, Fever, and Lightning, now advance to a major and minor semi-final. The winner of the major semi-final, between the Thunderbirds and Vixens, will lock in a grand-final spot while the winner of the minor semi-final, between the Fever and Lightning, will face the loser of the major semi-final in a preliminary final and the loser will be eliminated. 

I’ve got 1 minute

Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz and runner-up Novak Djokovic (Getty Images)

Here’s what happened on the final weekend at Wimbledon.

Alcaraz goes back-to-back

21-year-old Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz beat Novak Djokovic in the final at Wimbledon for the second year in a row on Sunday. Alcaraz was dominant, beating seven-time Wimbledon champ Djokovic in straight sets (6-2, 6-2, 7-6) and securing his fourth grand slam title. 

Alcaraz joins a small number of men’s singles champions as the sixth player to achieve the elusive ‘Channel Slam’ by winning the French Open and Wimbledon back-to-back in the same year. 

While Djokovic missed an opportunity to win a record 25th grand slam title, it was remarkable the 37-year-old made the final at all, considering he had knee surgery after the French Open last month. 

Krejčíková wins her second slam

Barbora KrejčíkovĂĄ added to her French Open victory in 2021, defeating Italian Jasmine Paolini in three sets (6-2, 2-6, 6-4) and winning her second grand slam singles title. 

KrejčíkovĂĄ has also won ten grand slam doubles titles and an Olympic tennis doubles gold. She will head to the Olympics in Paris later this month to compete in the singles and doubles. 

It was Paolini’s second straight grand slam final appearance after she lost in the French Open final to Iga Świątek last month. 

Krejčíková blows a kiss skyward (Shutterstock)

Purcell and Thompson lose doubles final

Australian pairing Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson failed to capitalise on three championship points to win the men’s doubles final at Wimbledon on Sunday. The duo lost to Britain’s Henry Patten and Finland’s Harri Heliövaara in three sets (6-7, 7-6, 7-6).

Thompson (left) and Purcell (right) following their loss (Getty Images)

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I’ve got 2 minutes

Mary Fowler and Sharn Freier (Football Australia)

The Matildas were defeated by reigning Olympic champions Canada (2-1) in an international friendly yesterday as part of their preparation for the Paris Olympics later this month. 

Alongside the scoreline was the concerning news that Caitlin Foord, one of the Matildas star forwards, had to sit the game out. Foord joins Steph Catley, Kaitlyn Torpey and Tameka Yallop in the group of Matildas under an injury cloud leading up to the Olympics. Sam Kerr was ruled out of the Olympics after she injured her ACL in January.

The match

The Matildas opened the scoring in the 24th minute courtesy of Sharn Freier. Freier is one of four alternates for Paris and took to the field against Canada in Foord’s place. Canada equalised just before half-time after Matildas goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold fumbled a cross and Canadian striker Nichelle Prince was there to capitalise on the mistake. 

Canada took the lead in the 85th minute when Evelyne Viens scored. 

Freier’s goal was one of two shots at goal from the Matildas and the only one on target. 

The match was a ‘B’ international, meaning any goals and appearances throughout are not added to official records. 

The Matildas (Football Australia)

What they said

Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson said: “We wanted to prepare to play with heavy legs, where it’s difficult to focus, you might not have the power in the runs. We’re always an aggressive team that plays with high-octane energy. But in an Olympic tournament, when there’s such a tight turnaround of games, you know you’re going to have to play with fatigue at times.”

Gustavsson also commented on the Matildas attack: “We normally create a lot of chances when we play, and I don’t think we did that tonight. We had some really good build-up sequences... but then that action of breaking that last line, we’re normally better at that.”

Olympics campaign

The twelfth-ranked Matildas are in Group B, a tough group featuring world number five United States, number four Germany, and number 64 Zambia. The bid to win Olympic gold in Paris will begin on 26 July at 3am (AEST), one day before the opening ceremony, when the Matildas play Germany. 

Australia will not have a men’s football team at the Olympics after the Olyroos (Australia’s men’s Olympic football team) failed to qualify. 

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Answer to joke: Because the players dribble all over the court! (I know that made you smile.)

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Looking back…

Scottish Open (men’s golf)

Who: The world’s best golfers

Result: Robert MacIntyre won the tournament

In brief: Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre came back from three shots behind with five holes to go and sunk a 22-foot putt for birdie on the 18th to beat Aussie golfer Adam Scott by one shot. Scott was on the verge of breaking a 4-year drought between PGA wins. The Open, one of golf’s majors, begins on 18 July.

SailGP Season 4 Championship

Who: The world’s best sailors

Result: Spain won the Season 4 Championship title

In brief: Spain upset favoured teams Australia and New Zealand in the final of the SailGP Championship on the San Francisco Bay in California, U.S. Australia’s crew, who were seeking a fourth-straight Championship title, came undone in the final due to a technical malfunction with their hydrofoil. 

NRL (Sunday)

Who: Sea Eagles v Knights 

Result: The Sea Eagles won 44-6

AFL (Sunday)

Who: West Coast v Brisbane 
Result: Brisbane won 106-93

Who: GWS Giants v Richmond
Result: Giants won 108-84

Who: Gold Coast v Port Adelaide
Result: Gold Coast won 96-82

International Rugby (men’s)

Who: Australia v Wales
Result: The Wallabies won 36-28

Who: New Zealand v England
Result: New Zealand won 24-17

Who: South Africa v Ireland
Result: Ireland won 25-24

Who: Argentina v France 
Result: Argentina won 33-25

International Rugby (women’s)

Who: Australia (Wallaroos) v New Zealand (Black Ferns)

Result: The Black Ferns won 62-0

Looking forward…(All times are AEST)

International basketball (men’s)

Who: Australia (Boomers) v Team USA

Time: 2:00am tomorrow

Where to watch: Kayo, ESPN, NBA League Pass

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