And then there were two…

Just two Australians remain in the singles draws of the French Open as we head into the third round.

Tonight, 25th seed Alexei Popyrin is playing against Portugal’s Nuno Borges.

Tomorrow, 17th seed Daria Kasatkina will play her third round match against Spanish 10th seed Paula Badosa.

Allez Aussie!

15
The number of years since the Matildas won the AFC Women’s Asian Cup, defeating North Korea in the final in front of just 1,200 spectators. With that victory, the Matildas became the first senior Australian team to win an Asian Football Confederation title. Next year, Australia will host the Women’s Asian Cup. The final is likely to be played in front of 80,000 people.

"The solution is you shorten (the season), because what's going to happen is players' careers are going to get shorter and shorter because they're just going to burn out mentally. There's just too much tennis."
Australia’s top-ranked tennis player, Alex de Minaur, after his second-round exit at the French Open overnight. De Minaur held a two-set lead over Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik before losing three straight sets in a shock upset.

The New York Knicks’ Karl Anthony Towns and Jalen Brunson have both scored at least 20 points in the first five games of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals. They are the first teammates to do so in an NBA finals series since Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal did for the Los Angeles Lakers in 2002. 

🏉 The Brisbane Lions survived a late scare from the Essendon Bombers to win Thursday night’s AFL fixture 90-72. After trailing by 32 points at the end of the opening quarter, the Bombers took the lead early in the final quarter. However, the Lions showed their class to run over the top of them in the final ten minutes. Hugh McCluggage starred for the Lions with 41 disposals. 

🏀 The New York Knicks have kept their NBA Finals hopes alive after beating the Indiana Pacers 111-94 in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals. The Pacers still lead the best-of-seven series 3-2 and will have a home advantage in Game 6 on Sunday (AEST). The winner of the series will play the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Finals.

🏒 In the NHL, North America’s professional ice hockey league, the Edmonton Oilers and the Florida Panthers will meet in the Stanley Cup Final for the second consecutive year. The Oilers beat the Dallas Stars earlier today to claim a 4-1 series victory and become Western Conference Champions. The Panthers secured their place in the finale yesterday with a 4-1 series win over the Carolina Hurricanes. In last year’s Stanley Cup Final, the Panthers won the best-of-seven series 4-3 by a margin of one goal in Game 7. 

⚽ A 53-year-old man has been charged for driving into a crowd at Liverpool FC’s Premier League victory parade. After being arrested for driving into the crowd and injuring 79 people, Paul Doyle, a former Royal Navy Marine, has been charged with multiple crimes, including: unlawful and malicious grievous bodily harm with intent, dangerous driving, and unlawful and malicious wounding with intent.

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The Queensland Maroons restored some pride in Newcastle last night as they beat the NSW Blues 18-14 in Game Three. The victory meant that the Maroons avoided becoming the first team in Women’s State of Origin to lose all three matches in a series.

After winning the series with two dominant wins in the first two matches, the Blues looked set to complete a historic whitewash as they established an eight-point lead with 20 minutes remaining. 

However, the visitors struck back with two late tries courtesy of Romy Teitzel and Chelsea Lenarduzzi to steal the lead and win the match. 

Queensland prop Jessika Elliston was named the Player of the Match. Blues forward Olivia Kernick received the Nellie Doherty medal,  awarded to the Player of the Series.

Blues halfback Jesse Southwell told Nine: "I'm not really sure how to feel or what to feel. It's pretty disappointing losing that and by that margin… Won the series, but pretty disappointing tonight.”

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A mistrial has been declared in the case against Diego Maradona’s former medical team, after it was revealed that one of the three judges presiding over the case had taken part in a documentary about it. The trial, which started on 11 March, will now begin again. 

Maradona died of heart failure in November 2020 at the age of 60, following surgery for a blood clot on his brain. 

His seven-person medical team is on trial for homicide by negligence. If found guilty, they could be imprisoned for up to 25 years. They have rejected the charges, claiming the former football star refused treatment.

Judge Julieta Makintach stepped down from the case on Tuesday after a prosecutor revealed in court that she had participated in a documentary about the trial. 

Makintach said she had “no choice” but to step down after facing heavy criticism.

On Thursday, the court declared a mistrial. Judge Maximiliano Savarino said: “Judge Makintach did not act impartially. Her conduct caused harm to both the plaintiffs and the defence.”

Maradona is a national hero in Argentina for his rare talents as a footballer. As a player, he made his debut for the national team at the age of 16 and scored 259 goals in 491 matches across international and domestic football. 

He is most revered for leading Argentina to victory at the 1986 World Cup. This tournament was also where he scored the ‘Hand of God’ goal — a controversial goal in the quarter-final against England, where he jumped for a header and punched the ball towards goal. 

He later said about the goal: "A little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God"

He also played football for Italian club Napoli and Spanish club Barcelona. 

It’s unclear when the trial will re-commence. The bench for the new trial will be selected by lottery from a pool of judges.