Australia’s top-ranked men’s and women’s tennis players, Alex de Minaur and Daria Kasatkina, are through to the third round at the U.S. Open.

De Minaur breezed through his second round match, beating Japanese qualifier Shintaro Mochizuki in straight sets. He will take on Germany’s Daniel Altmaier next.

Meanwhile, Kasatkina joined fellow Australian Priscilla Hon in the third round after a hard-fought three-set battle with Kamilla Rakhimova. Kasatkina will play Naomi Osaka in the third round.

Alexei Popyrin, Tristan Schoolkate, Adam Walton, and Maya Joint all lost their second round matches.

Have an excellent weekend.

🏉 The Bulldogs have secured their first top-four finish since 2012 after beating an understrength Panthers side 28-4 on Thursday night. With a tough finals run looming, Panthers coach Ivan Cleary decided to rest 16 of his frontline players, granting six players their NRL debuts. The victory might have come at a cost for the Bulldogs after winger Jacob Kiraz left the field with ten minutes remaining with a suspected syndesmosis injury (a “high ankle sprain”). Kiraz is set to have scans today.

🚴‍♂️ Australian cyclist Jay Vine claimed victory in Stage  6 of the Vuelta a España with a powerful solo breakaway in the final 20 km of the mountainous 171 km route. Norway’s Torstein Traeen, who started the stage 26th in the general classification, finished 54 seconds behind Vine and claimed the overall lead from Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard. Jai Hindley is still the highest-placed Australian in the general classification. He sits ninth, almost three minutes behind Traeen.

🏟️ Jessica Hull was pipped on the line by Kenya’s Nelly Chepchirchir in the women’s 1500m at the Diamond League finals in Zurich. Hull, the race favourite in the absence of world record holder Faith Kipyegon, had opened up a lead of over ten metres leading into the final stretch, but faded and ended up losing by 0.3 seconds.  Fellow Aussie Linden Hall finished in third to round out the podium. Meanwhile, American sprint star Noah Lyles won the men’s 200m, edging out 2024 Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo by 0.02 seconds in a highly anticipated rematch.

🏉 The AFL has named its 2025 All-Australian team, recognising the best 22 players of the regular season. The honour of captain was given to Geelong forward Jeremy Cameron, while Melbourne ruckman Max Gawn reached a career milestone with his eighth selection, putting him among the most decorated players in league history. Eleven players earned their first call-up, including Hawthorn’s Josh Battle and Brisbane’s Zac Bailey. The Lions and the Bulldogs had the most selections, with three each.

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Talking points: With finals just around the corner, both of these sides are jostling for their places in the top eight (albeit at different ends). The Storm, who sit in second spot, can still win the minor premiership, while the Roosters are in eighth and on the cusp of missing finals. It’s also a milestone match for Craig Bellamy, who celebrates his 600th game as Storm coach. Bellamy has rested several of his stars, including Xavier Coates and Nick Meaney. The Roosters are also without halfback Sam Walker (concussion), who will be replaced by Sandon Smith.

How to watch: Kickoff is at 8:00pm tonight (AEST). You can watch it on Channel 9 and Kayo.

Talking points: Australian Priscilla Hon is on a dream run in New York. The world number 126 has strung together five wins through qualifying and the first and second rounds. In the second round, Hon upset 17th seed Liudmila Samsonova. She now faces 25-year-old American Ann Li, currently ranked 58th, who earned her spot in the third round with a victory over 16th seed Belinda Bencic. Can Hon be the first Aussie through to the fourth round at this year’s U.S. Open? 15th seed Daria Kasatkina is the other Australian through to the third round in the women’s singles draw and will play Japan’s Naomi Osaka on Sunday.

How to watch: The match is scheduled for Saturday at 3:50am (AEST). You can watch it on Stan Sport and Channel 9.

Talking points: Lando Norris enters the weekend with momentum, having won three of the last four races. He is also the reigning champion at the Dutch GP after he denied Max Verstappen a fourth consecutive victory at his home race in 2024. Meanwhile, Norris’ McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri leads the championship by nine points and will be keen to extend his lead. Verstappen returns at home with huge support and will rely on strategy and the tricky layout of the Dutch track to strike back.

How to watch: The race begins at 11:00pm AEST on Sunday. You can watch it on Foxtel and Kayo.

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