Earlier this week, the world’s number one tennis player met the world’s top Catholic.

Yep, Jannik Sinner spent his rest day at the Italian Open visiting the Vatican City and meeting the newly anointed Pope Leo XIV.

And, apparently Pope Leo is a tennis fan. He even quipped that he’d be eligible to play at Wimbledon in his white robes.

In the end though, he did not forgive him for being a Sinner.

$US1 billion ($AU1.55 billion)
The total revenue that FIFA, football’s global governing body, is hoping to generate from the next women’s World Cup in 2027. FIFA president Gianni Infantino revealed the target at the Saudi Arabia-U.S. Investment Forum 2025 on Tuesday. The 2023 World Cup generated over $US570 million ($AU884 million) in revenue and broke even. Brazil is hosting the 2027 World Cup.

"We thought we had a proposal that was compelling, but unfortunately, for whatever reason, I think the NRL missed a big opportunity to not take the Storm."
Melbourne Storm boss Justin Rodski speaking to AAP after the club’s petition to be a part of the 2026 NRL Las Vegas season opener was overlooked. Rodski pointed to the club’s 31,000 members, Melbourne as a sporting capital, and the consistent success of the Storm in the league as compelling reasons for the club to be invited. 

Chess boxing is a sport that sees competitors alternate between rounds of chess and rounds of boxing. A winner is declared after either a checkmate or a knockout.

🥊 Australian boxer Sam Goodman may have earned himself the chance to fight for a world title after beating Mexico’s Cesar Vaca in a unanimous points decision last night. Goodman’s record now stands at 20-0, and he will now petition to face Japanese world junior featherweight champion Naoya Inoue. The 26-year-old has twice had to forfeit scheduled fights with Inoue after cutting his eye open in the lead-up. Olympic boxer Harry Garside made his return to professional boxing on the same night with a win over Charlie Bell. 

🚴‍♂️ Danish cyclist Mads Pedersen won a sprint finish on Stage 5 of the Giro d’Italia to claim his third stage victory of this year’s race. Pedersen now leads the overall race 17 seconds ahead of 2023 winner Primož Roglič. Michael Storer, the highest-placed Australian, sits in ninth position, 46 seconds behind Pedersen.  

⛳ Seven Australian golfers will tee off tonight (AEST) in the second men’s golf major of the year, the U.S. PGA Championship. Those Aussies are Min Woo Lee, Elvis Smylie, Karl Vilips, Adam Scott, Cameron Smith, Cameron Davies, and Jason Day. The favourites to win the tournament are world number one Scottie Scheffler and Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy, who recently completed a career grand slam with a victory at this year’s Masters. The tournament is being played at Quail Hollow in North Carolina, a course where McIlroy won his first PGA Tour title and where he has won four titles overall. 

🏉 AFL legend Robert Walls has died aged 74 following a battle with cancer. Walls won three premierships as a player with Carlton (1968, 1970, 1972) and one premiership as the coach of the side in 1987. He was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2006. He also spent portions of his playing and coaching career at Fitzroy, Brisbane, and Richmond.

🏀 The Golden State Warriors have been eliminated from the NBA Playoffs after losing to the Minnesota Timberwolves 121-110 today. The Warriors, who struggled after losing Steph Curry to injury earlier in the series, lost the overall series 4-1. It marks the second straight year the Timberwolves, led by Anthony Edwards, have made the Western Conference Finals. The Timberwolves will now play the winner of the Denver Nuggets and Oklahoma City Thunder. Meanwhile, in the Eastern Conference semi-finals, the Celtics beat the Knicks 127-102 to keep their hopes alive and take the series to 2-3.

The NSW Blues will have a chance to close out the 2025 State of Origin women’s series tonight when Game Two kicks off at Allianz Stadium in Sydney. The Blues won Game One 32-12 to establish a 1-0 lead in the series, but will face a determined Maroons outfit who have won in Sydney on their last two visits. 

NSW Blues coach John Strange has selected the same 17 players who won Game One to take on Queensland tonight. Sydney Roosters winger Brydie Parker has been named in the extended squad. 

Maroons coach Tahnee Norris has made one change with Chelsea Lendarduzzi replacing her Brisbane Broncos teammate Destiny Brill in the 17-player squad. Lendarduzzi has been selected to bolster Queensland’s forward pack, which struggled against the strength of their opposition.

You can watch State of Origin on Channel 9. Tonight’s match kicks off at 7:45pm.

Enjoying the newsletter?

If you are, why not share the love with your friends? We’d love your help in getting the word out there.

Send them this link to sign up.

The maximum possible fine for Formula One drivers swearing has been reduced by 50% by the sport’s governing body, the FIA. The decision is part of a broader range of amendments that demonstrate that the governing body is backing down from the strict stance against swearing that has made drivers unhappy. 

The FIA has been warring with drivers since September last year, when four-time world champion Max Verstappen was punished for swearing in a press conference. 

The Grand Prix Drivers Association then responded with a statement that rebuked punishing drivers for swearing. 

Part of the statement read: “There is a difference between swearing intended to insult others and more casual swearing, such as you might use to describe bad weather, or indeed an inanimate object such as a Formula 1 car, or a driving situation.”

While the FIA did not respond to the statement last November, the amendments made by the governing body seem to account for the driver’s complaints. 

The maximum fine has been reduced from €10,000 ($AU17,400) to €5,000 ($AU8,700), and if it is a driver’s first offence, the penalty can be suspended by the stewards. 

The stewards, the officials who enforce the rules in F1, can also determine if the swearing took place in a “controlled” (e.g. press conference) or “non-controlled” (e.g. mid-race) environment and hand down punishments accordingly. 

Ronan Morgan, President of the Drivers’ Committee, said: “Drivers are looked up to as role models by young fans and are rightly seen as ambassadors for the wider world of motor sport. How they act really does matter but it is important to recognise that there is a difference between what is said during a race and in a press conference.”

The FIA’s amendments have not been addressed by the drivers, who are racing in Italy this weekend.