🎾 Kyrgios Sets Up Spanish Showdown

Pass the coffee, it's Thursday, 7 July

🔊 Sport Today Podcast

This morning, Martin Gabor and Lucy Watkin are at the mic.

Today's listen time: 10 minutes.

Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify

📺 What we're watching

🏉 7.20pm - AFL - Cats v Demons - GMHBA Stadium, Geelong - Channel 7, Foxtel, Kayo

🏉 7.50pm - NRL - Sharks v Storm - PointsBet Stadium, Sydney - Channel 9, Foxtel, Kayo

⚽ 5.00am (Fri) - Euro 2022 - Norway v Northern Ireland - Saint Mary's Stadium, Southampton - Optus Sport

All times are in AEST

🎾 Kyrgios in a class of his own 

Cancel your Friday night plans because we’ve got a huge tennis match coming up.

Golden points: Nick Kyrgios is through to the final 4 of Wimbledon. Yes, you read that correctly. He beat Cristian Garin in straight sets and is just one win away from the final.

• Kyrgios says he thought he'd never make it, but he's into a grand slam semi for the first time. It’s been a while since any Aussie man got this far. Lleyton Hewitt was the last to do it in 2005.

• The win comes one day after he was ordered to face an ACT court over an alleged assault charge on his ex-girlfriend last year, but he says it didn't really affect him.

• It means Kyrgios will play Rafael Nadal after the Spaniard got past Taylor Fritz in a 5-set marathon this morning.

• On the women's side of the draw, Aussie Ajla Tomljanovic was knocked out in the quarters by #17 Elena Rybakina in three sets.

• Tomljanovic says she's disappointed after winning the first set, but then Rybakina stepped up her game and served "crazy good."

They said it: "I have a lot of thoughts and things I want to say, my side of it. But I’ve been advised by my lawyers that I can’t say anything about it at this time." - Kyrgios couldn't say much about his upcoming court case.

Watch it: We’ve got to wait until tomorrow night for the men’s semis. Enjoy these Kyrgios highlights while you wait.

🏑 No World Cup wobbles for the Hockeyroos

Forget about the ice. Don’t even think about mentioning the puck. We’re here to talk about field hockey because the Aussies are on fire.

Golden points: The women’s World Cup has started and the Hockeyroos are a perfect 2/2 after they beat Belgium yesterday.

• Goals were really hard to come by until we scored twice in 90 seconds, including a first international goal for Greta Hayes.

• The Hockeyroos are now top of Group D, and that’s crucial because you automatically go through to the finals if you finish first.

• You’d think the Aussies would be a bit rusty because they’d only played 4 games leading into the tournament. But they’re the only team yet to concede a goal so far.

What’s next: We’d love to give you the full-time result, but the Aussies are playing South Africa as we write this. We’ll have an update in tomorrow’s newsletter.

🏐 All eyes were on the Netball GF

Build it and they will come. I guess the same theory works with TV.

Golden points: The decision to show the Super Netball Grand Final for free on Kayo was a genius move because the ratings were huge on Sunday.

• It was impossible to get a ticket at the sold-out RAC Arena in Perth. But that wasn’t a problem if you’ve got a TV, laptop, tablet or smartphone.

• An average of 170,000 people watched the Fever beat the Vixens, with about 67% of people streaming it for free on Kayo.

• That’s great news for Netball Australia who are in the first year of a 5-year deal with Foxtel as they look to get out of some financial trouble.

They said it: "It is great to see netball rebounding at elite and community levels after the impacts of the global pandemic, which shows the real strength of our sport." - Netball Australia CEO Kelly Ryan is chuffed.

What’s next: Foxtel and Kayo will have you covered when the Diamonds play NZ and England in October.

⚽ World's best player to miss the Euros

If Australia can perform at Eurovision then maybe we should campaign to be included in the women’s European Championships.

Golden points: Too far? Probably. But we’re pumped up for one of the biggest football comps that started this morning. The bad news is that one of the best players in the world won’t be there.

• Experts were talking up Alexia Putellas as the player who could lead Spain to its first title. But she tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee and will miss the tournament.

• That’s so bad for Spain and Putellas. She was the leading goalscorer in the Champions League this season and helped Barcelona win the Spanish league.

• And she famously beat Aussie Sam Kerr to win the Ballon D’Or as the best women’s footballer of the year.

Watch it: It hurts losing a player like Putellas, but the show must go on. You can watch the Euro 2022 on Optus Sport.

🏀 Chet is no faker as Thunder fans get giddy

We’ve been burnt so many times by pre-season hype. But wow, Chet Holmgren looks like the real deal. 

Golden points: The NBA Summer League is a pre-season comp that gives young guys a crack to see if they can handle it. This kid didn’t just handle it. He did things we’ve never seen before.

• You can probably hear them celebrating in Oklahoma City if you listen really carefully. That’s because the Thunder picked Holmgren with the 2nd pick in the draft.

• He went berserk in their game against Utah yesterday. The 7-footer scored 23 points, had 7 rebounds and 4 assists. He also had 6 blocks and hit 4 3-pointers. No one had ever done that before in the Summer League.

• This kid is 20yo and tipped to do big things. It helps when you’ve got Aussie Josh Giddey in the team setting you up.

They said it: "Shout out to this guy right here. Double-double with assists. Great night for him, and that helped me out a lot." - That’s Holmgren thanking Giddey.

Watch it: You’ve gotta check out his highlights.

🏉 It's that time of the week!

Don't Forget Your Tips! is a weekly podcast for footy fans who are keen to get an edge in their footy tipping comp. DFYT! will give you some facts, figures and maybe even a few omens that'll help you out with your AFL and NRL footy tips every week of the footy seasons. Episodes are around 12-minutes long and drop 6am every Thursday. Listen on Apple, Spotify and your favourite podcast app. Enjoy!

👀 Quick singles

🎾 Nick Kyrgios isn't the only Aussie going deep at Wimbledon. Veterans Sam Stosur and Matt Ebden are the first all-Aussie team since 2004 to make it through to the mixed doubles final.

🚴‍♂️ It was a mixed day for Australia at the Tour de France. The good: Simon Clarke won the 5th stage! The bad: Jack Haig crashed out.

🏏 Virat Kohli has dropped out of the 10 top in the ICC men’s Test batting rankings for the first time since 2016. Joe Root remains at the top after another century at Edgbaston.

🏉 Things look really settled on the Gold Coast. The Suns are playing great footy this season and they’ve locked in coach Stuart Dew until the end of 2024.

⚽ It looks like Chelsea are about to sign Raheem Sterling from Manchester City. Sterling has agreed to personal terms and could be joined by Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo if the reports are true.

🏉 Cowboys halfback Chad Townsend has joined the NSW Blues extended State of Origin squad. He replaced Nicho Hynes who tested positive for COVID and will now miss tonight’s NRL game against the Storm.

🥊 The high-profile bout between Jake Paul and Tommy Fury is off. A visa issue meant Fury couldn’t get into the States, so Paul is looking for a new opponent.

🏈 Baker Mayfield was once seen as the next big thing in the NFL. Well, he’s just been traded to Carolina and they didn’t have to give up much to get him.

🙃 Left of field...

We missed the boat when crypto was apparently hot to buy, but the NRL isn’t messing around with a big investment in Queensland.

Golden points: If you’ve ever been to a game at Suncorp Stadium then you might have seen Gambaro Hotel on Caxton Street.

• Well, the NRL now owns it, and it wasn’t cheap.

• The deal is reportedly worth around $30 million, but you can see why they did it. The pandemic cost the league tens of millions of dollars, so an investment like this can protect it from something similar in the future.

• Here’s the best bit. The plan is to name the suites after legends like Wally Lewis and Darren Lockyer. Sign us up now.

📽 The highlight reel

We started with Kyrgios, so let's finish with Nadal and that epic match that went all the way this morning.

📸 Photo finish

We've already ordered a copy of NBA 2K23 for next year. The OG No.23 Michael Jordan on the cover? Yes, please.

🏃‍♀️ The finish line

🏆 Today's trivia answer

The Hockeyroos beat the Netherlands 3-2 in 1998.