A historic day on both Tours
The podcast also highlights a historic moment with Kim Le Court being the first Mauritian to get a Yellow Jersey.
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News.com.au
3 hours ago
- News.com.au
Tennis world loses its mind over Alex de Minaur as Aussie's beautiful act for rival melts hearts
Aussie Alex de Minaur has melted hearts with an incredible act of sportsmanship after pulling off a comeback for the ages to claim the Washington Open title. The 26-year-old secured his 10th ATP Tour title in stunning fashion, saving three championship points on his way to a 5-7, 6-1, 7-6 (7-3) victory over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. De Minaur, who defeated Corentin Moutet in the semi-final and moved up to eighth in the world with Monday's win, but looked to be in a spot of bother, 5-2 down in the third set. He was able to steady but then found himself staring down the barrel of three championship points late in the set, only to break from 30-0 down at 5-4 and force a tie-break. The Aussie incredibly saved his third match point with an impeccable lob that caught the line, giving the Australian enough time to recover and win the point. He then held his nerve to take out the match in a third set tie breaker. It wasn't the first time the Aussie had to save match points in Washington either, saving four against Andrey Rublev earlier in the tournament. So unsurprisingly, in the moment he clinched the match, the Aussie was overcome with emotion, letting out a primal scream and launching the ball into the crowd. He then shook hands at the net with Davidovich Fokina. But in an incredible act of sportsmanship, the Aussie quickly halted his celebrations after he saw his distraught rival slump onto his chair in tears. You can watch the classy moment in the video below De Minaur rushed over to him, sat next to him and put his arm around him, offering words of encouragement. And to start off his speech to the crowd after being crowned champion, de Minaur heaped praise on his rival. 'I want to start with Alejandro, as I told you and your team, you're way too good not to have one of these,' de Minaur said after the match. 'It's coming for sure. You deserved it today. I just got lucky. You are a hell of a competitor and player. No one on the tour wants to play you. 'This is not the end. It's only going up for you.' While Davidovich Fokina paid credit to de Minaur, admitting the Australian 'deserved the win'. 'He was fighting every f***ing ball,' he added. But it was the beautiful moment between the pair that saw the tennis world fall in love with de Minaur even more. 'What an incredible player and even more incredible man, such a great sport,' one fan wrote about de Minaur's act of kindness towards his rival. 'Demon is a class act,' another said. While a third commented: 'Not just a great tennis player but a great guy as well'.
News.com.au
4 hours ago
- News.com.au
Tour de France 2025: Aussie cyclists rated as Groves, O'Connor, Plapp and more deliver big
The Tour de France may have finished in Paris yesterday under sodden skies but it was definitely a bright outlook for the Australian talent. Ten faced the starter three weeks ago in Lille and nine made it to Paris after Jack Haig crashed at the end of the first week. Kaden Groves was just fantastic on Saturday, claiming his maiden Tour de France victory in his debut Tour with a brilliant solo attack 16 kilometres out from the finish in Pontarlier. The Australian, who has won stages at the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España, burst into tears after crossing the line, overwhelmed at claiming the victory. 'There's so much pressure at the Tour,' Groves said at the finish. 'Having won in the Giro and the Vuelta, all I'm asked is whether I'm good enough to win at the Tour. And now I've shown them.' Groves is a world-class sprinter but this win was one out of the ordinary as it was a pretty gnarly stage, and to ride away from some quality riders and win alone was special. Fellow Queenslander Harry Sweeny had attempted his own solo attack on the same stage. He opened a gap of 40 seconds before being reeled in, but was awarded the most combative prize. On the monster Queen stage 18, Aussie Ben O'Connor conquered the highest summit of the 2025 Tour de France to claim his first win for Jayco AlUla. And what a brilliant ride it was. A 16km solo on the toughest stage of the race in the final week. That's when many falter, but O'Connor finally found his form in this year's race. To get in the break is tough. To force the pace and make it stick is hard. But to be then joined by the heavyweights – Tour winner Tadej Pogacar and runner-up Jonas Vingegaard – and be able to ride away from them is bloody serious. His ferocious attack showed just how good the young man from Western Australia is. This was one of the most impressive stage victories ever by an Australian. Last year O'Connor was unstoppable, but after a spectacular crash on day one, he had struggled to find the exceptional form he is capable of. 'It's special to do it again here in the Tour de France,' an elated O'Connor said. 'Having that moment today is absolutely massive. You always want another win at the Tour and you can't get enough of these.' It had been a successful Tour for Jayco, with Mauro Schmid 's oh-so-close second and Luke Plapp 's brilliant time trials. But it needed a win and O'Connor delivered. Team owner Gerry Ryan was overjoyed with the win. 'The team have worked hard for this victory,' an excited Ryan said. 'But we needed a win. Strong efforts and close finishes may show just how well we're going, but winning a stage is very important, not just for our riders and sponsors, but for all our staff who work so hard.' Plapp, riding his first Tour de France, was all smiles in Paris. 'It's the most brutal race but the most beautiful race,' he said. 'It's just the hardest race I've ever done. I just want to be in Paris every year at the end of July.' Michael Storer (Tudor Pro Cycling) rode a super aggressive Tour and whenever the roads rose up he seemed to be there. His third on Stage 6 was impressive. There is no doubt he will challenge again.
7NEWS
5 hours ago
- 7NEWS
Grieving Aussie swimmer Sam Short dedicates 400m freestyle silver medal to late auntie
Australian swimmer Sam Short has dedicated his 400m freestyle silver medal to his late auntie after tapping into her fight at the world championships. The 21-year-old, the 2023 world champion who finished fourth at the Paris Olympics, couldn't hide his disappointment upon touching the wall. He had lost by just two hundredths of a second. Short overcame an early deficit to hit the lead with less than half the race remaining and still led by a fingernail with 50m to go. Neck-and-neck with Lukas Maertens right until the end, it was the Olympic champion Maertens who came up trumps. Maertens posted 3:42.35 to narrowly beat Short (3:42.37) while South Korea's Kim Woomin (3:42.60) finished third. Afterwards Short revealed the grief he had been carrying in the lead-up to the world championships in Singapore. 'I won two years ago by 0.02 and today I just lost by 0.02,' Short said. 'I'm happy to be back on the podium after a hard last year. So, you know, I can't complain. 'I just want to dedicate that performance there to my auntie who passed away a couple weeks ago. 'As bad I was hurting there, it's nowhere near as bad as her battling cancer for 10 years. So I had to toughen up and get it done.' In the stacked women's 400m freestyle field, Lani Pallister produced a personal-best 3:58.87 to finish fourth. Canadian world record holder Summer McIntosh (3:56.26) blitzed the field to win gold and China's Li Bingjie surged late to finish second, while the legendary Katie Ledecky had to be content with bronze. Australia's 400m Olympic champion Ariarne Titmus didn't feature after extended her post-Paris break from the pool. The relay events proved to be Australia's saviour on the opening night of the championships, propelling the nation to the top of the medal standings. First, Olivia Wunsch pulled off a huge late comeback to fire Australia to an upset victory over the US in the women's 4x100m freestyle relay. Then Kyle Chalmers achieved the same result for Australia's men, reeling in a sizeable lead from the US to snare gold. The Australian coaching staff celebrated wildly upon each victory. Australia entered Sunday night's 4x100m women's relay with a new-look team featuring Mollie O'Callaghan, Meg Harris, Milla Jansen and Wunsch. The US were hot favourites to win, but Australia threw a spanner into the works by clawing their way into the lead by the time Wunsch dived into the water for the final leg. American Torri Huske quickly re-took the lead and held a half-length margin with 50m remaining before Woods came storming home to snatch victory. 'I definitely can't believe it,' Jansen told Nine. 'This is something that I wanted growing up. I was feeling very nervous coming into this, but it's just a dream come true.' Australia finished in a time of 3:30.60, with the US (3:31.04) in second. The Australian men followed suit, with the quartet of Chalmers, Flynn Southam, Kai Taylor and Maximillian Giuliani posting a world championship-record time of 3:08.97 to defeat Italy (3:09.58) and the fading US (3:09.64). 'I've kind of lost my voice already from cheering so hard,' Southam said. 'I'm just so happy to be here, and we all swam out of our skin, and we did it for the country, and we're so proud of ourselves.'
