‘Amazing number’: Alex de Minaur hits new milestone on path to Shanghai quarters

  • Australian beats Nuno Borges 7-5 6-2 to reach 50 victories this year

  • World No 7 to face Daniil Medvedev in last eight as draw opens up

Alex de Minaur has hailed the milestone 50th tour-level victory in his best ever season as “amazing” after easing into the quarter-finals of the Shanghai Masters.

But now the Australian No 1 hopes his win – a 7-5 6-2 win over Portugal’s Nuno Borges – is just a staging post on his way to what could be his first ever ATP Masters 1000 triumph.

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Daria Kasatkina, Australia’s No 1 women’s tennis player, takes career break citing ‘mental stress’

  • Russian-born star has ‘hit a wall and can’t continue’

  • She promises to be back in 2026 and ‘ready to rock’

Australia’s women’s tennis No 1 has put her career on hold for the rest of the year stating “mentally and emotionally I am at breaking point”.

Daria Kasatkina, who switched nationality from Russia to Australia earlier this year, immediately becoming national No 1, blamed the “emotional and mental stress” related to that change, the strain of not seeing her family and the relentless schedule of the tennis circuit.

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Roosters star James Tedesco wins his second Dally M Medal

  • Big win completes year of redemption for fullback

  • Tamika Upton of the Broncos wins women’s award

James Tedesco has romped to his second Dally M Medal with the Sydney Roosters star finishing 22 points clear of his nearest rival.

In a big night for the Roosters, Tedesco claimed the NRL’s highest individual honour for the first time since sweeping the awards in 2019.

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Brisbane end Penrith’s five-peat dream with stunning comeback win to book place in NRL grand final

  • Broncos defeat Panthers 16-13 at Suncorp Stadium

  • Comeback victory sets up grand final showdown with Melbourne Storm

Brisbane captain Adam Reynolds has stepped up in the biggest moment of his career to end Penrith’s five-peat dream with a stunning 16-14 comeback victory.

The Broncos’ win in the NRL preliminary final has set up a grand final showdown with fierce rivals Melbourne.

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Former A-League players who deliberately got yellow cards for $10,000 cash spared conviction

Ex-Macarthur Bulls players Kearyn Baccus and Clayton Lewis will serve a two-year conditional release order for their part in the football betting scandal

Two former A-League players who deliberately received yellow cards in exchange for $10,000 have escaped a conviction on their criminal record.

Ex-Macarthur Bulls duo Kearyn Baccus and Clayton Lewis will serve a two-year conditional release order, similar to a good behaviour bond, after they were sentenced in Sydney on Wednesday.

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Gold Coast Suns’ Matt Rowell pulls off Brownlow Medal upset

  • Midfielder beats favourite Nick Daicos to top honour

  • Bailey Smith and Jordan Dawson make up top four

Gold Coast midfielder Matt Rowell has pulled off a Brownlow Medal upset by beating red-hot favourite Nick Daicos to collect the AFL’s highest individual honour.

Surging to 20 votes after 11 rounds, Rowell could not be stopped as he denied Collingwood superstar Daicos, who for a third-straight year had been one of the major fancies.

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Panthers stun Bulldogs and surge into NRL preliminary final with five-peat dream alive

  • Semi-final: Canterbury Bulldogs 26-46 Penrith Panthers

  • Dominant win sounds alarm for next opponent Brisbane

Penrith have sounded the alarm in their pursuit of a fifth straight premiership, destroying Canterbury 46-26 and setting up a preliminary final against Brisbane.

The Panthers produced one of the most dominant 40 minutes of football of their dynasty, blowing Canterbury out of the water with a record-breaking 36-8 first half.

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Cronulla battle back against Canberra as Nicho Hynes earns Sharks some respect

  • Semi-final: Raiders 12-32 Sharks

  • Win sets up showdown with the Storm in Melbourne

Nicho Hynes spent the week pondering why Cronulla are not given more respect, then helped the Sharks take their biggest step to earn it in the Craig Fitzgibbon era. For the first time since their finest hour – the 2016 premiership season – the Sharks won consecutive finals games by ending the NRL season of Canberra, the minor premiers, with a stunning 32-12 victory on Saturday.

Cronulla had won one of their past nine finals matches before this year and were assumed once again to be making up the numbers as they finished fifth. The bookmakers had them the seventhout of eight to win the premiership before the finals began, despite a good run of form heading into the business end.

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Brisbane blow away Collingwood to roar into AFL grand final against Geelong

Reigning premiers Brisbane will meet Geelong in next Saturday’s AFL grand final after blowing away Collingwood in the last quarter of their preliminary final.

Lachie Neale watch will now be a key feature of grand final week after the Lions kicked away in the last quarter on Saturday at the MCG and won 15.10 (100) to 11.5 (71) before a crowd of 96,033.

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Pat Cummins will play ‘significant’ role in Ashes series, Andrew McDonald says

  • Australia’s injured captain may not be in all five Tests starting November

  • Konstas and Labuschagne score centuries in bid for selection

Australia’s injured captain Pat Cummins will play a “significant” part in the Ashes but may not feature in all five Tests, coach Andrew McDonald says.

McDonald concedes uncertainty remains around Cummins amid the skipper’s back injury. But he dismissed speculation Cummins could miss the highly anticipated Test series against England starting on 21 November in Perth.

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Australia’s Davis Cup campaign ended by Belgium despite Alex de Minaur’s redemption

  • Aleksandar Vukic loses final decider against Raphael Collignon 6-7 (5-7) 6-2 6-3

  • Earlier De Minaur defeated Zizou Bergs and Rinky Hijikata and Jordan Thompson won doubles

Australia’s men’s tennis stars have suffered Davis Cup despair, falling a set short of completing one of the greatest comebacks in the history of the 125-year-old competition.

A day after overcoming severe cramping to defy Alex de Minaur, unfancied world No 91 Raphael Collignon wore down late stand-in Aleksandar Vukic 6-7 (5-7) 6-2 6-3 in the deciding rubber to lead Belgium to a pulsating 3-2 second-round qualifying triumph in Sydney.

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Broncos edge past Raiders with golden point field goal in thrilling NRL qualifying final

  • Brisbane defeat Canberra 29-28 to secure home preliminary

  • Reece Walsh goes from sin bin to leading unlikely comeback

Brisbane are within one win of the NRL grand final, after Ben Hunt slotted a 93rd-minute field goal to kick the Broncos to an epic 29-28 qualifying final victory over Canberra.

On a day of utter madness at GIO Stadium, Reece Walsh was sin-binned for a head-butt before engineering one of the most unlikely finals comebacks in memory.

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Australia on brink of Davis Cup exit as Alex de Minaur stunned by brave Belgian Raphael Collignon

  • World No 8 and Jordan Thompson suffer singles losses in Sydney

  • Belgium take 2-0 lead over Australia in second-round qualifying tie

Tennis officials have been branded “barbaric” as Australia slumped to a shock 2-0 deficit in a dramatic start to their second-round Davis Cup qualifying tie against Belgium in Sydney.

Lowly ranked Raphael Collignon overcame severe cramping to upset world No 8 Alex de Minaur 7-5 3-6 6-3 in a three-hour, 12-minute epic before Zizou Bergs beat Jordan Thompson 7-6 (4) 6-4 in Saturday’s second singles rubber.

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Sharks break NRL finals curse to oust Roosters while Panthers keep dream of five alive

  • Cronulla hold off Sydney for 20-10 elimination final victory

  • Penrith defeat NZ Warriors 24-8 to set up semi-final with Bulldogs

Cronulla have proven they are no finals pushovers, ending the Sydney Roosters’ season with a classic 20-10 win in their sudden-death clash at Shark Park.

Often derided for their poor finals record, Cronulla overcome an early deficit and then hung on late to claim victory in a Saturday night bellringer.

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Ruthless Hawthorn crush lacklustre Adelaide to secure AFL preliminary final spot

Five goals from veteran Jack Gunston and another Jai Newcombe midfield masterclass have powered Hawthorn to a stirring 34-point semi-final triumph against Adelaide.

The Hawks will meet fierce rivals Geelong in a preliminary final after their 14.17 (101) to 10.7 (67) victory win at Adelaide Oval on Friday night.

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