Welcome to The Wrap, a weekly podcast covering women's sports news bears.
What have we got around the grounds this week?
What is better than one, Fox?
Jess Fox and her sister Noemi have both finished with silver medals
at the Canoe World Cup and are both heading to Paris.
The women's state of origin has broken even more attendance in TV records
and Iga Svantec has won her third straight French Open title.
She is very good on the clay.
She loves the dirt.
For the key story, we'll chat about Saudi Arabia's controversial sponsorship
of the Women's Tennis Association, the WTA World Rankings,
and the mixed bag of responses coming from members of the tennis community.
It's a pretty interesting one.
Big bag of mixed lollies.
My name is Chloe Dalton.
I'm joined every week on the show by my co-host, Bez.
We're recording on Gadigal land.
Let's take a look around the grounds.
In rugby league, Queensland have kept their state of origin hopes alive
at beating the Blues.
11-10, a Loz Brown field goal with two minutes to play sealed the win
for the Maroons in torrential conditions in Newcastle.
The fact that she slotted that drop goal.
It kind of slid over sideways, but it got the job done.
Still, drop goals are hard enough under pressure in live play,
let alone in those conditions.
Talk us through it.
Well, drop goal, there's a lot of room for error in those things.
The fact that she did it with that amount of pressure
in very wet, slippery conditions is impressive.
I think, interestingly,
talk to people through how important your ball drop is for a drop kick.
And I think that, like, in all honesty, you think I'm taking it,
you know, right here.
I thought you were.
Like, when you do drop a footy onto a wet ground,
it's not bouncing the way you're used to it bouncing, yeah?
Yes, because that's, like, when you kick off a tee,
the ball is obviously very still and you can kick it exactly where you want to
on the ball, whereas when you drop the ball off the ground,
where you make contact with the ball varies depending on the type of surface
and the type of bounce and the conditions.
For your ball drop, as a kicker, you always want to make it as consistent as possible.
But when you're rushed with defenders coming at you and it's a slippery ground,
it's very unlikely that you're going to get a clean bounce of the ball.
So the fact that she just had a really solid strike through it, well played.
So the rain might have been messing with our ball drops,
but it didn't dampen the mood.
It was a new record origin crown of 25,782 people turning out to support the girls
in those conditions too.
As well as a new record for national Total TV,
a reach with 2.2 million viewers.
The Blues held the lead for 62 minutes with just eight to go.
The Maroons dug deep,
breaking up seven points in those final eight minutes to keep the series alive.
Definitely we are blaming Chloe for the result and she needs to write a written apology
to all New South Wales Blues fans.
I actually would like to take this opportunity to apologise to all New South Wales fans.
I am sorry, but it's kind of great.
I regret wanting to decide it.
I don't actually want to decide it, but it's going to be a great game, game three.
So the Maroons now return home to Queensland for the decider that Chloe wanted
and envisaged and made come to pass on June the 27th in Townsville
with a chance to clinch back-to-back series wins.
Interestingly though, when the two teams met in Townsville last year,
the New South Wales team won 18 to 14.
So hopefully that happens again.
In basketball, the WNBA experienced its biggest crowd in 17 years over the weekend
when the Indiana Fever defeated the New South Wales Blues.
Washington Mystics, 85 to 83 at Capital One Arena.
Caitlin Clark effect.
The game was set to be played at the Mystics' usual home arena,
which holds 4,200 spectators.
Get a new building.
Not enough space in your building.
With demand for tickets spiking in the lead up,
the game was moved to Capital One Arena.
I need to turn my notifications off on my laptop.
Where the Washington's –
Washington's NBA side, the Wizards, play.
I like the correlation between the Wizards and the Mystics.
I think there's some spells going on in Washington.
Of course, it was sold out with 20,333 fans in attendance.
Fun fact, the highest ever WNBA attendance record set in 1999
was only 341 more people than the match over the weekend.
To make things even better, considering the Mystics and Fever
have won only two games between them and are sitting last
on the Eastern Conference ladder, the Mystics collected more than
$1 million in gate revenue from the game, setting a record
in franchise history.
To top it all off, Kaelin Clark became only the second rookie
in WNBA history to score seven three-pointers in a game
and equaled a career-high 30 points.
A couple from the logo as well.
In tennis, world number one Igesh Vontek has continued
her world domination, powering past Italy's Jasmine Pallini
6-2, 6-1 to claim another French Open title.
At just 23 years of age, the victory means Vontek becomes
the first woman to win three women's singles titles
at the French Open since Justine Hennon in 2007.
Upon lifting the trophy, Vontek told media,
I love this place.
Honestly, I wait every year to come back here.
I was almost out of the tournament in the second round,
so thank you guys for having my back and cheering for me.
I also needed to believe that this moment was possible.
With the victory, Vontek,
becomes the youngest player in history to claim
four Roland Garros Women's Singles titles
and the only player to do it before turning 25.
And she's also the sixth youngest woman in history
to claim five Grand Slam singles titles.
She is hard to beat.
Definitely on the dirt.
And in the doubles, last-minute pairing of Coco Goff
and Katerina Sinekhova have stormed the Roland Garros
doubles title overnight with a 7-5, 6-3 win
over Sarah Arani and Jasmine Pallini.
Pallini's lost two finals.
The win is the first Grand Slam double-sided for Goff
and the eighth for Sinekhova.
That's a tough week.
That is really tough.
I mean, the dollars would still be nice as a runner-up.
Yeah, I mean, she's probably quite happy with the dollars.
You wouldn't mind holding a different trophy,
at least in one of them.
Yeah, and not the plate.
In netball, 18 players have been named
in the 2024-25 Australian Diamond Squad.
The squad includes three debutants,
Ash Irvin, Georgie Horges and Hannah Mundy.
Captain Liz Watson and Vice-Captain Paige Hadley
are among the 15 returning athletes
from the Origin Australian Diamonds' successful 2023 campaign,
which included being crowned world champions.
Aussie Diamonds head coach Stacey Marinkovic says
the squad will build towards a home netball World Cup in 2027.
We've been incredibly impressed with the standard
at the Suncorp Super Netball level this year,
with the development coming through
Netball Australia's pathway programs,
including Fast Five.
And in some more,
Netball Australia has received a $6 million investment
towards the Sydney 2027 Netball World Cup.
The funding boost will support the planning and delivery
of the Sydney 2027 World Cup,
which coincides with Netball Australia's centenary.
It will ensure all Netball participants are celebrated,
with a particular focus on the history of netball
and First Nations peoples.
In Australia, netball is played by over 1 million people,
and that's pretty crazy when you think about our population.
Federal Minister for Support, Annika Wells,
Netball has the highest participation numbers
for women and girls in Australian sport,
and their participation drives health, social and economic benefits,
as well as the government's gender equality agenda.
Very welcome funding, I'd say that one.
In football, in what seems to be a week of breaking records,
the Chicago Red Stars hosted their first game
at a major league baseball venue
as part of their Red Stars Takeover Wrigley Field campaign.
Have you seen videos of it?
I need to post one, but it's like, it's awesome.
It's kind of bizarre because of the shape of a baseball ground.
It's a bit like when you play in a rectangle sport at the MCG.
Yes, very much so.
But the atmosphere looked exceptional.
And just also the kind of, the theatre of going to Wrigley is awesome.
I would love that.
Have you been to Wrigley?
No, I've been to Fenway.
Stood on the diamond.
Watching a Pearl Jam gig.
Saw Pearl Jam at Fenway Park and it was sick.
This game, back to sports, it broke the NWSL attendance record
with 35,038 fans in the crowd.
This historic match is not just momentous for the Red Stars,
but for the whole league and the future of women's professional soccer.
I actually just changed that quote to make it sound how I liked it
because I didn't realise it was actually a quote.
That was from Chicago Red Stars President Karen Leitzow.
We're with you, Karen.
Chicago has truly shown the country what's possible
when we level the playing field with a centrally located stadium
that is easy to access and give these world-class athletes
the support they deserve.
Our club could not be prouder to call Chicago home tonight.
Common sense, people.
In a bit of a side that Chicago reminded me of,
have you seen the footage out of on the New York Liberty's account?
They were doing one of those things where you need to ask the question
on the way in or as the players arrive, you know,
and the question was New York Slice talking about pizza
or Chicago deep dish.
And obviously they were all like New York Slice.
Anyway, one of the players went on about not really loving pizza
but being a bit of a Papa John's fan.
It was the most ridiculous answer and all the mates were paying her out about it
and then next, like two days later, this massive pile of Papa John's
arrive in the change room.
It was really cool.
Smart marketing too.
Great bit of content.
In Canoe Slalom, it just, I just shouldn't.
It never gets better.
I just shouldn't read these stories.
Probably say Slalom.
Maybe Jess Fox says Slalom.
I could be wrong.
So there's been more action at the Canoe World Cup
with Jess Fox claiming two silver medals.
On day one, Fox was the quickest in the kayak event
but was relegated to second place due to two gate touches
which added four seconds to her time.
The triple Olympic medalist suffered a similar fate in the C1
posting a time of 93.94 seconds but had four seconds added to finish.
1.59 seconds behind hometown hero Gabriela Satkova.
It'll be a family affair in Paris which is really cool
because they obviously are half French as well
with Naomi Fox delivering a fairytale finish to earn Australia
an Olympic quota spot in the Kayak Cross which is my new favourite event.
Well, not new but it's just my favourite event.
It's a great event.
And all but sure of her place in the Australian team,
Fox had to compete in five races before booking a spot in the final
where she staged a stunning come from behind performance
to take the silver medal.
She told media after the race,
it's been such a long journey and I feel so grateful to have had
the most incredible support team here with me
and to be able to celebrate it and join the Australian Olympic team
and join my sister.
It's so incredible.
Massive congrats to Naomi.
It's going to be so cool to see her over there
and see the sisters together.
I also love the, it's like jousting on the water.
Goats in kayak with jousting sticks.
We're onto something.
In wheelchair rugby, the Australian Steelers have finished up
their preparations for Paris 2024 with a silver medal
at the Canada Cup on Monday.
The Steelers concluded the round robin competition
with an outstanding 54 to 46 victory over the United States
who often are big rivals to ensure their passage to the medal rounds
and put them against Asia-Oceania arch rivals Japan
who are too strong for the Steelers,
defeating them 54 to 46 in the final,
continuing their unbeaten run in the tournament.
They're looking good, Japan, aren't they?
Let's take a look at the key story.
So we know that...
Saudi Arabia and the Women's Tennis Association
have formed a partnership.
I think it's worth a discussion, Bez,
of whether it's going to be something that is actually going to grow
the women's game and help the women's game
or is this sports washing?
So let's talk to what sports washing means.
Just a little reminder for everyone.
So this is kind of how sports washing works,
if the common opinion of it.
It's basically laundering a government's...
reputation by hosting major sports events
that attract widespread positive media attention
while diverting that attention away from alleged human rights abuses
So Saudi Arabia obviously don't have the greatest track record
in a lot of those areas in regards to human rights issues.
They are pouring a lot of money into a number of different sports.
The WTA is not the first to take the money
and they're probably going to have to do that.
They probably won't be the last.
So they unveiled a partnership
with Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund
and the news comes following the announcement
that Saudi Arabia will host the WTA finals
as part of a three-year deal that will increase the prize money
for this November's season-ending championship
to a record $15.25 million,
which is a 70% increase from 2023.
This is where I think it's a really interesting discussion
because you look at it in the sense of
does it actually help the game from a commercial,
commercial benefit?
70% to me is not enough of an increase to take that deal.
Okay, let me give you a scenario.
If Saudi Arabia, for whatever reason,
wanted to come and support the New South Wales Waratahs,
what does that decision look like for you?
From a purely commercial perspective
where it is nothing but numbers on a piece of paper
and in the bank account,
it's a very hard thing to say no to.
Is there a minimum...
Is there a minimum amount that needs to...
Well, that comes to the moral question of
put a price on your...
And how, you know, put a price on
how strongly you believe in people's rights in Saudi Arabia,
which is really difficult to do.
And I think, you know, so we look at Live Golf,
that's probably the most pertinent example
of Saudi's influence.
They're making these players multi-millionaires.
And I think that's...
So to me, when I look at the Live Golf example,
that's a huge increase in the money.
So that's where you see players
who were shamed by certain people
for accepting contracts with Live Golf,
but said publicly,
I can't turn this money down.
I simply cannot turn this money down.
It's life-changing money.
Is that 70% increase from 2023 life-changing money?
I don't think so.
Probably not initially,
but potentially down the track if it continues.
There's been some mixed...
I feel like we're a little bit mixed in our opinions.
There's been some mixed responses across the board.
Tennis Hall of Famers have kind of...
Yeah, Chris Ervin and Martina Navrilova
have been strong on this.
Have been very strong in their opinion to not want to do it.
we did not help build women's tennis
for it to be exploited by Saudi Arabia.
This is one of my favorite quotes from Mickey Warden.
the director of Global Initiatives for Human Rights Watch.
Been a long Monday already.
the idea that women's tennis would go to repressive Saudi Arabia
where the male guardianship system denies women basic human rights
is an offense to the pioneers who made women's tennis popular.
Given the poor state of women's rights in Saudi Arabia,
women's tennis should not contribute
to covering up repression in the country.
and she talks about that fight,
and one of the key leaders of that fight was Billie Jean King.
Now, Billie Jean King has gone on the record as saying,
let's change from within.
So she's kind of said,
let's get our foot in the door here at Saudi Arabia,
put more women in front of those repressive kind of government
in Saudi Arabia and change the policy from within.
the thing I'm concerned about as a woman,
I want to change if we go.
So she wants to see change.
I'm being on engagement and inclusion.
So it is a tough one,
but I know that people are going to go there.
she knows that Saudi Arabia have the money.
Sport will go there.
It's a matter of whether you stand outside of the room and say,
we don't agree with it and we won't take the money or not.
And I think Billie Jean King's like,
let's get in the room and actually try and invoke change from within.
It is really tricky.
I have so much respect for Billie Jean King as many people do.
I think I would really like,
I'd like to see a very clear strategy about what it looks like when they do
We're happy with that.
Let's finish there.
Let's take a look at what to watch.
Our Aussie swimmers are back in the pool from Monday this week as they look to
book their tickets to the Paris 2024 games of the Australian swimming trials
I feel nervous for them.
It's pretty rough,
And it's super cutthroat.
if you miss out on a spot in the Australian team,
like you still probably like,
the seventh best swimmer in the world in that event.
Maybe even higher.
Maybe even higher than that.
Each day is divided into two sessions.
The heats that begin at 11 a.m.
And the finals starting at 7.30 p.m.
We're watching live on nine.
All on network nine.
The hockey roos are back in action at the FIH Pro League again this week,
where they take on Germany after coming back from two nil down to defeat the
Germans in a penalty shootout on Sunday night.
The hockey roos will be looking to beat the Germans again in the rematch.
It all starts at 2.45 a.m.
On Wednesday morning on seven plus in the Suncorp Supernet or the Sunshine
Coast Lightning will be looking to hold their place in the top four when they
take on the second place Vixens this Saturday at uni of Sunshine Coast Arena
heading into round 10.
The lightning sit only four points clear of teams in fifth,
sixth and seventh place.
The match starts at 7 p.m.
And is live on KO and Fox Netball.
See you next week,
Hopefully next week's warm.
No, that doesn't.
Winter doesn't work like that.
See you next week.