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A family friendly Derby timeslot of 6:05pm headlines a massive 4 matches at the MCG for the Melbourne Stars in KFC BBL|15.

Fresh off the back of a roller coaster campaign last year where the Stars soared up the ladder late to make their first finals appearance in five years, the club is looking to capitalise on that momentum.

The club’s first home match will be played at the MCG on Thursday, 18^th December against the reigning champions, the Hobart Hurricanes.

The Stars then travel to Adelaide, Sydney, Canberra and Brisbane before returning to Melbourne after the conclusion of the Boxing Day Test.

Stars members and fans will then be encouraged to flock to the biggest game of the regular season at MCG on Sunday 4^th January, as they host cross town rivals, the Renegades, in a family friendly timeslot of 6:05pm.

The race to the finals will see the Stars host the Sixers and the Strikers at the MCG with an away derby wedged in the middle, before travelling to Perth for the final home-and-away fixture.

With 8 of the 10 matches will be broadcast on Channel 7 and 7 Plus, all eyes will be on the Stars as they look to make consecutive finals appearances.

“This fixture is a win for Stars fans, with the return of a family-friendly 6.05pm Derby timeslot, right in the heart of the holiday period at the MCG,” Melbourne Stars General Manager Max Abbott said.

“We’re also delighted that we get to start our season at home, allowing the playing group to come together for a solid block in Melbourne to prepare before the season gets underway. Our fans can expect a great show for Opening Night at the ‘G on December 18.

“With the MCG unavailable for the window around the Boxing Day Test, we will again take a home match against Sydney Thunder to Canberra, a fixture that was sold out last season.

“There’s also going to be some great battles to look forward to between the overseas players. There’ll be no holding back from Haris Rauf when he lines up against Babar Azam against Sydney Sixers in another blockbuster MCG clash in the holiday period.

“We cannot wait to build on the momentum from last year and we’re already planning to put on an even better and bigger show this season at the greatest sporting colosseum in the world, the MCG.”

Melbourne Stars memberships for BBL|15 & WBBL|11 are on sale now. Click here for membership options.

To download the full Melbourne Stars BBL|15 fixture to your calendar, click here.

WIMBLEDON — Six days ago, Solana Sierra was in the depths of despair. The 21-year-old had lost from match point up in the final round of Wimbledon qualifying to Australia’s Talia Gibson, dropping the last four games of the match from 5-3 up in the third set. That night, she says, she kept replaying the match point in her head. She was so sad she couldn’t sleep.

Wimbledon: Scores | Order of play | Draws

On Wednesday, Sierra’s devastation turned into joy. Playing on Court No. 1, she took down home hope Katie Boulter 6-7(7), 6-2, 6-1.

For Sierra, Wimbledon marks a milestone for both her and her country. This week, she’s collected her first two tour-level wins and become the first Argentine woman to reach the third round here since Gisela Dulko in 2009. She’s also had to change accommodation three times already — with a fourth move coming Wednesday night — but at this point, she says, that’s a “good problem to have.”

On Monday. Sierra gained entry to the main draw at the last minute — almost literally. Though she knew she was first in line for a lucky loser berth, she thought that if anyone was going to withdraw, they would have done so before the start of play. Then, a back injury forced Greet Minnen to pull out. Sierra, who was eating in the player restaurant at the time, had just 15 minutes’ warning to put her match clothes on, do a five-minute warmup, then head out on court.

Déjà vu almost struck in that match, against Olivia Gadecki — another Australian. Sierra served for the match at 5-4 in the second set, but missed four match points in that game before converting her sixth for a 6-2, 7-6(8) victory.

“I was thinking, ‘Not again,’” she said. “But it was good that I stayed positive mentally and closed in the tiebreak.”

That’s one of the reasons Sierra played “really free” against Boulter. After two such emotionally draining matches, she simply felt no pressure as she notched her second career Top 50 win. She’ll next play Spain’s Cristina Bucsa, with a spot in a first Grand Slam fourth round at stake for both players.

Here’s more on Sierra:

She has been training at the Rafa Nadal Academy since March

Sierra has put together a formidable 33-12 record this year, including her first WTA 125 title in Antalya in March and two more ITF trophies. Not coincidentally, she’s also been based at the Rafa Nadal Academy on Mallorca since March.

“The academy is super good,” she said. “They’re really professional, and they’re helping me with my game and the stuff outside the court.”

Having started 2025 ranked No. 167, Sierra cracked the Top 100 for the first time two weeks ago.

“It was a goal that I had since I started to play tennis,” she said.

Former US Open champion Gabriela Sabatini is a favorite

When asked for the Argentinian players who have most inspired her, Sierra doesn’t hesitate.

“[Gabriela] Sabatini, of course!” she replied. “The best!”

Sierra is also a fan of compatriots Juan Martin del Potro and Diego Schwartzman, whom she grew up watching. But Sabatini retired in 1996 — eight years before Sierra was born. 

“I watched on YouTube some videos of her,” she said. “I really liked her personality — it was really nice to watch.”

She is a big-stage player who’s played her best tennis at Slams

All of Sierra’s tour-level main draws to date have been majors. She qualified for the US Open last year, then repeated the feat at Roland Garros this year. Wimbledon marks the first time she has won main-draw matches at this level. Going back to 2022, she was also the Roland Garros junior runner-up.

“I like to be in the biggest stadiums with the crowd,” she said. “They’re the best tournaments, I love to compete here and I loved every moment.”

She is a relative grass-court novice — but has taken to the surface

This Wimbledon marks just the fourth tournament Sierra has ever played on grass, including a pair of junior outings in 2021 where she tallied only one win. She fell in the first round of Wimbledon qualifying in 2024, but ahead of her return this year committed to a week of proper practice on the surface.

“I didn’t have to adjust much,” she said. “Just to stay lower. “Now, I think my game suits the grass.”

She has a reward in mind for her work this week

Sierra turned 21 on June 17, the day after she broke into the Top 100 for the first time. That was a decent present, but Sierra had her eyes on another.

“I wanted to buy a necklace for my birthday,” she said. “I didn’t, because it was too expensive.”

Sierra’s unexpected windfall as a lucky loser is now £152,000 — nearly quadruple the £41,500 she would have earned from making the final qualifying round. No wonder that, with a glint in her eye, she says that she’s now thinking about that necklace again.