WNBA free agency is upon us, with teams extending qualifying offers to 2022 reserved free agents as of Jan. 1. As the activity heats up, we made a cheat sheet to get you ready for what should be an eventful free agency period.

A reserved free agent is any player who is out of a contract and has been in the WNBA for three years or fewer. These players can negotiate only with their previous team. Teams have until Jan. 14 to extend qualifying offers to reserved players.

Any player with four years of service in the WNBA is considered a restricted free agent. These players can negotiate and sign with any team in the league, but their previous team has the “right of first refusal” to match any offer and try to retain the player.

Unrestricted free agents have completed a contract and played at least five years in the WNBA. A player can also become a UFA if they are cut by a team and passed through waivers without being claimed. Unless designated a core player, a UFA is free to negotiate and sign with any team.

A core player, as mentioned above, is unable to negotiate with other teams, but the team that has cored them must offer a one-year supermax contract. The team and player are able to negotiate a longer contract, but the tag will stick to that player for the length of the contract unless the player is traded, waived or retires. Each team has one core player designation, such as Phoenix with Brittney Griner and Los Angeles with Nneka Ogwumike. A player can be cored for only two seasons.

Teams may begin contract negotiations with free agents on Jan. 15, and players may officially sign contracts starting Feb. 1.

Connecticut Sun

UFAs: Briann January, Jonquel Jones

Reserved: Natisha Hiedeman (signed qualifying offer), Stephanie Jones (extended QO), Beatrice Mompremier (signed QO)

Indiana Fever

UFA: Jessica Breland

RFA: Lindsay Allen (extended QO)

Reserved: Victoria Vivians (extended QO), Temi Fagbenle (extended QO), Emma Cannon (extended QO), Chelsey Perry (extended QO), Bernadett Határ (extended QO)

Los Angeles Sparks

UFA: Nia Coffey

Reserved: Te’a Cooper (extended QO), Lauren Cox (signed QO), Marianna Tolo

Chicago Sky

UFAs: Kahleah Copper, Stefanie Dolson, Astou Ndour-Fall, Allie Quigley, Courtney Vandersloot

RFAs: Diamond DeShields (extended QO), Lexie Brown (extended QO)

Washington Mystics

UFAs: Tina Charles, Leilani Mitchell, Theresa Plaisance, Shatori Walker-Kimbrough, Shavonte Zellous

RFA: Myisha Hines-Allen

Reserved: Megan Gustafson

Seattle Storm

UFAs: Sue Bird, Cierra Burdick, Jewell Loyd, Breanna Stewart

RFAs: Jordin Canada (extended QO), Mercedes Russell (extended QO), Stephanie Talbot (extended QO)

Reserved: Karlie Samuelson

Las Vegas Aces

UFAs: Liz Cambage, Angel McCoughtry, Kiah Stokes, Riquna Williams

RFA: A’ja Wilson

Reserved: JiSu Park

Minnesota Lynx

UFAs: Rachel Banham, Layshia Clarendon, Sylvia Fowles

Reserved: Bridget Carleton (signed QO), Anna Cruz (extended QO)

Phoenix Mercury

UFAs: Sophie Cunningham, Alanna Smith

RFA: Kia Nurse

Reserved: Shey Peddy, Sonja Petrovic

New York Liberty

UFAs: Rebecca Allen, Reshanda Gray

Reserved: Paris Kea, Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe

Atlanta Dream

UFAs: Blake Dietrick, Tiffany Hayes, Odyssey Sims, Shekinna Stricklen, Courtney Williams, Elizabeth Williams

RFA: Monique Billings (extended QO)

Reserved: Jaylyn Agnew (extended QO), Crystal Bradford

Dallas Wings

The Wings have no free agents and had previously exercised options on Satou Sabally, Tyasha Harris and Bella Alarie.

The grass court chaos of Wimbledon didn't disappoint this week, as the unpredictable surface claimed more than one surprise victim in the 2025 Grand Slam's first round.

A full 10 of the London tournament's 32 seeded players fell in the competition's first round, including four of the WTA's Top 10: World No. 2 Coco Gauff, No. 3 Jessica Pegula, No. 6 Qinwen Zheng, and No. 9 Paula Badosa.

"I should just play no tournaments, get no wins, then roll into Wimbledon, and maybe I'll have better results," US star Pegula joked after her two-set Tuesday loss to Italy's No. 116 Elisabetta Cocciaretto, referencing her recent wins.

Gauff's short Wimbledon outing also represented a new challenge for the 21-year-old standout, as the top-ranked US tennis player struggled to bounce back after winning the 2025 French Open last month.

"I feel like mentally I was a little bit overwhelmed with everything that came afterwards," Gauff told ESPN. "So I didn’t feel like I had enough time to celebrate and also get back into it."

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The upsets continued as Wimbledon entered its second round on Wednesday morning, claiming several more seeded players like world No. 5 Jasmine Paolini and No. 15 Diana Shnaider, though both No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and unseeded fan favorite Naomi Osaka cruised into the Slam's third round on two-set wins.

No. 8 Madison Keys now leads the US contingent, with fellow US contender No. 12 Amanda Anisimova joining the 2025 Australian Open champion in snagging their own two-set, second-round victories on Wednesday.

How to watch the 2025 Wimbledon Championships

Second-round play at the 2025 Wimbledon women's singles tournament continues on Thursday, as seven US players — including No. 10 Emma Navarro and No. 28 Sofia Kenin — look to advance to the competition's third round.

Live continuous coverage of the London Grand Slam airs on ESPN.

The world No. 1 USWNT will close out their summer international break against a familiar foe on Wednesday night, facing North American rival No. 8 Canada for the first time this year.

"It's never friendly, you know? It's always like a final," US midfielder Sam Coffey told media earlier this week. "We all know each other super well."

"I'm really excited to be a part of it again for our younger, newer players," she continued. "I think it's going to be a huge learning opportunity on what representing this crest means."

The Northern neighbors are the USWNT's most frequent opponent, with the US entering the pair's 67th meeting with a 53-4-9 all-time record against Canada.

Wednesday's matchup will also mark Canada's first US clash under new head coach Casey Stoney, who joined the team in January following her abrupt June 2024 dismissal by the NWSL's San Diego Wave FC.

As for US boss Emma Hayes, she'll be looking for yet another refreshed set of starters on Wednesday after swapping out all 11 players between the team's two friendlies against Ireland last week.

"It's a testament to players and staff alike that we can rotate to different groups like we did last game, and everybody's understanding [the tactics] to varying degrees," Hayes said on Tuesday.

With months to go before the next USWNT camp in October, Wednesday's showdown serves as the last chance for bubble players to prove their worth, all while the team aims to cap the summer window with a big win over their longtime rivals.

How to watch the USWNT vs. Canada on Wednesday

The USWNT will cap their three-friendly summer break against Canada at 7:30 PM ET in Washington, DC.

Live coverage of the clash will air on TNT.

The Indiana Fever lifted their first trophy since 2012 on Tuesday night, winning the 2025 WNBA Commissioner's Cup with a 74-59 upset victory over reigning Cup champs Minnesota — all while injured star guard Caitlin Clark watched from the sidelines.

To snag the win, Indiana leaned on balanced scoring, with forward Natasha Howard's 16-point, 12-rebound double-double leading the Fever's five double-digit shooters.

At the same time, the Fever employed a shutdown defense, limiting the Lynx to their lowest point total of the season.

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Beyond the $500,000 payout, Tuesday's win gives the 8-8 Fever a momentum boost as the team continues contending with both high-profile departures and the limited availability of their floor general.

"We have a resilient group, you know?" Indiana head coach Stephanie White said after the game. "They're tough, mentally and physically, they pull for one another. I'm just really proud."

"It felt good to get a win under gut-check circumstances," echoed guard Kelsey Mitchell. "To have so much going on and still stay consistently for each other, it was beautiful. It felt really amazing."

As for the league-leading Lynx, the Commissioner's Cup loss won't impact Minnesota's regular-season WNBA standings — and they’ll hope to build on the learnings from last night's ego blow.

Minnesota also has a bit of history one their side, as the last two Commissioner's Cup runners-up went on to win the WNBA Championship in the same year.

"We have to take this game to heart and learn from the mistakes we made, the way we showed up, the way we prepared, and make sure we don't do it again," said Lynx center Alanna Smith.

How to watch the Indiana Fever, Minnesota Lynx this week

Neither 2025 Commissioner's Cup contender will have much time to reflect on Tuesday's game, as both Indiana and Minnesota will dive back into regular-season WNBA play on Thursday.

The Fever will host the Las Vegas Aces at 7 PM ET, airing on Prime, before the Washington Mystics visit the Lynx at 8 PM ET, with live coverage on WNBA League Pass.

Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham turned heads on Tuesday, criticizing the latest WNBA expansion plans in light of ongoing WNBPA CBA negotiations.

Cunningham drew ire from some fans after expressing skepticism about the WNBA awarding expansion teams to Detroit and Cleveland over other possible cities, while also suggesting that the league might be growing too quickly.

"You want to listen to your players, too. Where do they want to play?" she told reporters ahead of Indiana's Commissioner's Cup win. "I'm not so sure what the thought process is there, but at the end of the day, you want to make sure that you're not expanding our league too fast."

"It's kind of a hard decision-making situation. But man, I don't know how excited people are to be going to Detroit or [Cleveland]."

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Elsewhere, Phoenix Mercury forward Satou Sabally also voiced her expansion concerns on Tuesday, calling on the WNBA to keep player support at the forefront when adding expansion teams.

"We really have to put an emphasis on the players that are in our league right now," she told reporters. "Maybe focus on the teams that find excuses continuously to lack investment in their players before we focus on adding more to the grain of people that can't really be sustained."