Around the WNBA, big-name players A'ja Wilson, Kahleah Copper, Caitlin Clark, and Angel Reese made good use of Wednesday's jam-packed five-game schedule, kicking off a pre-All-Star Weekend campaign that promises not to disappoint.

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Aces' A'ja Wilson racks up a perfect 20/20

Two-time MVP A’ja Wilson was the star of the show yesterday, throwing down epic numbers in one of her most successful performances so far this season

Wilson registered a 24-point, 20-rebound double-double in the Aces’ 84-79 win over Seattle, marking the six-time All-Star's first-ever 20/20 game.

Storm guard Jewell Loyd’s 28 points led the game, but between Wilson’s numbers and fellow Ace Jackie Young’s 27 points, Vegas managed to leapfrog fifth-place Seattle to secure a fourth-place spot in the WNBA standings.

Top-ranked WNBA teams keep scoring

At the top of the table, the Liberty beat the Sun 71-68 to oust Connecticut from the pair's previous tie for first in the standings. 

2024 WNBA All-Star DeWanna Bonner’s 22 points led the Sun, while Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu sank 21 points alongside Breanna Stewart’s 18-point, 14-rebound double-double to extend New York's record to 18-4 on the season.

And in Phoenix, the Mercury dominated the last-place Wings 100-84 behind Kahleah Copper’s 32 points — the most drained by any player that day. Yet despite double-doubles from both Teaira McCowan and Arike Ogunbowale, Dallas fell to 5-18 on the season with the loss.

Rookies Clark, Reese, and Cardoso put up numbers

Fever star Caitlin Clark owned Indiana's stat sheet yesterday with 29 points and 13 assists, becoming the first player in WNBA or NBA history to drop 25+ points, five rebounds, 10+ assists, five steals, and three blocks in a single game.

Clark's effort wasn't enough to hold off the otherwise struggling Mystics, however, who stunned the Fever 89-84 behind a monster 26 points from Ariel Atkins. 

Chicago's rookies joined forces to lift the Sky over the Dream 78-69, as Kamilla Cardoso added her own double-double to teammate Angel Reese’s record-extending 14th. 

This season, Reese and Cardoso have combined to average just under 20 rebounds per game so far this season. If that metric holds, they’ll make WNBA history with the highest average for any duo in a single season.

What happens next for WNBA teams

With All-Star Weekend tipping off one week from today, only 15 regular season games remain before the WNBA's scheduled Olympic break.

Whether they currently sit in first or last place, all 12 teams will want to hit the ground running when play resumes on August 15th.

In the UK, the path toward becoming a professional soccer player starts early. 

Kids in the US usually start out with local or travel clubs before moving to a high school team and then maybe playing in college before going pro. And recently, a small but growing number of teenage players are opting to sign contracts with the NWSL before they’ve even finished school.

But across the pond in the UK, a promising footballer’s road to stardom can start as young as five years old. The academy system was established to guide aspiring young players as they work towards an adult contract, with professional clubs like Arsenal, Liverpool, West Ham, Chelsea, and others supplying their youth programs with full-time coaches, training facilities, and a match calendar. Then at 18, the senior club either offers the player a pro deal or releases them to pursue a spot on another team’s roster. 

The goal has always been to nurture and sustain homegrown talent, with academies around the league producing WSL and England national team icons like Leah Williamson, Lauren James, Lotte Wubben-Moy, Lauren Hemp, Chloe Kelly, and Mary Earps. And now more than ever, it’s something big league teams are focused on given the women’s game’s meteoric post-Euros rise in the UK. 

Of course, academy life isn’t just afterschool practice and weekend fixtures at the training grounds. When senior clubs travel for international friendlies, they’ll often invite a few academy players to tag along. It’s a way to give the young players some exposure, bonding time with the team, and minutes on the field, all while the coaching staff has the opportunity to evaluate their progress and see how they gel with the club. 

That was the case for Michelle Agyemang and Vivienne Lia, two up-and-coming academy products who joined Arsenal FC on their recent USA tour. 18-year-old Agyemang recently graduated from Arsenal’s academy, signing her first pro contract with the team this past May after debuting in November 2022 at the age of 16. 17-year-old Lia is still finishing school and academy training, having taken the field with the senior club for the first time in February 2024.

Last week, JWS spoke to the England U19 standouts in Washington, DC ahead of Arsenal’s friendly with crosstown rivals Chelsea to learn more about their journeys from childhood Gooners to academy superstars and beyond.

How's the trip going so far?

Michelle Agyemang: So far good. I think it's been good to go out and see the monuments and stuff, and obviously training. It's been nice to be around everyone as well.

Viv, this is your second team trip after Arsenal’s Australia exhibition in May. How are you finding it?

Vivienne Lia: It's great. Australia was more hectic with the fans, but over here it's been relaxed. But it's also been more dense — because it's pre-season, we've been working a lot more than we did in our postseason trip.

How old were each of you when you signed with Arsenal Academy?

MA: I was six.

VL: I was 14.

I know Arsenal has recently moved away from academy trials and now uses a talent identification team to recruit young players, but what was the process like when you joined?

MA: At the time, you just apply on a website, come in for a massive trial with about 30 girls, do a bit of training, and then if you're successful, you go to a second round with less girls. And that's it: Two sessions and then they send you an email or a letter. It's quite simple really.

VL: Mine was quite similar. There was a trial system: one and two trials. At the first one there were quite a lot of girls and then it cut it off a bit. From there, you get an email whether you got in or not. Now it's changed where they don't have open trials — you come in for training sessions instead. 

Did your parents sign you up? 

MA: I was playing for a local boys team and my dad was like, "Oh, might as well just sign her up." So he did, for a few different teams. And then we literally just rocked up to [a pitch] not too far from Colney for a little training session.

Do you remember that day?

MA: I do quite well. To be fair, we got lost on the way. We went to, I think it was a little farm instead of the training pitch. And then I remember my dad, he kind of pranked me a bit. He was like, "Oh yeah, sorry Michelle, you didn't get in." Then he actually brings out the letter. So it was really cute — a really good day.

If you were raised in the US, do you think you would have tried to turn pro at a young age or opt for the college route?

VL: I think probably the school route, because you want to get a firm foundation of education first. Because your career is not guaranteed at whatever age — you can get an injury, God forbid, and of course that's part of the game. 

MA: I'd say the same. It’s also the experience of college — so many of my friends have gone through college and it just looks like good fun, obviously alongside football. You miss that if you go straight to pro. Getting school alongside football is something we don't get in England, so I think that'd be a really good balance to have between the two.

When you're in the academy, how much time are you devoting to soccer?

MA: I'd spend as much time as I could on both. So as soon as I finished school, I'm straight into the car, changing in the car, eating in the car, doing homework in the car, on the way to training. And then on the way back, I slept. It was an endless cycle but that was the only thing I knew.

VL: When you're younger, it's still a mix of it being a hobby but still your passion. But then as you get older — when it becomes more jam-packed, more serious — you have to try and find a balance between both. In England the systems are split, so you still have to go to school, but you also have to go to training. For me now, I go into school two, three times a week and training as well, so it’s about finding a good balance.

So you’re both lifelong Gooners — was Arsenal always the dream?

VL: Yeah, 100%. That was the dream for me. Of course, I grew up in North London — everyone's either Arsenal, Tottenham, Chelsea, or you got the odd northern team they support. Everyone wants to play for their local club, their childhood club. It was always a dream of mine to play for Arsenal and to make history at this club.

When you were younger, did you see women’s football as a viable career path?

MA: Absolutely not, no. My mum was saying to me the other day that she just thought I'd just go to Arsenal to do a few training sessions and then come back home. But the development of the game has been so fast in recent years. So I never really saw it as a career until maybe under-10s, -12s when it actually started to get much bigger as a game. At the beginning, I don’t think I had a real plan for football. But things change, and here we are.

Was the experience the same for you, Viv, seeing as you joined the academy a bit later?

VL: Different actually. I always wanted to be a footballer — or at least an athlete. It was either tennis, track, or football for me. But I always had more of a love for football, so I was like, "Okay, if I don't become a footballer, I'll be a tennis player instead." Like, "I'll be in sport." 

Football was always what I wanted to do, but I wasn't completely sure it was possible. But as a kid you're like, "Oh yeah, it'll be possible. I can do anything." So I didn't really think of that side of it until I got older I was like, "Oh, this is actually something that I can do as a profession."

How has your game changed as you've gotten more time at the senior level?

MA: At Arsenal, the passing, the movement — everything is so crisp. It's a shock at first but you adapt. For my game, I’ve added more technical bits: passing, moving, working together as a team. As a kid, you want to go run and score 10 goals, but you obviously can't do that here. So working with teammates, moving the ball, moving myself to help other players — that's a big part of my game that I've improved here.

VL: The details are so important at this top level. At youth level, you can get away with not pressing as hard or not recovering as quick, but [in senior club games] you'll get punished for that. It makes sure that you're always working to the best of your ability, but also it switches you on mentally. You have to keep attuned to how quick the game is or spot different triggers — that's the main difference between senior football and youth football.

What is your favorite Arsenal memory?

VL: It was the season before last season, the Champions League game against Bayern Munich at home when Frida Maanum scored top bins. I was ball-girling for that and I had the perfect view of it. I was like, "This is the best goal I've ever witnessed in my life." Being an Arsenal fan, [knowing] the context of that game, I was like, "Wow, this is incredible."

MA: That's a good one. I’ll go for two seasons ago when we played Wolfsburg at home in the [Champions League] semi-final. I think it was two-two going into the second leg and then for me, coming on very late in the game — a Champions League debut — that was a massive moment. Just the atmosphere, 62,000 fans, everything.

After playing the Washington Spirit earlier this week, how do you find the NWSL compares to the WSL? Is there a different flow to the game? A different approach?

MA: We always associate America with athleticism, so the transition element was so fast at every point in the game, from the first minute to the last. And the atmosphere was very interesting as well. You got the fans hyping up a corner kick — like, "Get up and cheer. It's a corner kick!" I've never seen that in my life, never ever seen that, but it’s nice as well. I liked it.

VL: Yeah, the game was very fast-paced. But it was really on runs, their wide players just bombing it forward. The physical level of the game is top. As you said, the rest of the world associates America with athleticism — powerful, fast, physical. That was something that I thought of straight away, like it's less technical but still at a high level. 

Where do you guys see yourself in five years?

MA: Right here.

Right in this room?

MA: Yeah. (laughs)

VL: In DC?

MA: Yeah, in DC. It would be awesome coming back. Imagine.

VL: I'll say the same: At Arsenal, establishing myself in the senior game and really showing what I'm about. And that's it — that's a good one.

Madison Keys was just 16 when she featured in her first US Open, and the home Grand Slam holds a special place in the now-29-year-old's tennis star's heart.

"It's truly the best, greatest feeling in the entire world," Keys told JWS last week. "I think there have been some of my most heartbreaking moments in front of a US Open crowd, but also some of my absolute most favorite, literally to the point of mid-match getting goosebumps."

Ahead of today's 2024 US Open kickoff, Keys commented on the power of the New York Slam's fans, saying, "The thing I've always loved about playing at the US Open is that, literally no matter how down and out you felt, the entire crowd was still there trying to get you through and push you through."

A chaotic 2024 sets up Keys's US Open appearance

The world No. 14 has had a rollercoaster 2024 season, missing the Australian Open due to injury before making solid finishes at WTA events in Miami, Madrid, and Strasbourg.

The Illinois product then suffered an injury at Wimbledon, withdrawing in the Round of 16 while in a winning position against eventual finalist Jasmine Paolini. "As devastating as that match against Jasmine was," detailed Keys, "it was also one of my favorite matches that I've played, just because I feel like we were both playing so well."

Her veteran perspective allowed Keys to calmly view the injury for what it was: a simple setback. "[Wimbledon] was really reassuring that I didn't do anything wrong," Keys said. "It wasn't this big thing that we had to worry about or manage. It was just really horrible timing."

Prioritizing health is vital to Keys's tennis career

The 2016 Rio Olympic semifinalist pulled out of the 2024 Paris Games in an effort to maintain her health and gear up for the season's final Slam — a decision she says was hard-won.

"It’s one of the greatest honors to be able to play for your country and play at an Olympics, and it was honestly one of my favorite tennis moments of my life," she said. "But I'm getting older — I've been on tour for a long time. They like to call me a veteran now, and I think you have to start shifting gears a little bit to prioritize the best schedule...to be able to maintain a high level and stay healthy."

Recognizing that pacing her seasons will help protect her health and, ultimately, her career, Keys is clear on her path forward. "At this point in my career, my biggest goal is I want to play tennis for as long as I want to play tennis," she said. "I don't want some outside force to be the reason that I have to step away from the game."

When it comes to her health, Keys says the details matter, like prioritizing nutrition and sleep in the run-up to another US Open and partnering with supplement companies to boost her conditioning along the way.

"I've started to change my perspective on success and goals," said Keys. "At the end of every day, being able to say, 'Okay, did I accomplish my goal? If not, what were the lessons learned? How can I move forward with them?' I think that's honestly the best way to go about success in tennis."

The tennis season’s final Grand Slam gets underway today, when the US Open takes the hardcourt in Queens, New York. Topping last year’s record-setting prize pool by $10 million, this year’s $75 million purse means the singles champion will walk away with $3.6 million.

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Led by Gauff, US women chase history

With 21 US women in this year's draw — including five ranked in the WTA’s Top 15 — domestic fans are eyeing another trophy after world No. 3 Coco Gauff became the first US teen since 1999 to win the Slam last year. This time around, Gauff is hunting more history: If she repeats, she’ll become the first back-to-back US title-winner since Serena Williams’s 2012-14 three-peat.

That said, Gauff's recent early exits from Wimbledon, the Olympics, and last week’s Cincinnati Open have placed other stars in the US Open spotlight.

A US player has yet to feature in a Grand Slam final in 2024, and contenders like world No. 6 Jessica Pegula, No. 11 Danielle Collins, and No. 14 Madison Keys are all looking to right that ship.

Top stars aim to avoid more 2024 upsets

In a season rife with upsets — from No. 26 Leylah Annie Fernandez beating No. 4 Elena Rybakina in Cincinnati to No. 24 Donna Vekić ousting Gauff at the Olympics — this Slam is anyone’s to take.

After missing Wimbledon and the Olympics, reigning Australian Open champ No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka is this year's favorite after falling to Gauff in the 2023 final, though No. 1 Iga Świątek could pose a problem in Sabalenka's hunt. The Polish phenom already knows how to win this Slam, having taken the 2022 US Open trophy. If victorious again, the 23-year-old will have six major titles to her name.

Meanwhile, Kazakhstan's No. 4 Elena Rybakina will aim to break her US Open curse of falling by the Round of 32, but a season wracked with illness, early exits, and personnel trouble could set her off course.

The field could also see a fresh face like Buffalo product Pegula or China’s 2024 Olympic gold medalist No. 7 Qinwen Zheng lifting hardware at Arthur Ashe next month.

How to watch the US Open

The 2024 US Open's main draw kicks off today at 11 AM ET, with live coverage across ABC and ESPN networks.

The NWSL saw a lively return to regular season play as the weekend brought a few shakeups to the standings as teams jockey for playoff positioning.

One of the most significant shifts featured the Kansas City Current, whose hot streak has officially cooled after going undefeated through their first 15 matches this season.

Spirit humbles Current with Sunday victory

Kansas City lost 4-1 to the Washington Spirit in their regular-season return on Sunday, weeks after falling 2-1 to league-leaders Orlando in their last pre-Olympics NWSL match. The final scoreline saw the Spirit leapfrogging KC to take second place while the Current dropped to third.

Four different goal-scorers got the job done for the Spirit, including returning Olympian Trinity Rodman. Also showing out was fellow gold medalist Croix Bethune, who's 10th assist tied Tobin Heath’s 2016 single-season record — one the rookie will likely break with nine matches left on the season.

Striker Temwa Chawinga notched KC's lone goal in the loss, breaking a tie with Orlando’s Barbra Banda to top the Golden Boot race with her 13th contribution this season.

Other noteworthy NWSL action

Earning their 18th victory with Friday's 1-0 win over Houston, Orlando has now laid claim to the longest regular-season undefeated streak in league history. Meanwhile, defending NWSL champs Gotham defeated Portland 2-0 on Friday, putting a seven-point margin between the fifth-place Thorns and the table's top four teams.

With Saturday's 3-1 win over the Red Stars, Racing Louisville moved above the postseason cutoff line into eighth place. Also on Saturday, 19-year-old Alyssa Thompson’s brace — the NWSL's second-ever registered by a teen — secured ninth-place Angel City’s 2-1 win over San Diego.