All eyes are on the Commissioner’s Cup, set to tip off between the Seattle Storm and the Connecticut Sun at 9 p.m. ET on Thursday.

That includes those outside of the WNBA.

“It’s a really good idea. Another opportunity for people to see these women compete at the highest level,” Spurs assistant Becky Hammon told the Associated Press. “It’s not foreign to women playing overseas. The WNBA players are used to it.”

Hammon played 16 seasons in the WNBA, starting her career with the New York Liberty and ending it with the San Antonio Stars. Almost every offseason, like most WNBA athletes today, she went overseas to play for another professional team and supplement her WNBA salary.

“They are always fun, always bonuses in everyone’s contract. That was overseas,” she said of the Commissioner’s Cup-style games she was used to. “Put a little something extra on the line.”

For the inaugural Commissioner’s Cup championship game, that bonus includes $500,000 in prize money. The winning team will line each player’s pockets with an additional $30,000, while the game MVP will take home an additional $5,000.

Sun forward Jonquel Jones appreciates the innovation behind the event.

“It’s funny because I feel like in our league we do things first and then you see things on ESPN about how the NBA is thinking about doing an in-season tournament, and I’m like, ‘Been there, done that,’” Jones said. “We are always the first to do things and other leagues do it after that, and I like that we are always the first to bring things up.”

Other players and coaches involved recognize the challenges surrounding the championship game Thursday. The Sun have had three weeks of practice to prepare, while the Storm had five players competing in the Tokyo Olympics and haven’t had as much time to get up to speed with their full roster. That includes Breanna Stewart, Sue Bird and Jewell Loyd, who helped Team USA win its seventh consecutive gold medal in Tokyo.

Neither team has played a WNBA game in five weeks while the league was on a break for the Olympics.

Sun guard DeWanna Bonner said Connecticut has been preparing to perform at their peak, working on plays and defensive schemes and getting some lifting sessions in.

“Coach Miller definitely didn’t take it lightly on us, that is for sure,” Bonner said. “It felt like college all over again.”

“It’s a great story for the broadcast,” Sun coach Curt Miller told reporters on Monday. “Not playing a game for five weeks, are you a little rusty? Are you a little nervous? Are you playing a little fast? Do you settle into the tempo of the game? Or does Seattle look tired and look like they haven’t practiced together?

“We have to get the cobwebs out — we haven’t played a game in five weeks,” Miller continued. “That is the benefit that Stewie, Bird and Lloyd have. They played games throughout this whole stretch and while they may not be beach with their core group practicing as hard as we practiced, there is no substitute for games.”

Meanwhile, the three players returning to the Storm aren’t exactly coming back with fresh legs. Bird and Lloyd tallied 150 minutes and 112 minutes, respectively, for Team USA at the Olympics. Stewart, logging at least 34 minutes in four of the six games, played a tournament-high 192 minutes.

“Obviously it’s not the best for us,” Stewart said in Tokyo about the timing of the Cup game. “We’ll see what happens.”

Jones believes the Sun can take advantage of the Storm’s fatigue.

“It’s just playing smart basketball,” she said. “We can probably get up and down the court a little bit quicker than them. We will just try to work them early to see how tired they are.”

Storm coach Noelle Quinn acknowledged that the minutes Seattle’s three Olympians played in Tokyo and the time the team spent apart in the past month will play a key role in Thursday night’s game.

“It wasn’t that our Olympians were away on vacation; they were away on a work call so to speak,” Quinn said. “I’m hoping that it’s seamless, but there’s very much the reality that the play may not look great those first few possessions because of the time that we’ve had off. We have to get back into a groove and a rhythm.”

Storm center Mercedes Russell feels similarly.

“Honestly, I feel like those first four minutes may get us because we have been off for a month, but it will be nice to be back in game mode,” she said. “For it to be the first Cup of the WNBA is exciting.”

The 2025 Wimbledon Championships wrapped its second round on Thursday, with the grass court Grand Slam seeing just 15 of the tournament's 32 seeded players advance to the Friday and Saturday's third round.

A full half of the WTA's Top 10 players did not survive the week, with 2024 Wimbledon finalist and world No. 5 Jasmine Paolini joining four first-round star exits by falling to unseeded Kamilla Rakhimova in a three-set, second-round battle on Wednesday.

At the same time, unseeded fan favorites like Japan's No. 53 Naomi Osaka and England's own No. 40 Emma Raducanu secured third-round spots at the London Slam, joining top surviving contenders like No. 4 Iga Świątek and defending Wimbledon champion No. 16 Barbora Krejčíková.

Notably, a full five US players managed to move ahead, tied for the largest national contingent still standing at the tournament.

Led by 2025 Australian Open champion No. 8 Madison Keys, the US group also includes No. 10 Emma Navarro and No. 12 Amanda Anisimova, as well as unseeded players No. 54 Danielle Collins and No. 55 Hailey Baptiste.

With matches against Świątek and No. 7 Mirra Andreeva, respectively, Collins and Baptiste have a tough third round ahead — though Navarro's battle against the 2024 champ Krejčíková arguably headlines Saturday's slate.

How to watch Wimbledon this weekend

While world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka is still holding strong in the dwindling field, this year's Wimbledon play is proving that the London Slam is anyone's to take, as the grass court humbles even the sport's top stars.

Expect the twists and turns to continue as tennis's best battle for spots in Sunday's Round of 16.

Round-of-32 Wimbledon play kicks off at 6 AM ET on Friday, with live continuous coverage of the tournament airing on ESPN.

The 2025 European Championship is officially underway, as Euro action kicked off with a group-stage upset on Wednesday.

Though the 2025 UEFA tournament's opener was a sweltering affair amid a European heat wave, world No. 26 Finland prevailed, earning a 1-0 upset win over No. 14 Iceland in Group A.

Finnish winger Katariina Kosola played hero, curling in the winning goal in the match's 70th minute — just 12 minutes after Iceland midfielder Hildur Antonsdóttir picked up the competition's first red card.

"The result is important for our confidence," Kosola said after Finland's first major tournament win since the 2009 Euro. "It was the kind of goal I have been practicing a lot."

"It's terrible to lose and we feel frustrated," said Iceland head coach Thorsteinn Halldórsson. "It is an even group and we knew Finland were good, but our first half wasn't good enough."

Elsewhere, No. 16 Norway closed out Wednesday's slate on top of Group A, taking three points by defeating host No. 23 Switzerland in day's second match.

Led by captain and 2018 Ballon d'Or winner Ada Hegerberg — who pulled the match even with a second-half strike — Norway battled to a 2-1 comeback win, despite the Swiss side outshooting and out-possessing the Norwegians.

How to watch this week's 2025 Euro action

Group B steals the 2025 Euro spotlight on Thursday.

While No. 13 Italy snagged a 1-0 opening win over No. 20 Belgium to kick off the day, 2023 World Cup champions and tournament favorite No. 2 Spain will face No. 22 Portugal at 3 PM ET.

Friday's Group C slate will pit No. 12 Denmark against No. 6 Sweden at 12 PM ET, before No. 3 Germany contends with No. 27 Poland at 3 PM ET.

Closing out the first group-stage matches will be arguably the toughest draw of the 2025 Euro pool.

Saturday's Group D slate features major tournament debutants No. 30 Wales against the No. 11 Netherlands at 12 PM ET, with No. 10 France taking on defending champions No. 5 England to cap the day at 3 PM ET.

Live coverage of 2025 Euro matches will air across Fox Sports platforms.

The world No. 1 USWNT ruled the pitch on Wednesday night, shutting out North American rivals No. 8 Canada 3-0 to finish the international window on a high note.

Catching the Canada backline sleeping, US midfielder Sam Coffey opened the scoring at the 17-minute mark before 19-year-old Claire Hutton claimed her first-ever USWNT goal by heading in a Rose Lavelle corner kick in the game's 36th minute.

Houston Dash forward Yazmeen Ryan then padded the US tally in the waning minutes of the match, finding the back of the net just eight minutes after subbing onto the field.

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Despite fielding a young roster, the US overpowered a veteran-heavy Canada side in almost every category, topping their Northern neighbors in shots, shots on target, possession, and — most notably — set pieces.

Canada ultimately couldn't match the game's mental pace or physical battle, as the USWNT scored all three goals off dead ball situations — a free kick, a corner kick, and a throw-in.

"It's not about the opponent," US head coach Emma Hayes said after the match. "It's about what we do, and I felt that was extremely dominant."

With Wednesday's contributions, the USWNT finishes the summer window with 11 goals scored across the three friendlies — and zero goals conceded.

The US now enters an extended break before reconvening for another as-yet-unannounced friendly series in October — but players will be expected to perform in the meantime.

"I said to the players in the end in the huddle, if you want to compete to win the biggest things, it's not what you do here that matters," said Hayes. "It's what you do when you go back to your club."

The 2025 WNBA regular season returns on Thursday night, with teams at the top of the league standings looking to prove their mettle against close competition across the long holiday weekend.

The No. 5 Seattle Storm have arguably the toughest weekend assignments, taking on the No. 4 Atlanta Dream on Friday before tackling the No. 3 New York Liberty on Sunday.

Four middle-of-the-pack teams will look to close in on a double-digit season win tally while the league's frontrunners strive to maintain their advantage in this weekend's slate:

• No. 7 Las Vegas Aces vs. No. 8 Indiana Fever, Thursday at 7 PM ET (Prime): Though still without star Caitlin Clark, the Fever hope to harness their 2025 WNBA Commissioner's Cup victory momentum against an Aces side tied with Indiana with an 8-8 season record.

• No. 5 Seattle Storm vs. No. 4 Atlanta Dream, Thursday at 7:30 PM ET (WNBA League Pass): Seattle will look to make strides against a strong Atlanta side while putting last Sunday's stinging 84-57 loss to up-and-comer Golden State in their rearview.

• No. 6 Golden State Valkyries vs. No. 1 Minnesota Lynx, Saturday at 8 PM ET (WNBA League Pass): The rising Valkyries must face a Lynx side hunting redemption, as the league-leaders look to bounce back from their stifling Tuesday Commissioner's Cup upset loss.

• No. 5 Seattle Storm vs. No. 3 New York Liberty, Sunday at 1 PM ET (CBS): With injured Liberty center Jonquel Jones still sidelined, the Seattle Storm will have a chance to steal a weekend game against the reigning champs, as New York struggles to re-find their footing.

With the 2025 WNBA All-Star break looming, early top performers must keep standards high if they want to hold the line when the season crosses the midway point.