The two knockout rounds of the WNBA playoffs are behind us. The best-of-five semifinal series tip off Tuesday night, with No. 1 Connecticut hosting No. 6 Chicago and No. 2 Las Vegas meeting No. 5 Phoenix in Game 1. Despite the more drawn-out play of the semifinals, the games shouldn’t be lacking for drama.

To get you ready for the series, we break down the keys to each matchup, dive into the scouting reports and offer up our predictions.

Chicago Sky vs. Connecticut Sun

The Sky beat the Sun twice in the regular season, but they have yet to face Jonquel Jones, who missed all three meetings while playing in EuroBasket this past June. In many ways, this is a completely different matchup between two teams who look a lot different than they did three months ago.

On Tuesday, the Sun swept three WNBA awards with Jonquel Jones winning WNBA MVP, Curt Miller being named Coach of the Year and Brionna Jones earning Most Improved Player honors.

“You can’t really focus too much on those past games because there was no Jonquel, there was no Alyssa Thomas. Heck, there wasn’t even Curt [Miller] for a couple of those games,” Chicago Sky head coach James Wade said shortly after landing in Uncasville, Conn for Game 1. “They’re a different team when he’s there, and Alyssa Thomas and JJ are the mainstays of that team.”

“It’s a unique matchup because we haven’t played each other at full strength,” said Miller, who missed two games while caring for his mother. “They’re starting a different lineup, they’re playing really well with their rotation right now. This just feels like a completely different matchup.”

The Sky’s season has been a rollercoaster, but they are playing some of their best basketball right now and undoubtedly have the experience to win a championship. Chicago finished the regular season with a 16-16 record, earning the No. 6 seed in the playoffs and defeating the Dallas Wings and Minnesota Lynx in succession to advance to the semis.

“You can really see how hard they are playing late in the season that really translates to their tempo and offensive attack,” Miller said. “When they play in and out of their actions with tempo, they are an elite offensive team with five weapons on the floor at any time.”

The Sun earned the No. 1 seed after riding a 14-game win streak to a 26-6 record, but they have not played a game in nine days since their regular season finale on Sept. 19. The coveted double-bye allows for crucial rest and personal preparation time, but it doesn’t necessarily benefit a team from a scouting perspective.

“We went into [Sunday] afternoon still preparing for three separate teams, and not until 7 p.m. did we find out crystal clear who we were going to play,” Miller said. “Chicago actually knew, if they won, that they were going to play us. So they probably had more of a head start of truly just focusing on us for the next round than we did splitting time between three separate teams.”

Keys for Chicago Sky

Continue to defend

We know Chicago can play with a heightened sense of urgency and effort defensively, but that defense needs to be at its season’s best against the Sun. The Sky have been successful when forcing turnovers and pushing the tempo, but we’ve seen them defend better in the halfcourt as of late, especially given their length and athleticism at the point of attack (in other words, early on in offensive action like on ball screens).

“You can see we’ve been more communicative and we’ve communicated well amongst each other,” Wade said. “We’ve been more active these last three games, and we knew that if we wanted to live in these playoffs, we’d have to step it up a notch defensively and everybody is accountable.”

ANOTHER Sloot steal 🤩 pic.twitter.com/jH6AwmmsJf

— Chicago Sky (@chicagosky) September 26, 2021

Fast start

It will be important for Chicago to push the pace from the jump, not just in this first game but in the series overall. Seeing the ball go through the net early on, allowing their defense to dictate their offense and forcing Connecticut to play at their speed and pace will be key to maintaining confidence against the Sun’s suffocating defense.

Keys for Connecticut Sun

Transition defense

This is arguably the biggest key for Connecticut against the fast-paced Sky.

“They pose a lot of challenges and are tremendous offensively. Their pace is really special, they can attack off made baskets and misses,” Miller said. “Everything starts with your offensive execution and everything starts with your transition defense. You can’t begin to think that you can have success against Chicago if you’re not able to play in transition all game long.”

Take care of the ball

The Sky punished the Lynx in their second-round win Sunday by converting turnovers to easy baskets, which has been a bit of a soft spot for the Sun this year.

The Sun are 24-3 in the last two seasons when they keep their turnovers to 12 or fewer. On the other side, the Sky were third in the league in forced turnovers during the regular season, with their opponents committing 15.6 per game. The Sun’s ability to take care of the basketball will be critical to coming out on top in this series.

Pound the ball inside

Jonquel Jones’ mere presence throws a huge wrench into the scouting and film study of the past matchups. Connecticut has the advantage of size and versatility with Jonquel Jones and Brionna Jones, so getting the ball inside to those two early and often will help the Sun dictate their offensive flow.

Keys for both

Both teams will look to be aggressive on the boards, limit their opponent’s second-chance points and take care of the basketball. The Sky and Sun each have success when they are aggressive on the offensive glass.

“We’re going to have to rebound. That’s the thing they hang their hat on,” Wade said. “We’re going to have to match it, box out, rebound as much as we can and take care of the ball. If we can do those two things at a great rate, we can pretty much find our way.”

Phoenix Mercury vs. Las Vegas Aces

After two thrilling, single-elimination playoff wins, the Mercury find themselves in a best-of-five series against the Aces and their dominant offense. Besides the sheer star power on both rosters, this matchup will showcase experience, strong interior play and emotion on each side of the court.

Las Vegas won two of three against Phoenix in the regular season. Each of those contests were decided by single-digit win margins, including one overtime game and one game-winning block.

“You’ve got a team with three Olympians,” said Aces coach Bill Laimbeer. “Brittney Griner is a very talented post player who is very motivated this year. [Diana] Taurasi is Taurasi. It’s just 3-balls all over the place. [Skylar] Diggins-Smith penetrates and creates all over. The rest of them are role players who do a very solid job. They’re a quality basketball team.”

The Aces, who entered the playoffs as the No. 2 seed after finishing the regular season 24-8, have advanced further in the postseason every season for the last three years. Last year, they lost to the Seattle Storm in the WNBA Finals.

This is now a veteran and highly talented playoff team that added a major piece to the puzzle when it signed Chelsea Gray in 2021 free agency. Gray finished the season fourth in assists, averaging 5.9 per game, while also contributing 11.1 points per game and several crucial, late-game baskets.

“I think we’re more talented now. Two years ago we had a fine team; last year we were short-handed across the board,” Laimbeer said. “We got Chelsea Gray and we feel like she passes well, she leads well, she’s been there and done that. She’s a big-shot player. She’s made big shots her whole career, she can get her own shot if necessary but can also set people up and find the right seams to make passes. She’s going to make some big shots in a series and that’s what we’re counting on.”

Keys for Phoenix Mercury

Control the glass

The single most important key to the Mercury’s success in this series is in the rebounding battle. As Griner and Brianna Turner look to control the paint against the Aces’ Liz Cambage, Phoenix will have to be aggressive on the offensive glass with second-chance points to have the upper hand.

Balanced scoring

The Mercury can expect Griner and Diggins-Smith to produce consistently, but they’ll need an additional level of scoring to keep up with Las Vegas’ high-octane offense. The Mercury escaped the first round with the help of Sophie Cunningham’s career-high 21 points. In Round 2, Phoenix had five players finish in double figures, including Taurasi who played on a clearly ailing left ankle.

Win at the free-throw line

The Mercury are at their best when they are aggressive and find a way to get to the free-throw line, which coincidentally is also the Aces’ game strategy. In their win over Las Vegas in July, the Mercury not only controlled the boards but also made more free throws than Las Vegas attempted.

DOMINANT. pic.twitter.com/B7jW4XPMKc

— Phoenix Mercury - X (@PhoenixMercury) September 26, 2021

Keys for Las Vegas Aces

Dominate the paint

The Aces need to establish their post presence early and often with Cambage and A’ja Wilson. In such a post-heavy matchup, the team that consistently plays from the inside out, gets touches in the paint and forces their opponent into foul trouble will have the advantage.

I expect the Aces to pound the ball inside, assert themselves on the interior and open up perimeter shots to force the Mercury’s defense to make adjustments. This will put heavy pressure on Griner to put up big numbers on the offensive end and stay out of foul trouble.

The matchup between Griner and Cambage in the paint is as exciting as they come. A healthy Cambage is a huge plus for Las Vegas, but she is still working herself back into game shape after missing five games due to COVID-19.

“There’s still a ways to go with Liz. She’s back on the court, which is a huge positive for us, but COVID took a lot out of her both conditioning-wise and physically-wise,” Laimbeer said. “This series is going to be a work in progress for us and for her. I expect her to play as hard as she can. She’s not going to be able to play extended minutes at any one time, so I’m going to have to get her in and out of the game quickly.”

Wear them down

The Mercury are coming off of two close playoff wins, the last one an overtime thriller. Fatigue crept in down the stretch for Phoenix in that game, so Las Vegas has a clear advantage as the more rested team and will need to exploit it early.

Knock down perimeter shots

The Aces’ scariest weapon this year is their depth of individual talent. During the regular season, the Aces led the WNBA with 89.3 points per game, were second with 37.5 percent shooting from the 3-point line and had seven players average double figures. When their offense is clicking on all cylinders, they’re able to score consistently at all three levels.

Predictions

Sun over Sky in five

Aces over Mercury in four

Rachel Galligan is a basketball analyst at Just Women’s Sports. A former professional basketball player and collegiate coach, she also contributes to Winsidr. Follow Rachel on Twitter @RachGall.

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.