The Las Vegas Aces are betting favorites to win the 2023 WNBA Finals over the New York Liberty. Yet recent history between the two teams suggests that maybe it should be the other way around.

The best-of-five series could go down in history as one of the best ever. A battle between two superteams, the Liberty are making their first Finals appearance since 2002, while the Aces are looking to repeat as champions.

Still, even after Las Vegas’ historic 34-6 season, New York has had them on the ropes.

The teams split their regular season meetings, 2-2, with each team winning the games on its home court. But in a fifth meeting, in the 2023 Commissioner’s Cup final on Aug. 15, the New York Liberty emerged victorious, 82-63.

The Aces’ first win against the Liberty came back in June. The next four games in their 2023 series came in August, and the Liberty held a 3-1 record in those contests, including the Commissioner’s Cup final. And it’s those four games that New York head coach Sandy Brondello thinks will make the Finals interesting.

“It helped us a lot, playing [those four times] in August,” she said. “The chess match begins now. … I’m excited, I know Becky will be excited. It’ll be a hard-fought battle, and we’re battle tested, so I look forward to that.”

It’s also, as she pointed out, the superteam “narrative” that WNBA fans have been eying from the start of the season. Regardless of which team wins the series, one could argue that as a whole, the league has won this season.

“I think it’s good. That’s the narrative everyone wanted for the start,” Brondello said. “I didn’t like the superteam thing, but these players, they’ve played great. I think it’ll be a great series, and it’s good promotion for the WNBA.”

New York will start the series with two games on the road after the Aces locked down the No. 1 overall seed. And it’ll be a testy atmosphere at Las Vegas’ Michelob Ultra Arena, with both games having already sold out. The Aces haven’t lost much at home this season, and the Liberty have electrified their city too.

Like Brondello said, it’s going to be a battle.

“This is a special group,” Aces guard Chelsea Gray said. “Our composure in our huddles and how tight and how locked in we were with each and every person, whether you’re in the game or out the game, anybody that came in knew what we were doing, especially on the defensive end. So I wouldn’t want to go to war with anybody else.”

Unrivaled made a historic splash on Friday, setting a new pro women's basketball regular-season attendance record as 21,490 fans packed the Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia for the 3×3 league's first-ever tour stop.

"It was unbelievable. You could feel the love tonight," said Unrivaled co-founder Napheesa Collier about the record-breaking crowd. "It's just a testament to what we're building here, how much people believe in it."

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Friday's Unrivaled tally — which also shattered a venue record for the highest attendance of any event — blew through women's basketball's prior record, set in the 2024 WNBA season when a 20,711-strong crowd watched the Indiana Fever top the Washington Mystics inside DC's Capital One Arena.

The reward for Friday's crowd was a larger-than-life performance, as Lunar Owls guard Marina Mabrey dropped a league-record 47 points — complete with 10 three-pointers — in Friday's 85-75 win over Rose BC.

"I think the city is ready for women's professional sports," Philadelphia product and Rose BC guard Kahleah Copper said following the doubleheader, with the City of Brotherly Love gearing up to launch a WNBA expansion team in 2030. "I'm excited that one, it's here, and two, that I'm a part of it."

Last week's success in Philly has Unrivaled already eyeing more tour stops for the offseason league's 2027 season, with this year's action finishing up on the venture's 3x3 home court in Miami.

"We're going to continue to make the sports world proud by the product we put out," Unrivaled CEO Alex Bazzell told reporters.

WSL club Arsenal earned some new silverware on Sunday, lifting the first-ever FIFA W Champions Cup after claiming a 3-2 extra-time win over Brazilian titans SC Corinthians in Sunday's final.

The South American side overcame two one-goal deficits in regulation, with Corinthians midfielder Gabi Zanotti first offsetting Arsenal forward Olivia Smith's 15th-minute opener in the 21st minute before midfielder Victória Albuquerque played hero with a last-gasp stoppage-time penalty to again equalize following Gunners defender Lotte Wubben-Moy's second-half strike.

Arsenal attacker Caitlin Foord sealed the deal in extra time, sinking a breakaway goal in the 104th minute to secure the reigning Champions League victors the inaugural world title.

"It feels good, just to get on the scoresheet," said Foord following the Gunners' intercontinental club victory. "As a forward, that's your job, but to do it in a moment like this is special.... I don't think it's really sunk in yet, but it's nice to write our names in the history books, that's for sure."

Arsenal did have a a couple notable advantages in the debut edition of the FIFA W Champions Cup, with the final hosted on the club's home pitch at London's Emirates Stadium as well as the fact that the WSL season is currently in full swing.

Meanwhile, both Corinthians and the NWSL's Gotham FC — who claimed a dominant 4-0 Sunday victory over Morroco's ASFAR to take third in the competition — entered the tournament during their winter offseasons.

"It is what it is," said Corinthians head coach Lucas Piccinato postgame. "We hope next time Arsenal will come to Brazil to play against us. I think it would be better if it was in a neutral venue."

US golf star Nelly Korda is back in the winner's circle, as the world No. 2 lifted her first LPGA trophy in more than 14 months at the weather-shortened 2026 HGV Tournament of Champions on Sunday.

Due to unexpected extreme cold and wind in Orlando, officials canceled the final round of the season-opening competition on Sunday, reducing the tournament to 54 holes and declaring Korda the champion based on her performance in the first three rounds.

"Thursday, Friday, were obviously completely different conditions to Saturday," Korda said. "The gusts, it's so exposed off the water there. You could surf on that water [on Saturday]."

Though many struggled in Saturday's conditions, Korda thrived, with the 27-year-old posting a field-leading 8-under score, boosting her to a 13-under tournament total to take a three-shot victory over South Korean runner-up No. 79 Amy Yang.

"I'm really proud of myself, my team, and all the work that we have put in when no one was watching," said Korda after the win.

Korda victory at Tournament of Champions snaps winless streak

Korda's Sunday victory snapped a winless streak that dates back to 2024, when the US standout took the golf world by storm with a dominant seven LPGA victories.

Despite banking nine Top 10 finishes last year — and making every cut in 2025 — the lack of hardware saw Korda ultimately cede her world No. 1 status to Thailand's Jeeno Thitikul last summer.

"I was so close. I played really well last year," she reflected on Sunday. "Golf is a game of centimeters. There were so many times last year where I wished I had an inch here or a centimeter there, where it would've changed the story completely."

The US star will next take six weeks off of competition as she once again skips the LPGA Tour's upcoming Asia swing, with Korda rejoining the field for the 2026 Founders Cup in California on March 19th.

Elena Rybakina has won a second career Grand Slam, as the Kazakhstani tennis star took down world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 to earn her first Melbourne title at the 2026 Australian Open on Saturday.

The tight battle saw Sabalenka respond to her first-set loss by securing the second set before mounting a 3-0 third set — until Rybakina went on a five-game winning streak to regain control of the match.

"The heart rate was definitely beating too fast," the 26-year-old said following her win. "Even maybe [my] face didn't show, but inside it was a lot of emotions."

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Along with her $2.79 million winner's check, Rybakina also exits the season's first Slam with a promotion in the WTA standings, with the previous No. 5 securing the world No. 3 spot on Monday.

Her latest Grand Slam trophy now joins the Wimbledon hardware Rybakina won in 2022, while Saturday's title match leaves Sabalenka with a 4-4 all-time record in major tournament finals — including back-to-back Australian Open losses.

"I played great until [a] certain point, and then I couldn't resist that aggression that she had on court today," Sabalenka said after the defeat.

"Today I'm a loser, maybe tomorrow I'm a winner," the 27-year-old continued. "Hopefully I'll be more of a winner this season than a loser."

How to watch Rybakina & Sabalenka on the next 2026 WTA Tour stop

Tennis's top stars will return to action at next week's Qatar Open, with US standout No. 4 Amanda Anisimova defending her title when the WTA 1000 tournament hits the hardcourt on Sunday.

The 2026 Qatar Open will air live on the Tennis Channel.