The depleted Phoenix Mercury were dealt a few more blows Wednesday night as they started their playoff run.

The eighth-seeded Mercury dropped the opening game of their first-round series against the top-seeded Las Vegas Aces 79-63. Another loss came in the third quarter, as guard Shey Peddy had to be carried off the court by teammates after going down with a non-contact injury.

Peddy’s teammates Kia Nurse and Diamond DeShields looked visibly shaken by the injury, and reactions from players and coaches on both teams showed concern.

The Mercury's Shey Peddy was carried off the court after a non-contact injury on this play. pic.twitter.com/7vorxsHDbl

— ESPN (@espn) August 18, 2022

“It looked like something similar that happened to me,” said Aces guard Kelsey Plum, who missed the 2020 WNBA season with an Achilles injury. “Kind of like you plant your foot and you just drop. My prayers go out to her, and I hope it’s not as serious and everything’s OK. At the end of the day, this is bigger than basketball, and you want to see everyone healthy. I just felt my heart drop.”

Peddy did not return to the game after the injury. As of Thursday morning, no update had been provided on Peddy’s condition.

But if it Peddy is unable to return for Phoenix in this series, her injury marks yet another blow to a team that already has been through the wringer this season.

Brittney Griner has been detained in Russia since February. Diana Taurasi has missed the past six games with a quad injury with no timetable for her return. Skylar Diggins-Smith has been absent from the team since Aug. 7 for personal reasons and is not expected to return for the playoffs.

In all, it’s been a tumultuous season for first-year head coach Vanessa Nygaard and the Mercury.

“I don’t know that anybody in this league has been dealt a tougher hand than Vanessa Nygaard,” said Becky Hammon, who is in her first year as head coach for the Aces, after Wednesday’s game. “That completely sucks for them. That is not a fun moment for either side…Hopefully, it’s not what we think.”

Peddy had eight points and five assists before going down with her injury, and she has been a key piece in a stuttering Mercury offense.

“Shey has been such a force for us this year,” Nygaard said. “So all the different things we’ve had challenge us this year, add another one. But we’ll be ready for Saturday.”

A bright spot in Wednesday’s loss was the team’s fight. Even after Peddy went down with her injury, the Mercury managed to pull within one point of the lead in the fourth quarter before the Aces went on a run to close out their win. Diamond DeShields had 18 points for Phoenix, while Sophie Cunningham and Megan Gustafson each had 12 points apiece.

But a fourth-quarter surge by Aces guard Chelsea Gray — which included a run off seven straight points — was too much to overcome. Gray’s 17 points, combined with Kelsey Plum’s 22 points, helped the Aces to a 1-0 lead in the series.

The Aces and Mercury now have two days off before playing again in Las Vegas at 9 p.m. ET Saturday on ESPN2.

Aryna Sabalenka won her first Grand Slam of the 2025 WTA season on Saturday, with the world No. 1 defeating then-No. 9 Amanda Anisimova 6-3, 7-6(3) to claim the US Open trophy — the final Slam of the year.

"To bring the fight and be able to handle my emotions the way I did in this final, it means a lot," Sabalenka said following the match. "I'm super proud right now of myself."

After successfully defending her 2024 US Open title — and claiming tennis's top 2025 paycheck in the process — Sabalenka is now the tournament's first repeat champion since 2014, when Serena Williams claimed a third straight trophy at the New York Slam.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Just Women’s Sports (@justwomenssports)

The 27-year-old narrowly avoided a Slam-less year, going without a trophy despite reaching both the Australian Open and French Open finals as well as the Wimbledon semifinals.

"I think because of the finals earlier this season, this one felt different," Sabalenka said. "All of those lessons are making me tougher, tougher, and tougher."

As for Anisimova, the US rising star added a new career-high WTA ranking alongside her second straight Grand Slam final appearance on her 2025 resume, rising to world No. 4 in Monday's update.

Also earning a noticeable bump on Monday was Japanese star Naomi Osaka, who clocked in at No. 14 after a stellar Grand Slam comeback run to the 2025 US Open semifinals.

The Golden State Valkyries have made WNBA history yet again, setting a new league attendance record by selling out all 22 of the 2025 expansion team's home games this year — and doing so in their debut season.

Even more, the WNBA surpassed the 3 million-fan mark over the weekend, an historic first for the 29-year-old league.

A hit from the very first tip-off, the Valkyries have seen unprecedented support while becoming the first-ever expansion team to make the WNBA playoffs in their inaugural year.

Making the announcement in their final 2025 regular-season home stand against the Minnesota Lynx on Saturday, the Valkyries have officially seen fans fill every one of the Chase Center's maximum 18,064 seats all season — claiming a WNBA all-time record for any team's per-game average along the way.

With those season-long record crowds, Golden State also now owns the WNBA total attendance mark at 397,408 fans on the year.

Just behind Golden State are the Indiana Fever and New York Liberty — the only other WNBA teams that will close out the 2025 regular-season with average crowds over 16,000 and totals breaking the 300,000-fan mark.

With one home game still left to play for each team, Indiana has welcomed 349,313 total fans so far, while New York currently sits at a 341,575 total attendance for the 2025 WNBA season.

Attendance has skyrocketed across the WNBA year, thanks in part to the league adding both a 13th franchise as well as two more home games to each team's 2025 schedule.

As a result, the league demolished the previous season-high attendance of 2.36 million set in 2002 and, with 11 games still on the 2025 regular-season schedule, the WNBA is currently on track to push past the 3.1 million mark before the postseason tips off.

Three retired WNBA icons received their flowers over the weekend, as Minnesota Lynx legends Sylvia Fowles and Maya Moore and Seattle Storm great Sue Bird took their places in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Saturday — making the 2025 WNBA class arguably the most dominant in HOF history.

"Now that I'm in the Hall, I believe I have become Auntie Maya," Moore said in her enshrinement speech. "I want to challenge you up-and-comers to learn to love and seek out joy and connection as your biggest motivator."

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Just Women’s Sports (@justwomenssports)

With 11 Olympic gold medals — more than any other HOF group — and 10 league championships between them, plus countless individual honors, Fowles, Bird, and Moore comprise the strongest women's basketball Hall of Fame class in history.

Even more, this is the first year that the Naismith has added a full trio of WNBA players to its hallowed halls — a testament to the unmatched careers of Bird, Moore, and Fowles.

"Put us on a 3×3 team, you'd have some problems — we'd be pretty good," Bird joked. "It is pretty special to go in with people who aren't just amazing players, having impact on and off the court, but these are players that I got to experience life with."

"I think that would be fair to say that they would have the title of best class ever," Minnesota head coach Cheryl Reeve said.

The 2025 NWSL season for the No. 5 Orlando Pride has taken a sharp downturn, as the reigning league champions are now winless in their last seven games following Sunday's 5-2 loss to the No. 13 Chicago Stars at Northwestern University's Martin Stadium.

While left back Carson Pickett and defensive midfielder Haley McCutcheon each managed to take a goal back for the Pride, a leaky Orlando back line saw five different Stars players hit the back of the net — including a 10th goal on the season for Chicago star striker Ludmila.

"I apologize to the fans that were watching at home, and I apologize to the fans that were here with their support. That was not us today and we have to get it right," Pride head coach Seb Hines said following the match.

Orlando have continued to slide down the NWSL standings since their last win on June 13th, most recently logging three straight losses as the team struggles to find their form following MVP candidate Barbra Banda's season-ending injury on August 16th.

One of the Pride's rare bright spots on Sunday was record-breaking signee Lizbeth Ovalle, with the Mexican international subbing in at the half to make her NWSL debut.

Chicago, on the other hand, hasn't dropped a match since returning from the midseason summer break, with the surging Stars putting on a Sunday show in their impending lakefront home.

"I feel like it's just a really cool atmosphere, a lot more people can come now, and it's really good vibes," midfielder Julia Grosso said after the match.