Serena Williams’ road to a 24th Grand Slam title was revealed Thursday, with the tennis great set to face off against some pretty big names at the US Open.

The 40-year-old announced her plans to retire from tennis after the US Open in a Vogue cover story earlier this month. In her final major, Williams would face off against four of the world’s top 10 players if her bracket shakes out according to ranking.

Just Women’s Sports breaks down what her road to the final could look like, taking the top possible seed for each matchup.

The path to 24 🏆 pic.twitter.com/HAOXiC7ZZ0

— Just Women’s Sports (@justwsports) August 25, 2022

Dana Kovinić (-)

Williams’ first-round opponent, Kovinić is the lone unseeded player the 23-time major singles champion will face. The 80th ranked player in the world, Kovinić made the round of 32 at both the Australian Open and Roland Garros. She’s played some strong matches this year, beating Karolina Pliskova at Indian Wells and defending US Open champion Emma Raducanu at the Australian Open.

Anett Kontaveit (2)

If Williams makes it past Kovinić, she’ll face a tough test in Kontaveit in round two. Ranked second in the world behind Iga Swiatek, she’s already won one WTA title this year in St. Petersburg and made a few finals, including the final at Qatar, where she lost to Swiatek. 

She has yet to win a Grand Slam, with her highest US Open finish coming in 2020, when she advanced to the round of 16. 

Martina Trevisan (27)

Trevisan recently withdrew from the Tennis in the Land tournament, but she’s back for the New York City major. She’s won one title this year and made it all the way to the semifinals at Roland Garros, where she lost to Coco Gauff. 

Leylah Fernandez (14)

A meeting with Fernandez in the fourth round would be a doozy, as the teenager made it all the way to the US Open final last summer before falling to Emma Raducanu. Fernandez has dealt with injuries this summer, however, and is coming off a straight-set loss to Ekaterina Alexandrova at the Cincinnati Open. 

Ons Jabeur (5)

The fifth-ranked player in the world, Jabeur has had her fair share of wins this year. She’s also coming off a really good run at Wimbledon, where she made it all the way to the final before losing to Elena Rybakina.

Maria Sakkari (3)

Sakkari is another credible threat, although she’s struggled of late. She lost to eventual champion Caroline Garcia in the round of 32 in Cincinnati and Karolina Pliskova at the Canadian Open. 

Iga Swiatek (1)

The world No. 1, Swiatek already has won one major this year at the French Open. She also went on the longest win streak since 2000, surpassing both Williams and sister Venus. But she suffered an uncharacteristic loss in the round of 16 the Cincinnati Open, losing in straight sets to Madison Keys.

Sidelined Phoenix Mercury star Satou Sabally is still down for the count, with the 27-year-old set to miss the 2026 season tip-off of Unrivaled 3×3 Basketball as she continues to recover from lingering concussion symptoms.

Sabally suffered the head injury in the fourth quarter of Game 3 of the 2025 WNBA Finals on October 8th, requiring assistance in exiting the matchup after visibly swaying upon standing.

The concussion forced Sabally to sit out the remainder of the postseason series against the eventual 2025 WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces.

Both Sabally and Unrivaled planned her return to Phantom BC for the league's second season, with the German national impressing in the offseason venture's debut run by averaging 15.3 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 1.9 assists per game.

Sabally is under a multi-year contract with the upstart, with Unrivaled promising that while the forward will be out "indefinitely," medical personnel will reevaluate her fitness "at a later date" as both parties hope to see her on the 3×3 court this season.

In her stead, Golden State Valkyries guard Tiffany Hayes — who suited up for Unrivaled's Laces BC last season — will join Phantom BC as Sabally's replacement.

The second season of Unrivaled 3x3 Basketball will tip off in Miami on January 5th, 2026.

Chicago Sky star Angel Reese is running it back, with the 23-year-old confirming plans to return to the Windy City for the 2026 WNBA season while participating in a USA Basketball training camp over the weekend.

"I'm under contract, so yes, I plan on returning to the Sky," Reese told reporters. "[I'm] continuing to talk to [head coach] Tyler [Marsh], and building that relationship with [GM] Jeff [Pagliocca] and Tyler."

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Her future with the Sky came into question in September, after the front office suspended Reese for half a game for making comments deemed "detrimental to the team" in a Chicago Tribune interview — comments she later apologized for, both publicly and privately.

Drafted by the Sky as the overall No. 7 pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft, the LSU alum remains under a rookie contract through 2026, with an option to extend through the 2027 season.

After leading the WNBA in both double-doubles (23) rebounds-per-game (12.6) in the 2025 season, Reese's late-season availability waned due to a back injury — though the forward now reports a full recovery from the knock.

"Angel is an ascending young talent in this league who's had two very, very good seasons here in Chicago," said Pagliocca after September's suspension. "Obviously, we went through what we did. I feel like we closed the chapter on it."

Overall No. 1-seed Nebraska's perfect season is officially over, after No. 3-seed Texas A&M volleyball ousted the Huskers in a five-set Elite Eight thriller on Sunday, booking the Aggies a program-first trip to the Final Four.

Undaunted by Nebraska's 33-0 record, the Aggies jumped out to a 2-0 lead before the Huskers stormed back to force a fifth-set tiebreaker — which A&M won 15-13, stunning a home crowd that hasn't seen a Cornhusker loss in Lincoln in more than three years.

"A lot of us are seniors, and we've been doing this for a really long time," said Aggie senior opposite Logan Lednicky. "And I think all the newbies came in ready to work, ready to grind."

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Though Nebraska boasts five national titles — good for third on the all-time NCAA volleyball championship list — the Huskers haven't won an NCAA volleyball tournament since 2017, falling three times in the final and once in the semifinals in recent years.

With fellow No. 3-seed Wisconsin's Sunday Elite Eight upset win over four-time champ No. 1 Texas, the 2025 Final Four will now feature two squads — A&M and No. 1-seed Pitt — hunting a first-ever title.

Meanwhile, No. 1-seed Kentucky and the Badgers will be aiming for a second national trophy after earning their debut Division I championships in 2020 and 2021, respectively.

How to watch the 2025 NCAA volleyball Final Four

Texas A&M will kick off the 2025 Final Four against Pitt at 6:30 PM ET on Thursday, before Kentucky takes on Wisconsin at 9 PM ET.

Both semifinals will air live on ESPN.

The WSL appears to have a serious 2025/26 title race on its hands, after No. 1 Manchester City cemented their six-point lead on six-time reigning champs No. 2 Chelsea with Sunday's lopsided 6-1 win over No. 8 Aston Villa.

City striker Bunny Shaw scored four times in the victory, bringing her all-time club tally to 103 goals — and becoming the first woman to reach the century scoring mark in the team's modern era.

"Coming into this game, I knew that if I scored it would have been a really good milestone for me," she told BBC Radio.

Manchester City have been perfect since dropping their 2025/26 season opener — a 2-1 loss to six-time champions Chelsea — with the Citizens now carrying a 10-match WSL winning streak into 2026.

While Chelsea and No. 3 Arsenal have ample ground to make up on the WSL table, both managed to keep pace by snagging their own multi-goal wins over the weekend.

After No. 10 Everton snapped the Blues' 34-game WSL unbeaten streak last week, goals by France international Sandy Baltimore and USWNT star Alyssa Thompson shot Chelsea past No. 7 Brighton 3-0 on Sunday.

Arsenal is also back to their winning ways, taking down Everton 3-1 on Saturday to hold off No. 4 Manchester United as captain Leah Williamson returned from injury.

How to watch the WSL in 2026

Now on holiday break, the WSL will return at 7:30 AM ET on January 10th, when Arsenal will kick off 2026 play against Manchester United at Emirates Stadium, airing live on ESPN+.