Each month in the leadup to the World Cup, Just Women’s Sports will make the case for one player as most essential to the success of the USWNT in 2023.

Sophia Smith can’t stop scoring.

Since she scored her first goal for the U.S. women’s national team at the tail end of 2021, Smith has gone on a tear. She kicked off the year with a hat trick against Uzbekistan, then followed that up with braces against Colombia, Jamaica and Nigeria.

She also notched the team’s lone goal against England in October. In all, she’s scored 10 goals in 2022 to lead the team this year.

Smith has become a critical piece of the team’s forward group, establishing herself as both the present and the future. And she knows it.

“I feel like I can be (the best), but I need to be pushed and I need to be held to high standards every single day,” Smith said. “And [Thorns’ coach Rhian Wilkinson] does a really good job of that. So I really can’t ask for much more than that.”

What a season for Sophia Smith 🔥

- NWSL MVP
- NWSL Final MVP
- NWSL Champion pic.twitter.com/mhFDJJwkZq

— Just Women’s Sports (@justwsports) October 30, 2022

On the domestic side, Smith has shown what she’s capable of accomplishing in the NWSL. She finished second in the league in goals scored this season with 14. That total also broke the Portland Thorns’ single-season record.

Not only did she become the youngest MVP in NWSL history, she also became the youngest player to win NWSL Championship MVP after becoming the youngest player to score in a title game.

And all that comes at just 22 years old.

“Her pace is lethal,” Kansas City Current midfielder Desiree Scott said following the NWSL final. “You can’t grow that. That is just natural talent.”

Thorns head coach Rhian Wilkinson has said that Smith has the potential to be the best player in the history of the USWNT.

“She can stop pushing now, and she will still be a very good player, one of the best players this country has ever produced,” Wilkinson said of the MVP. “And my job is to keep pushing her, and to make sure she is the best player this country has ever produced because she has that in her right now.”

Smith’s pace – and her ability to get crafty with defenders – makes her difficult to defend. She’s also got deadly accuracy and has been able to link up with midfielder Rose Lavelle on multiple occasions while with the USWNT.

The USWNT scored twice in six minutes.

Rose Lavelle assisted Sophia Smith on both of ‘em 🔑

(via @FOXSoccer) pic.twitter.com/EGEzZMIOyW

— B/R Football (@brfootball) June 26, 2022

Everything about Smith screams upside as she continues to get her feet under her with the USWNT. Despite having just 25 caps, she plays like a veteran.

But if you ask USWNT head coach Vlatko Andonovski, Smith hasn’t hit her stride yet.

“To come into an environment like this and to be a difference-maker, to score a goal, and I thought she had another incredible assist for another goal that was called back, just shows the potential that she has,” Andonovski said following the team’s loss to England. “I think we haven’t seen the best of her.”

Who is the most essential USWNT player?

• The case for… Mallory Swanson
• The case for… Rose Lavelle
• The case for… Catarina Macario
• The case for… Alex Morgan
• The case for… Becky Sauerbrunn
• The case for… Lynn Williams
• The case for… Julie Ertz
• The case for… Naomi Girma
• The case for… Crystal Dunn

The 2025 US Open has officially landed in New York, as world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka looks to kick off her 2024 title defense when the main draw of the tennis season's final Grand Slam hits courts on Sunday.

The Queens-based tournament marks Sabalenka's last shot at winning a major title this season, with the three-time Slam victor falling in both the 2025 Australian Open and 2025 French Open finals as well as stumbling out of the 2025 Wimbledon Championships in the semifinal round.

With the sport's biggest payday on the line, tennis's top talent are preparing to battle Sabalenka for both hardware and the tournament's record $5 million champion's check.

Joining the 27-year-old on this year's US Open roster are reigning Wimbledon champion No. 2 Iga Świątek, 2025 French Open winner No. 3 Coco Gauff, and home-state hero and 2024 US Open runner-up No. 4 Jessica Pegula.

With five of the WTA's Top-11 players, the US contingent is hoping the reclaim the host nation's Grand Slam trophy this year, as reigning Australian Open champ No. 6 Madison Keys, 2025 Wimbledon runner-up No. 9 Amanda Anisimova, and No. 11 Emma Navarro join Gauff and Pegula as the USA's frontrunners.

Two-time US Open winner and fan favorite No. 25 Naomi Osaka also enters the tournament as a seeded competitor for the first time since 2021, while 45-year-old icon Venus Williams will take the main-draw court for her 25th Queens Slam after headlining this year's wild card list.

How to watch the 2025 US Open

The US Open singles tournament begins on Sunday and runs through the September 6th final.

Live coverage of the New York Grand Slam will air across ESPN platforms.

The race to the 2025 WNBA Playoffs is heating up, with Thursday night upsets shooting rising contenders like the No. 2 Atlanta Dream and No. 3 Las Vegas Aces up the WNBA standings.

In Atlanta, the Dream handed the No. 1 Minnesota Lynx their first consecutive loss this season, holding on for a 75-73 victory behind guard Allisha Gray's game-leading 27 points.

"It'll help build some confidence to know that we're capable of having beaten Minnesota at Minnesota, and then able to do it again here," remarked Atlanta coach Karl Smesko, referencing his team's July 27th win over the Lynx.

It was a similar story in Las Vegas, where the Aces tacked on a ninth straight victory to their 2025 season tally, pulling off a 83-61 upset win over the now-No. 5 Phoenix Mercury.

Las Vegas star center A'ja Wilson led the charge with a 19-point, 13-rebound double-double, while guard Dana Evans added 17 points off the bench.

"My belief in them has never wavered," Aces coach Becky Hammon said afterwards. "Our locker room, it would've been very easy to fall apart in June when things were not going well for anybody."

"Obviously, at the beginning, we had some rough patches," echoed Evans. "But that made us closer, that brought us closer together, to lean on each other more."

How to watch the Atlanta Dream, Las Vegas Aces this weekend

Both the No. 2 Dream and No. 3 Aces will be back in action on Saturday, when Atlanta hosts a now-No. 4 New York Liberty side at 2 PM ET before Las Vegas shoots for a perfect 10-game winning streak during their visit to the No. 10 Washington Mystics at 3 PM ET.

CBS will provide live coverage of the New York vs. Atlanta clash, while the Las Vegas vs. Washington matchup will air live on WNBA League Pass.

The New York Liberty are officially in free fall, with a 91-85 upset loss to the already-eliminated No. 11 Chicago Sky sending the reigning champs skidding down two spots to No. 4 in the WNBA standings on Thursday.

Despite New York center Jonquel Jones's game-leading 25 points, double-doubles from Sky stars Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso secured the Chicago upset, with Cardoso pairing a team-high 22 points with 15 rebounds.

"Anyone can beat anyone in this league, anyone can win this championship — it's wide open," New York head coach Sandy Brondello said following the upset in which her Liberty struggled to dominate the defensive paint. "But our inconsistency is mind-boggling at times."

"When you give a team hope, that's all they need," added star guard Sabrina Ionescu afterwards. "I'd say in the first half we made things way too easy for them, and that gave them hope going into halftime, knowing that they could hang with us."

New York won't have much time to reflect on their mistakes as they gear up for a Saturday clash against a surging No. 2 Atlanta Dream — all while the Liberty remain without a clear-cut timeline for two-time WNBA MVP forward Breanna Stewart's return from injury.

"I think we have to play more physical in the beginning, and set the tone early," Jones told reporters ahead of the weekend's test.

New York does have some light at the end of the tunnel, as next week's potentially lopsided matchups against the No. 13 Connecticut Sun and No. 10 Washington Mystics follow Saturday's top-table meeting.

How to watch the New York Liberty this weekend

The No. 4 Liberty will aim to get back on track by hitting the road this weekend, taking on the No. 2 Dream in Atlanta at 2 PM ET on Saturday.

Live coverage of the clash will air on CBS.

No. 8 Gotham FC's results disparity deepened this week, as the NJ/NY club claimed all three points off Liga MX side Monterrey in Wednesday's Concacaf W Champions Cup group-stage play after falling 2-1 to the No. 11 Houston Dash last Sunday — leaving the 2023 league champs without an NWSL win since late June.

Gotham has struggled in the league since returning from summer break, entering the match weekend with two draws in addition to Sunday's upset — fueled in part by veteran defender Emily Sonnett's own goal — under their belts this month.

"We try to always look at the glass half full instead of half empty," head coach Juan Carlos Amorós said after last weekend's loss. "Football sometimes throws you some difficult curves."

Now hitting the pitch on short rest, Gotham will aim to take advantage of the last-place Utah Royals on Saturday as they hunt a boost in the NWSL standings.

With just one regular-season win this year, the No. 14 Royals look ready for an offseason refresh after recently sending star forward Ally Sentnor to the No. 1 Kansas City Current.

"I think we're at 60%," Utah manager Jimmy Coenraets said earlier this week. "The 40% margin is getting people to be able to play 90 minutes in the way that we wanted to play."

How to watch Saturday's Gotham FC vs. Utah Royals FC match

No. 8 Gotham will kick off against the visiting No. 14 Utah Royals at 7:30 PM ET on Saturday.

Live coverage of the match will air on ION.