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Women’s WTA 250 previews: Hong Kong, Jiangxi & Chennai Opens—find the top contenders, dark horses and favorites. Women's main draw play at the 2025 Hong Kong Open, 2025 Jiangxi Open and 2025 Chennai Open will begin Monday, Oct. 27. All three are WTA 250 events with 32-player draws played on outdoor hard courts. The biggest names on the WTA Tour are preparing for the WTA Finals, which begin Nov. 1, so these three events present opportunities for some other players to shine. The Hong Kong Open has the most high-profile field of this week's three tournaments, with four top-25 players in the draw. Below are the top title contenders and dark horses for the 2025 Hong Kong Open, Jiangxi Open and Chennai Open. October 27, 2025 WTA Hong Kong Open, Jiangxi Open and Chennai Open Previews Sasha Yodashkin Favorite to Win the 2025 Hong Kong Open Belinda Bencic : Bencic is putting the finishing touches on a superb first season back from maternity leave. The 2025 Wimbledon semifinalist just claimed her second title of the year at the Toray Open, so Bencic is rolling to close out the campaign. She doesn't hit as hard as the WTA's top power hitters, but Bencic's aggressive court positioning and ability to redirect the ball at will takes time away from her opponents. Bencic is the clear top-ranked player at the Hong Kong Open, and her No. 13 ranking doesn't even include the points from the Toray Open yet. With No. 8 seed Emiliana Arango as her chalk quarterfinal opponent, Bencic has a pretty easy path to the semifinals on paper. She could face No. 4 seed Sofia Kenin or No. 5 Maya Joint in the semis, with No. 2 seed Leylah Fernandez or No. 3 Victoria Mboko as potential opponents in the final. In the Mix to Win the 2025 Hong Kong Open Leylah Fernandez : Bencic isn't the only player in the Hong Kong Open draw with a recent title under her belt, as Fernandez is just over a week removed from her Japan Open title. The Canadian counterpuncher is adept at redirecting the opposition's power, even if she sometimes struggles to generate her own since she's on the smaller side at 5-foot-6. Fernandez is the top alternative to Bencic, both in terms of ranking and form. Leylah has been a consistent top-30 presence since breaking onto the scene with a run to the final of the 2021 U.S. Open, and she currently sits at No. 22. The three other seeds in her half of the draw are scuffling No. 3 seed Victoria Mboko , banged-up No. 6 seed Anna Kalinskaya and seventh-seeded potential quarterfinal opponent Sorana Cirstea , whom Fernandez recently defeated at the Japan Open. Sofia Kenin : Seeded fourth, Kenin will be motivated to avenge her three-set Toray Open semifinal loss to Bencic in a potential semifinal rematch here. Prior to that loss, Kenin had been 2-0 against Bencic. The biggest obstacle in Kenin's path to that rematch is No. 5 seed Maya Joint , whom the 25th-ranked American could face in the quarterfinals. Kenin hasn't lost to a player outside the top 50 since early August, and she picked up a top-10 win over Ekaterina Alexandrova this past week prior to the Bencic loss. Sleeper to Win the 2025 Hong Kong Open Maya Joint : Joint isn't a household name yet, but the 19-year-old Australian is brimming with potential. She's knocking on the door of the top 30, currently sporting a career-high No. 32 ranking, and Joint has already won two WTA Tour-level titles in 2025. Joint beat Sofia Kenin convincingly in Seoul six weeks ago, so the Aussie would like her chances if the No. 4 and 5 seeds faced off in the quarterfinals here. Joint has never faced Bencic. Favorite to Win the 2025 Jiangxi Open Viktorija Golubic : Golubic is the No. 2 seed and defending champion at the Jiangxi Open. She's also playing her best tennis of the year to close out 2025, winning a WTA 125-level title at the Suzhou Open earlier this month and tacking on a respectable quarterfinal showing at the Japan Open. The 55th-ranked Golubic notched two top-50 wins in that two-tournament stretch, and the Jiangxi Open features only one top-50 player: No. 1 seed Ann Li . The six other seeds behind Li and Golubic have all posted uninspiring recent results, so chalk could well hold until the championship match here. Golubic projects to face No. 5 seed Yulia Putintseva in the quarterfinals, then No. 4 Polina Kudermetova or No. 7 Camila Osorio in the semis. In the Mix to Win the 2025 Jiangxi Open Ann Li : Li continued her late-season ascent with a title at the Guangzhou Open this past week, giving her a WTA 250 title, a WTA 250 runner-up finish and a Grand Slam round of 16 result among her last five tournaments. The surging American is in unfamiliar territory within the top 50, but she's making the most of her opportunity and has a chance to pick up another substantial chunk of ranking points as the top seed in an underwhelming Jiangxi Open field. Golubic gets the slight edge as the defending champion since both of the top two seeds have been in good form recently. Li's path to the final includes a potential quarterfinal matchup against No. 8 seed Anastasia Zakharova , then No. 3 Alycia Parks or No. 6 Anna Bondar in the semis. Alycia Parks: None of the other seeded players outside of Golubic or Li have been playing particularly well, but at least the third-seeded Parks has all the tools to put together a deep run if her game starts clicking. The third-seeded American generates easy power and possesses a booming serve, but she has struggled with consistency. Some strong results from the tail end of the 2024 season are supporting her No. 65 ranking, so Parks will be motivated to find her game late in 2025 in order to avoid a substantial drop. If Parks' shots are finding the court consistently, she can hang with anyone, so how her matches go in this tournament will depend more on her form than her opponents'. She's 1-0 in her career against Li, which bodes well for Parks if they meet in the semis, but Parks is in much more danger of losing early given her recent struggles. Sleeper to Win the 2025 Jiangxi Open Claire Liu : Liu just made a deep run to the semifinals of the Giangzhou Open as a qualifier, racking up five wins before falling to Lulu Sun . The 25-year-old American doesn't have any big weapons, but she won't beat herself. If Liu can get through Kaja Juvan in the opening round, she would have a potential second-round matchup against Alycia Parks in a contrast of styles between Parks' all-out offense and Liu's measured defense. Should the steadier Liu prevail there, sixth-seeded Anna Bondar would be the only seed left blocking her path to another WTA 250 semifinal. Favorite to Win the 2025 Chennai Open Zeynep Sonmez : Sonmez has a nice opportunity to pick up her first WTA Tour title as the only top-70 player in the draw for the Chennai Open, which is being held for the first time since 2022 and second time overall, marking the WTA Tour's return to India. Sonmez has played her best tennis in fast conditions, reaching the third round on grass at Wimbledon and holding her own against top-30 player Marta Kostyuk in a tight second-round loss at the hard-court U.S. Open. The No. 1 seed could face fifth-seeded Lucia Bronzetti in the quarterfinals, one of No. 4 seed Janice Tjen or No. 8 Lulu Sun in the semis, and No. 2 Francesca Jones or No. 3 Donna Vekic in the final. In the Mix to Win the 2025 Chennai Open Donna Vekic : Vekic's pedigree significantly outpaces her No. 79 ranking, as she was ranked as high as No. 17 earlier this year thanks to making the semifinals of Wimbledon in 2024 and picking up a silver medal at the Beijing Olympics. Consistency has eluded the big-hitting Croatian in 2025, but she's certainly capable of putting together a hot streak, especially in a draw without another player nearly as accomplished as Vekic. She landed in the favorable bottom half of the draw, where the other three seeds (No. 2 Francesca Jones , No. 6 Leolia Jeanjean and No. 7 Kimberly Birrell ) have a combined two Grand Slam third-round appearances, with the last being Jeanjean at the 2022 French Open. Janice Tjen : Tjen has ascended to a career-high ranking of No. 80 thanks to a 72-14 record in all competitions this year, including a recent WTA 125-level title at the Jinan Open, where she defeated possible Chennai Open quarterfinal opponent Lulu Sun . There's no substitute for the confidence gained from winning matches, and the fourth-seeded Indonesian has plenty of that heading into this tournament. Only one of Tjen's 72 wins in 2025 has come against top-60 competition, so she has yet to prove herself against the top of the WTA Tour, but she won't have to do that here, since no player is ranked above No. 69. Sleeper to Win the 2025 Chennai Open Lulu Sun : Sun's game leaves little margin for error, which can lead to frustratingly error-prone fallow periods but also high peaks when she finds her timing for a tournament, such as her quarterfinal run at Wimbledon last year or Sun's recently completed run to the final of the Guangzhou Open, which included a victory over top-seeded Jessica Bouzas Maneiro . Even without the ranking points from Guangzhou on her ledger, Sun managed to snag the last seeded spot at the Chennai Open. The No. 8 seed could face Janice Tjen in the quarterfinals before a potential opportunity to knock off another No. 1 seed in Zeynep Sonmez in the semis. Those looking for more tennis coverage can check out RotoWire's latest tennis news , Tennis Injury Report , Tennis Events page , and Tennis Player Comparison tool . SEE MORE ARTICLES & VIDEOS About the Author Sasha has been contributing NFL, NHL, NBA, MLB and Tennis content to RotoWire since 2015, with an emphasis on DFS. He is a huge New York sports fan who has been playing fantasy sports since middle school.

October 24, 2025 Way-Too-Early 2026 WNBA Mock Draft EJ Arocho Way-Too-Early 2026 WNBA Mock Draft Lauren Betts | Dallas Awa Fam | Minnesota Azzi Fudd | Seattle Olivia Miles | Washington Ta’Niya Latson | Chicago Flau’Jae Johnson | Toronto Gianna Kneepkens | Portland Iyana Martin Carrion | Golden State Cotie McMahon | Washington Serah Williams | Indiana Yarden Garzon | Washington KiKi Rice | Connecticut Ashlon Jackson | Atlanta Janiah Barker | Seattle Raegan Beers | Connecticut SEE MORE ARTICLES & VIDEOS About the Author EJ Arocho is Mr. Women’s Basketball and lives in New Jersey. Lives by the shore but looking to make waves everywhere!

With the entire WNBA offseason on hold while we await a new collective bargaining agreement, the WNBA coaching carousel is in full swing. Five teams entered the offseason needing new coaches... October 23, 2025 What Do the New Coaching Hires Mean for the WNBA? Steve Pimental With the entire WNBA offseason on hold while we await a new collective bargaining agreement, the WNBA coaching carousel is in full swing. Five teams entered the offseason needing new coaches. The Storm, Wings and Liberty all parted ways with their coaches after the season, while the Toronto Tempo and Portland Fire needed coaches for their inaugural seasons. The expansion teams were the first ones to strike, with Portland hiring Cleveland Cavaliers assistant Alex Sarama and Toronto reportedly landing former Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello. I believe both hires offer important clues for not only what these teams will look like, but the direction of the league as a whole. Alex Sarama joins Becky Hammon, Teresa Weatherspoon and Nate Tibbets as recent NBA assistants who came to the WNBA for a head coaching gig. This could be part of a growing trend, as Milwaukee Bucks assistant and former Grizzlies and Kings head coach Dave Joeger is reportedly one of the candidates for the Dallas Wings job. If this is indeed becoming a trend, I think it is a positive one for the WNBA. Hammon and Tibbets just met in the WNBA Finals this month, while Weatherspoon’s one season with the Chicago Sky looks like a triumph compared to Tyler Marsh’s 10-34 record. I would certainly rather see NBA assistants parachuting in the W than to see James Wade abandon the Sky for an assistant position in the NBA. At the very least, it shows that a head coaching job in the WNBA is seen as a step up, and the salaries are competitive. None of these coaches were likely to land an NBA head coaching job anytime soon, and there is a risk they are looking to use the WNBA as a stepping stone to head coaching gigs in the MNBA. That being said, these former assistants have largely been successful in the WNBA, and I believe Dave Joeger is a good coach, too. While I don’t want to see the WNBA become a feeder program for NBA coaches, I can’t argue that getting quality coaches in the league is anything but a good thing. As for Sarama specifically, he is considered a leading authority on the Constraints-Led Approach to training, or CLA. It is quite trendy in soccer and European basketball, and with the expansion Fire, Sarama will have a blank slate to build his staff and the roster with people who fit into his system. Before his one year as assistant coach and Head of Player Development with the Cavs, he was the Director of Player Development for the Rip City Remix in the G League. With that in mind, I would expect Portland to take a longer-term view to team building. The Golden State Valkyries put together a veteran roster with two-way players and parlayed that into a playoff berth in their first season. I think Portland will skew younger and might even make some trades for future assets. Sandy Brondello is much more of a known commodity, owing the Mercury and Liberty records for most head coaching wins. She also won a WNBA title at each of those stops in addition to coaching Australia’s national team to three medals. Of course, Brondello had All-Time greats in Diana Taurasi in Phoenix and Breanna Stewart in New York, and she is unlikely to have anyone of that caliber on this team in the near future. Brondello was far and away the best head coaching candidate available, having interviewed with the Wings and Storm before reportedly taking over the Tempo. At the very least, this signals that Toronto is a serious organization that is willing to invest in its on-court product. Neither Phoenix nor New York were particularly known for player development when Brondello was there, though that could simply be the nature of competing for titles with MVPs in their prime. Even so, I would be surprised if Toronto didn’t try to make the playoffs right away. A lot will depend on the new CBA, the expansion draft and free agency, but I think this could look very similar to the Valkyries last season. I feel like Brondello is known more as an offensive coach than a defensive one, but creating an above-average offense in year one may be an uphill battle, regardless of how they fill out their roster. She does have a reputation around the league as someone players love, and that could be an asset in free agency, especially if Toronto is targeting veterans. With all but two of the league’s veterans entering free agency this season, any advantage could be significant. SEE MORE ARTICLES & VIDEOS About the Author

One of the benefits of expansion is that WNBA fans get to see a lot of quality basketball players who otherwise wouldn’t have found roster spots. Some of those spots will go to rookies who in previous years wouldn’t have made the team, but a lot of those spots will go to players who were out of the league but made a big impact when given a chance...Today, with leagues around the world well underway, we have identified 5 more players who could get a chance in the WNBA in 2026. Get to know these players now, because they may be familiar to even casual fans before long. October 21, 2025 Five Players To Watch During the WNBA Offseason Steve Pimental One of the benefits of expansion is that WNBA fans get to see a lot of quality basketball players who otherwise wouldn’t have found roster spots. Some of those spots will go to rookies who in previous years wouldn’t have made the team, but a lot of those spots will go to players who were out of the league but made a big impact when given a chance. Janelle Salaun made the All-Rookie team after signing with the expansion Valkyries as a free agent. Monique Akoa Makani probably should have made the All-Rookie team over Dominique Malonga after helping the Phoenix Mercury to the fourth seed in the playoffs, and she was essential to their run to the WNBA Finals. Akoa Makani, Lexi Held and Kitija Laksa all contributed to Phoenix as rookie free-agent signings after going undrafted or, in Laksa’s case, getting Waived by Seattle and having her rights renounced by Dallas. Chloe Bibby was essential to Indiana’s playoff run as a 27-year-old rookie while Amy Okonkwo was a revelation for the Wings after initially signing a seven-day hardship contract in August. With the success of all of those players as well as the increased opportunities from adding two more expansion teams, I believe teams are going to be even more aggressive in searching foreign leagues for untapped talent. And while we don’t know where they will end up, the expected salary increases in the new collective bargaining agreement only make it more likely that top players will want to play in the W. In July we discussed nine players who could benefit from expansion , many of whom played in the league this season but could have a larger role going forward (including, interestingly enough, Chloe Bibby). That list also included some players who were out of the WNBA in 2025, most notably Raquel Carrera and Awak Kuier. Today, with leagues around the world well underway, we have identified 5 more players who could get a chance in the WNBA in 2026. Get to know these players now, because they may be familiar to even casual fans before long. Mariam Coulibaly, Center, Spar Girona Coulibaly played very little for the Bradley Braves last season, but through five professional games with Uni Girona CB in Spain, she is the leading scorer on a team featuring WNBA player Laeticia Amihere and the No. 5 overall pick in the 2025 draft, Juste Jocyte. Coulibaly moves well for her size and is a willing three-point shooter, both on the pick-and-pop and as a trailer in transition. She doesn’t have a single block through five games, which is disappointing for a player of her size, but I think she could be a scorer off the bench right now. Helena Pueyo, Small forward, Casademont Zaragoza It is still early, but it appears Pueyo is having a breakout, which isn’t surprisingly considering she turns 25 in February. She won’t continue to shoot 61.5 percent on threes, but if she can maintain her 50 percent shooting on twos while chipping in a handful of rebounds and assists, savvy WNBA front offices will take notice. The Phoenix Mercury hold her rights after the former Arizona Wildcat signed a training camp contract but decided not to play in the WNBA last season. If she’s not selected in the expansion draft, she could have a similar impact for Phoenix as Lexi Held and Kitija Laksa did last season. Crystal Dangerfield, Point Guard, Melikgazi Kayseri Basketbol As the WNBA continues to expand, I think the most difficult players to find will be point guards. Dangerfield hasn’t shot the ball well enough to stick in the league but she is a willing passer who can take care of the ball. You could do far worse for a backup point guard who could start in a pinch so long as she doesn’t have to carry the load offensively. Lauren Nicholson, Forward, Sydney Flames Nicholson might be more of a guard in the WNBA, and she is the oldest player by far to make this list, turning 33 in March. I just think she can play. Her shot may be a little flat but she has a quick release. Finishing might be a problem in the W, but she is just a solid all-around player with very few weaknesses in her game. We saw Jule Vanloo make an impact as a 31-year-old rookie in 2014, and I bet Nicholson could do the same. Klara Holm, Point Guard, Spar Girona I really wasn’t expecting to have two players from a team I had never heard of on this list, but Klara Holm has been the one to put Spar Girona’s talented bigs in a position to succeed. Holm is averaging 15 points, 5.5 rebounds, 4 assists and three steals through two games. I would like to see her up the assists a little bit but I like her all-around game. SEE MORE ARTICLES & VIDEOS About the Author Steve Pimental would rather write 20,000 words about Stef Dolson than write two sentences about himself. He lives near Chicago with his beagle/shepard mix, Hootie.

Discover top contenders at the 2025 Toray Pan Pacific Open & Guangzhou Open. Watch stars like Rybakina and Bouzas Maneiro shine on the hard courts! October 20, 2025 WTA Toray Open and Guangzhou Open Previews Sasha Yodashkin Women's main draw play at the 2025 Toray Pan Pacific Open and 2025 Guangzhou Open will begin Monday, Oct. 20. The Toray Open is a WTA 500 level event, while the Guangzhou Open is a WTA 250 event. These outdoor hard-court tournaments both have 32-player draws (28 for Toray with byes for the top four seeds) and feature numerous women's tennis stars, even after some last-minute withdrawals. There are still six top-20 players scheduled to take the court at the Toray Open, while the Guangzhou Open presents a nice opportunity for non-household names to take the spotlight, with the top seed clocking in at No. 40 in the rankings. Below are the top title contenders and dark horses for the 2025 Toray Pan Pacific Open and Guangzhou Open. Favorite to Win the 2025 Toray Open Elena Rybakina : Rybakina is seeded No. 2, but top seed Jasmine Paolini pulled out prior to the start of this event, as did No. 4 seed Clara Tauson , who would have been Rybakina's chalk semifinal opponent. Rybakina just beat Paolini, 6-3, 6-2, in the semifinals of the Ningbo Open en route to winning the title, so the big-serving Moscow native looked like the favorite at the Toray Open even before the pair of late withdrawals from other seeds. Almost every match Rybakina plays is on her terms, as she dictates play with power off the ground. The biggest challenge for Rybakina has been stringing together healthy events without ailments or injuries popping up, but when she's rolling, Rybakina's right up there with the WTA Tour's elites. Recent Japan Open champion Leylah Fernandez could present an early test in the second round after Rybakina's first-round bye, but No. 6 seed Linda Noskova , No. 7 Diana Shnaider and No. 9 Victoria Mboko are the only other seeds in Rybakina's half of the draw. In the Mix to Win the 2025 Toray Open Ekaterina Alexandrova : Alexandrova just lost to Rybakina in the final of the Ningbo Open, and they are favored to have a rematch in the Toray Open championship match given the depleted draw. Alexandrova would have been in Paolini's half, but the 10th-ranked Russian is now the top-ranked player in the top half of the draw, without a seed on her path until either No. 5 Belinda Bencic or No. 8 Karolina Muchova in the semifinals. Similar to Rybakina, Alexandrova's a big hitter who likes to dictate play. Alexandrova holds herself back mentally and underachieves when the lights are brightest, but her level should be high here since this isn't a Grand Slam event, or even a WTA 1000. Belinda Bencic : Bencic was the biggest beneficiary of Paolini withdrawing, as the No. 5 seed got shifted into Paolini's vacant spot to balance out the draw. Instead of potentially facing Rybakina in the quarterfinals, Bencic is now favored to reach the semis, and she also gets automatic entry to the Round of 16 thanks to a bye as one of the four highest seeds still entered into the draw. While less physically imposing than Rybakina or Alexandrova, Bencic plays her own brand of attacking tennis thanks to aggressive court positioning, which allows the world No. 14 to make the most of her exquisite timing and redirection skills to keep opponents on the run. The serve isn't a strength for Bencic like it is for the other two, but that hasn't prevented Bencic from posting winning head-to-head records against both Alexandrova (5-4) and Rybakina (2-1). Sleepers to Win the 2025 Toray Open Marketa Vondrousova : Vondrousova has a first-round rematch on tap against Czech compatriot Karolina Muchova , who defeated Vondrousova, 6-4, 6-3, at last week's Ningbo Open, which was Vondrousova's first action since sustaining a knee injury at the U.S. Open. Vondrousova was playing fantastic tennis prior to getting hurt, beating both Paolini and Rybakina in New York, and the crafty lefty has the skills to make a deep run now that she has shaken off some rust. Vondrousova's in the easier half of the draw, where the only three seeds are No. 3 Alexandrova, No. 5 Bencic and No. 8 Muchova. Sofia Kenin : The draw reshuffling has created a nice opportunity for Kenin, who is unseeded but also doesn't have any top-80 players standing between her and the quarterfinals, where Kenin could face Alexandrova. The talented American went through a fallow period after a breakout 2020 season in which she won the Australian Open, but she has bounced back in 2025 to return to the top 30 in the rankings. Favorite to Win the 2025 Guangzhou Open Jessica Bouzas Maneiro : Bouzas Maneiro is ranked No. 40, which is enough to earn the No. 1 seed in this underwhelming field. No other top-50 players are in her half of the draw, with No. 42 Ann Li and No. 43 Tatjana Maria both landing in the bottom half. Bouzas Maneiro has outplayed her ranking over the past few months, with a quarterfinal showing at the Canadian Open, as well as Round of 16 results at both Wimbledon and Cincinnati among her relatively recent highlights. Her consistency off the ground and scrambling skills make the 23-year-old Spaniard tough to upset, and she isn't short on confidence. The three other seeds in Bouzas Maneiro's half are fifth-seeded potential quarterfinal opponent Alycia Parks , as well as No. 4 seed Alexandra Eala and No. 6 Yulia Putintseva . In the Mix to Win the 2025 Guangzhou Open Ann Li : Li's playing the best tennis of her career, sporting a career-high No. 42 ranking. The 25-year-old American reached a WTA 250 final in Cleveland just before making the round of 16 at the U.S. Open, showcasing her hard-court prowess. Li has spent most of her career skirting the line between full-time WTA Tour player and the top of the next level down, so she won't take the opportunities presented by her current top-50 spot for granted. She's the favorite to make it out of a bottom half of the draw in which the other three seeds are No. 3 Maria, No. 7 Francesca Jones and No. 8 Polina Kudermetova . Hard court is easily Maria's worst surface, while the other two are ranked outside the top 70. Alexandra Eala : Eala being a top-four seed at this tournament is a testament to how quickly the 20-year-old Filipina has climbed the rankings, as she's up to No. 54. She broke out with a Cinderella run to the semifinals of the Miami Open, but Eala has tacked on some other impressive results, including a WTA 250 final in Eastbourne and a WTA 125 title in Guadalajara. She's at her best on faster surfaces, such as hard courts. Eala could stand to improve her consistency, but she tends to get better as tournaments unfold and has a nice opportunity to build momentum here, as her chalk quarterfinal opponent Putintseva has had a down year with a sub-.500 record. Eala has arguably the most long-term upside of anybody in this draw, and the future could be now if she harnesses her talent effectively at the Guangzhou Open. Sleepers to Win the 2025 Guangzhou Open Ella Seidel : The 20-year-old Seidel's future is bright, and she has been stacking wins in the latter part of the 2025 campaign. Including qualifying matches, the ascendant German has posted a 14-4 record in her last four events, with two of the four losses coming against top-30 competition. If she gets through Leolia Jeanjean in the first round and likely Putintseva in the second, Seidel could set up a battle of youngsters against Eala in the quarterfinals. Given the lack of top-end players in this draw, this is a nice opportunity for an unseeded player like the 87th-ranked Seidel to make a deep run. Veronika Erjavec : Erjavec will be brimming with confidence after winning a pair of WTA 125 events in September. Both of those titles came on clay, but there's no substitute for match wins, and the 105th-ranked Slovakian has a nice opportunity to add to her momentum with a first-round matchup against the third-seeded Maria, who struggles on hard courts. Maria has lost first round in four of her last six events dating back to the U.S. Open. Erjavec would inherit a favorable draw if she knocks off the No. 3 seed, as the only other seed she could face prior to the semifinals is No. 8 P. Kudermetova. Those looking for more tennis coverage can check out RotoWire's latest tennis news , Tennis Injury Report , Tennis Events page , and Tennis Player Comparison tool . SEE MORE ARTICLES & VIDEOS About the Author Sasha has been contributing NFL, NHL, NBA, MLB and Tennis content to RotoWire since 2015, with an emphasis on DFS. He is a huge New York sports fan who has been playing fantasy sports since middle school.

...with a fully healthy roster for 2026, something tells me Gainbridge will be rocking like never before with record attendance. They continue to raise the stakes and create a genuine “college basketball atmosphere” in a pro arena. Every home game feels like an event, like March Madness! If you don’t secure your tickets early, you may end up missing out! October 17, 2025 5 WNBA Atmospheres You'll Want to Experience in 2026 EJ Arocho Gainbridge Fieldhouse | Indiana Fever Caitlin Clark & the Fever are a prime example of “yesterday’s price isn’t today’s.” After a historic rookie season, the anticipation heading into Year 2 this May was insane. It was almost like the entire state of Indiana wanted to reserve their tickets to watch basketball’s brightest star! Though injury cut her season short, the fans in Indy rallied around dynamic duo Kelsey Mitchell & Aliyah Boston and embraced newcomers Odyssey Sims, Shey Peddy & Aerial Powers. Persevering through adversity, the Fever not only secured a postseason berth, they pushed eventual champ Vegas to OT in a Game 5 decider in the semis! Now with a fully healthy roster for 2026, something tells me Gainbridge will be rocking like never before with record attendance. They continue to raise the stakes and create a genuine “college basketball atmosphere” in a pro arena. Every home game feels like an event, like March Madness! If you don’t secure your tickets early, you may end up missing out! Michelob ULTRA Arena | Las Vegas Aces With 3 Chips in the last 4 years, the reigning champs have turned their home court into a show. The Aces are the WNBA’s most polished team with superstars & Olympians like A’ja Wilson, Jackie Young, Jewell Loyd & Chelsea Gray… and the Vegas crowd reflects that swagger. Between celebrity appearances, booming music and a championship pedigree, Michelob ULTRA buzzes with an energy that feels like a mix of NBA playoff intensity and Las Vegas entertainment. Having won again this season, expect fans to pack the house to celebrate another back-to-back run (2022 & 2023). Chase Center | Golden State Valkyries The Valks made a splash in their inaugural season. They set attendance records and sold out multiple games, proving that Bay Area fans are ready for women’s basketball. With a sleek arena, NBA-level production and a fresh identity backed by the Golden State Warriors brand, Chase Center promises to be one of the loudest venues in the league next season. Reigning Coach of the Year Natalie Nakase did a phenomenal job leading them to an above .500 record and a postseason appearance in Year 1. Expansion energy and hometown pride will fuel an upbeat, electric environment night after night. Mortgage Matchup Center | Phoenix Mercury New name, same X-Factor atmosphere. Phoenix has one of the most loyal fanbases, built over two decades of sustained success and legends like Diana Taurasi and Brittney Griner. Even in transition years, Mercury fans showed up loud and proud. The arena atmosphere often blends intensity with fun; I’m talking drumlines, chants and passionate long-time supporters who know their basketball. The crowd, nicknamed “the X-Factor” boast a unique, energetic and influential fan base that provides a significant home-court advantage. After Alyssa Thomas just led Phoenix to their first Finals appearance since 2021, expect record crowds in the desert next year. Fans come from far and wide to be a part of the loud and passionate crowd that creates a distinct atmosphere. Root, root, root for the home team! Coca-Cola Coliseum | Toronto Tempo With their debut coming in 2026, the Toronto Tempo are expected to have a strong and engaged fan base, fueled by the city’s proven appetite for women’s sports, the team’s proactive community outreach and the excitement of being Canada’s first WNBA team. They’ve already generated buzz through events and a fan club with exclusive perks, with the goal of building a national following that is expected to translate into high attendance, especially given the success of other local pro women’s teams like the PWHL’s Sceptres. The Tempo has been branded “Canada’s team,” aiming to build a fan base that extends across the country, not just within Toronto limits. The franchise has already attracted notable investors and partners, including Serena Williams and Toronto’s own Lilly Singh. Season ticket deposits and other ticketing info is already available on their official site! We all saw what the Golden State Valkyries accomplished in their inaugural season, and if Toronto is taking notes, expect big things next year. SEE MORE ARTICLES & VIDEOS About the Author EJ Arocho is Mr. Women’s Basketball and lives in New Jersey. Lives by the shore but looking to make waves everywhere!

I don’t believe it is hyperbole to say this is the biggest offseason the WNBA has ever had. This offseason will feature: a new collective bargaining agreement that will pay the players more, a draft lottery featuring two playoff teams, an expansion draft featuring two teams, the second season of Unrivaled, a free agency in which all but two veterans are free agents, and potentially the deepest WNBA draft in years. Oh, and five teams need to hire a new head coach....Here is what you need to know heading into the WNBA offseason... October 16, 2025 WNBA Offseason Preview Steve Pimental I don’t believe it is hyperbole to say this is the biggest offseason the WNBA has ever had. This offseason will feature: a new collective bargaining agreement that will pay the players more, a draft lottery featuring two playoff teams, an expansion draft featuring two teams, the second season of Unrivaled, a free agency in which all but two veterans are free agents, and potentially the deepest WNBA draft in years. Oh, and five teams need to hire a new head coach. That is a lot, especially considering we don’t know when any of it is actually going to happen. Here is what you need to know heading into the WNBA offseason. The current collective bargaining agreement expires on October 31, and all reporting seems to indicate that the league and the Players’ Association will not reach a new deal by that deadline. There seems to be some cautious optimism that they could agree to an extension, which would give them more time to hammer out a deal. If that doesn’t happen, the league will head to a lockout. While a lockout sounds bad, there would still be plenty of time for a new CBA before May, when games are set to start. One advantage of the WNBA having such a long offseason is that even if an agreement isn’t reached right away, they could still have plenty of time for everything that needs to happen this offseason. I believe the WNBA is making too much money for either side to risk a work stoppage that eats into the season. WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert has already stated publicly that she wants the players to get paid more; the only question now is how much more. In most American sports leagues, players collectively receive roughly half of the income for that sport. WNBA Players currently receive 9.3 percent of the league’s income. We’ll see where the new figure comes in, but my guess is the new agreement will see the players come close to 50 percent of basketball-related income, though it may be gradual. Either way, it will be interesting to see when a deal gets done and what the new player salaries look like. Cathay Engelbert has said that the draft lottery and the expansion draft will not be scheduled until after the new CBA is agreed to, and I cannot wait for those dates to be set. This draft may not have an obvious franchise-saver like Caitlin Clark and Paige Bueckers the last two seasons, but there is plenty of talent at the top. The Minnesota Lynx fell short in the playoffs this season, but the team with the best record in the regular season has a 25 percent chance to add the number one overall pick thanks to two trades with the Chicago Sky. If the Lynx can convince Napheesa Collier to return in free agency and add someone like Lauren Betts or Azzi Fudd, they could be the title favorites next season. Seattle is the other playoff team with a lottery pick, thanks to the 2024 trade that sent the Sparks the pick that became Rickea Jackson. I don’t know if any of Seattle’s veterans will be back, but adding a lottery pick to the 2025 second overall pick, Dominique Malonga, should give Seattle a strong base to build from. Dallas has the best lottery odds at 40 percent. The most fun pick for Dallas would be Azzi Fudd, but any of the top picks would fit well with Paige Bueckers and the slew of interesting young talent Dallas has under contract. Washington only has an 11 percent chance at the top pick but with two rookie All-Stars this season and three first-round picks, plus Georgia Amoore returning from her ACL injury, Washington should have an interesting young team, even if they’re not particularly aggressive in free agency. The team that most needs to win the lottery has the lowest odds, as Chicago has a seven percent chance, thanks to the midseason trade that sent Marina Mabrey to Connecticut in 2024. Presumably, after the lottery, Toronto and Portland will add the first players to their rosters via the expansion draft. We don’t yet know what the rules will be for the expansion draft, though they probably won’t look too drastically different from last year’s, when teams could protect six players and the Valkyries could take one player from each team. With so few players under contract around the league, I’m interested to see if the rules will change. I also want to see if the expansion teams deploy different strategies. I was surprised Golden State didn’t make any trades with teams to protect certain players. We don’t know if that was because the Valkyries wanted to make all their picks, or if there wasn’t an appetite around the league to surrender assets to keep someone who wasn’t a top-six player on their roster. Given the Valkyries’ success in year one, Toronto and Portland may opt to make all of their picks as well. Of course, having an extra team in the mix could change things. It may also be that with the league’s talent pool diluting, there just aren’t as many quality rotation players available in this expansion draft. I am fascinated to see how the expansion draft plays out. The first dominoes of the offseason will likely be the new coaching hires. Former Liberty and Mercury head coach Sandy Brondello will almost certainly have one of those jobs if she wants, and I have to wonder if her surprise dismissal led to the Wings firing Chris Koclanes a week later. The league does not have any Black female head coaches following Seattle’s firing of Noelle Quinn, but hopefully that changes this offseason. Breanna Stewart has already stated her intention to return to the New York Liberty, which automatically makes that the best job opening of the five. Dallas and Seattle both have young stars and another lottery pick incoming, but Dallas has more intriguing young players under contract, and I believe in Executive Vice President and General Manager Curt Miller. Toronto and Portland are both blank slates, which is intriguing. Those coaches could benefit from lower expectations in their inaugural seasons, especially if their teams take a more future-focused approach than Golden State did this season. I don’t really know what to make of free agency. Sportsbooks seem to believe most of the stars will return to their teams based on the current championship odds. It is certainly hard to believe A’Ja Wilson, Napheesa Collier or Alyssa Thomas would leave their current teams after the success they enjoyed in 2025, but just about anything is on the table at this point. I wonder if Toronto and Portland might try to make a bigger splash in free agency than Golden State did. Golden State had some very shrewd signings in the 2024 Sixth Woman of the Year Tiffany Hayes, Monique Billings, Janelle Salaun, and Chloe Bibby, but they didn’t chase any big stars via free agency or trade. I wonder if this season’s expansion teams will be as patient, especially considering the league’s landscape is different. No matter when these big offseason events take place, or what shape they take, we will be with you the entire way to break down what it all means for your favorite teams, players, and the league at large. All we know for certain is that change is coming, and nobody really knows what this league will look like when the dust settles. SEE MORE ARTICLES & VIDEOS About the Author Steve Pimental would rather write 20,000 words about Stef Dolson than write two sentences about himself. He lives near Chicago with his beagle/shepard mix, Hootie.

With five tournaments left in the Season, Thitikul has all but sown up the Race to CME Globe, Rolex Player of the Year and Aon Risk Reward Challenge. Even so, there is still plenty to play for down the stretch, and plenty of statistics Jeeno doesn’t lead in. So, let’s take one last look at some notable statistics around the LPGA Tour ahead of the last two months of the season. October 14, 2025 Seven LPGA Stats to Know Steve Pimental The only surprise was that it took so long. Jeeno Thitikul won the Buick LPGA Shanghai Sunday, coming from four shots behind with five holes remaining to force a playoff with Minami Katsu. With that win, Thitikul became the first player to win multiple tournaments, ending a run of 26 distinct winners. Jeeno was one of six players to win multiple times last season and despite just the one win and a disappointing record in the majors, she has been one of the best players on Tour all season. Jeeno Thitikul leads the LPGA Tour in several categories, including Total Strokes Gained, Putts Per GIR Average, Scoring Average, Birdie Percentage, Bogey Avoidance, Par 3 Scoring and Par 4 Scoring. With five tournaments left in the Season, Thitikul has all but sown up the Race to CME Globe, Rolex Player of the Year and Aon Risk Reward Challenge. Even so, there is still plenty to play for down the stretch, and plenty of statistics Jeeno doesn’t lead in. So, let’s take one last look at some notable statistics around the LPGA Tour ahead of the last two months of the season. 16 - Top-25 Finishes for Minjee Lee Lee is actually still leading the LPGA in Official Money despite now trailing Jeeno Thitkul by one win. Lee is tied for fourth in Top-10 Finishes and tied for fifth in cuts made, but of those 18 made cuts in 19 events, she has failed to finishe top-25 just twice. I wrote above that Jeeno Thitikul basically has Player of the Year won, but if Minjee Lee picks up another win, she will at least make it close. 8 - Top-10 Finishes Without a Win for Nelly Korda With 26 different winners on the LPGA Tour this season, you might think everyone who is anyone has picked up a win, but that isn’t the case. The top seven in Top-10 Finishes Without a Win features three Hall-of-Famers, and you have to scroll past the top 15 before you find players who aren’t household names even among casual fans. Women’s golf has never been this strong worldwide, and it shows. Even with 26 different winners, a lot of really good players haven’t found the winners’ circle. We need one more distinct winner to break the record set in 1995 and matched in 2018 and 2022. With such a star-studded leaderboard of players who still haven’t won this season, I’ll be shocked if we don’t get there. By anyone else’s standards, Nelly Korda has had a fine season. She is third on Tour in top-10s, Total Strokes Gained, Rounds in the 60s, Par 4 Scoring average and Scoring Average Per Round. Korda is second in Birdie or Better Percentage, first in Par 5 Scoring Average sixth in CME Points. In any discussion of the best player in the world, she ranks no lower than second. And yet, on the heels of her historic 2024 season in which she won seven times, this season has to be considered a disappointment. Korda ranks 57th in Round 4 Scoring Average, which accounts for some of her near misses. Korda had 15 wins from 2021 to 2025, and she will almost certainly start racking up wins again in 2026, if not sooner. 24 - Cuts made by Mao Saigo Saigo leads the Tour in Cuts Made, but her 29 total starts is nearly as impressive. Saigo is tied for second with Chanettee Wannasaen in total starts, trailing only Jasmine Suwannapura’s 30 starts this season. Saigo isn’t just squeaking in under the cutline, earning six top-10s, including a win at the Chevron Championship. Saigo was the Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year in 2024 thanks to seven top-10s and 24 top-40s, and in 2025 she basically repeated that performance and added a major win. It can be easy to overlook Saigo among all the emerging young talent on the LPGA, especially coming from Japan, but she is fourth in the Player of the Year standings and it won’t surprise me if she wins one sooner than later. 6 - Wins by LPGA Rookies this season After no rookies won in 2024, the rookie class announced its presence with authority in 2025. Twins Chisato Iwai and Akie Iwai were two of the rookies from Japan to win, along with Miyu Yamashita and Rio Takeda. Yamashita is second on Tour with 10 top-10 finishes. She has a top-10 in 50 percent of her starts, which is good for third. And she might not even be the most impressive rookie this season. Lottie Woad won on the European Tour as an amateur before winning her professional debut at the ISPS HANDA Women’s Scottish Open. She had two top-10s at Majors this season and finished in the top 10 in 60 percent of her starts, second only to Jeeno Thitikul. I picked Woad to be the first multi-time winner on the Tour this season and while that was incorrect, I like her chances to win at least twice next season. 76.56% - Greens in Regulation Percentage of Rio Takeda Takeda is a rookie this season but she is actually the defending champion at the upcoming TOTO Japan Classic, which she won last year as a non-Tour member and finished T8 in 2023. Takeda is a prototypical outstanding ballstriker who struggles on the greens. Takeda ranks 139 in strokes gained putting this season. She is just 22 years old and if she ever figures out her putter, she could start ripping off a bunch of wins. 28.57 - Average Putts Per Round for Minami Katsu Katsu couldn’t hold off Jeeno Thitkul Sunday to keep the unique winners streak alive, but that doesn’t do much to diminish a very solid season. Exactly half of Katsu’s 1.04 Total Strokes Gained comes with her putter, where she ranks 28th. Katsu has six top-10s this season, more than her first two LPGA seasons combined. I think Katsu needs to improve her ballstriking if she is going to start contending in majors, but I expect she’ll continue to do well in weaker fields. 67.13 - Scrambling Percentage of Hyo Joo Kim I tend to think of scrambling percentage in particular, and around-the-green stats in general, as not very predictive. Often if you get up-and-down consistently within a round or a tournament you will have very good results, but trying to predict that from week-to-week can be a fool’s errand. I may have to rethink that based on Hyo Joo Kim’s results. She has ranked in the top-10 in Strokes Gained Around the Green in four consecutive seasons, finishing in the top two in three of those. She is an average driver and ranks 116th in Green Hit percentage from the fairway, but her touch around the greens is unmatched. Kim is capable of having a good week every time out, but I will be especially interested to play her for fantasy on courses featuring small greens. If a lot of people are missing the greens, that plays right into her hands. SEE MORE ARTICLES & VIDEOS About the Author Steve Pimental would rather write 20,000 words about Stef Dolson than write two sentences about himself. He lives near Chicago with his beagle/shepard mix, Hootie.

Top tennis stars clash at the 2025 Ningbo Open & Japan Open. Discover title contenders & dark horses as they battle for glory on outdoor hard courts! Women's main draw play at the 2025 Ningbo Open 2025 Japan Open will begin Monday, Oct. 13. Ningbo is a WTA 500 level event, while the Japan Open is a WTA 250 event. These outdoor hard-court tournaments both have 32-player draws (28 for Ningbo with byes for the top four seeds) and feature numerous women's tennis stars, with eight top-20 players in the Ningbo Open draw and two playing in the Japan Open. Below are the top title contenders and dark horses for the 2025 Ningbo Open and Japan Open October 12, 2025 WTA Ningbo Open and Japan Open Previews Sasha Yodashkin Favorite to Win the 2025 Ningbo Open Mirra Andreeva : The top-seeded Russian has had an underwhelming Asian swing, but Andreeva is the world No. 5 for a reason. The talented 18-year-old has won two hard-court WTA 1000 events in 2025, and she has a favorable draw in the same half as No. 4 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova while the two other main Ningbo Open title contenders landed in the other half. After a bye into the Round of 16, Andreeva could face Emma Raducanu in her first match, with seventh-seeded doubles partner Diana Shnaider representing Mirra's chalk quarterfinal opponent. Andreeva's mix of variety and athleticism is arguably unmatched on the WTA Tour, but she's still learning how to cut out distractions and avoid rough patches in matches, which is why she isn't a significant favorite in a talented Ningbo Open field. In the Mix to Win the 2025 Ningbo Open Jasmine Paolini : Paolini's coming off a strong performance at the Wuhan Open, where she defeated Iga Swiatek en route to the semifinals. The No. 2 seed at the Ningbo Open has a clear path to the semifinals, with No. 6 seed Belinda Bencic as Paolini's toughest potential obstacle. Things get much tougher after that, though, as Paolini could face a pair of fellow top-10 players back-to-back in Elena Rybakina and Andreeva. Despite Rybakina being the far bigger hitter, Paolini has enjoyed a 3-2 edge in their head-to-head, including 2-0 on hard courts. Elena Rybakina : Rybakina has by far the toughest path of the three top contenders. She could face Canadian Open champion Victoria Mboko in the Round of 16, and chalk quarterfinal opponent Clara Tauson defeated Rybakina at Wimbledon this year. The big-serving Rybakina can beat anyone when she's on her game, but she lacks alternative options besides the Plan A of attempting to overpower opponents. She's 2-3 against Paolini and 1-2 against Andreeva, both of whom have more variety. Sleepers to Win the 2025 Ningbo Open Marketa Vondrousova : Vondrousova's set for her first tournament action since the U.S. Open, where she was playing fantastic tennis prior to withdrawing due to a knee injury ahead of a quarterfinal matchup against Aryna Sabalenka . Vondrousova beat both Paolini and Rybakina in New York, but she lands on the opposite half of the draw from them. The crafty Czech will need to shake off the rust quickly given her tough first-round draw against compatriot Karolina Muchova , but if Vondrousova can find her pre-injury form, she's capable of taking out Andreeva in the quarterfinals and flourishing from there. Victoria Mboko : Mboko showcased her high ceiling at the Canadian Open, where the athletic 19-year-old rode the crowd support to a hard-court WTA 1000 title. She has dropped three straight matches since then but has a nice opportunity to regain her confidence here. If Mboko gets past error-prone Dayana Yastremska in the first round, the 24th-ranked Canadian would face Rybakina, whom Mboko defeated in Montreal. Favorite to Win the 2025 Japan Open Naomi Osaka : Osaka has played some strong tennis down the stretch in 2025 under new coach Tomasz Wiktorowski, reaching the Canadian Open final and U.S. Open semifinals. She'll be highly motivated to win as the clear title favorite in her home country, and this tournament is on Osaka's best surface, as all four of her career Grand Slam titles have come on hard courts. Osaka's the No. 1 seed at the Japan Open by virtue of her No. 16 ranking. She's one of the best servers on the WTA Tour and has tremendous power off the ground to back it up. There are only two other top-25 players in the Japan Open draw, Elise Mertens and Linda Noskova , whom Osaka could face in the semifinals and final, respectively. In the Mix to Win the 2025 Japan Open Linda Noskova : Noskova's ranked No. 17, just one spot behind Osaka. The 20-year-old Czech has plenty of power off the ground and can go toe to toe with anyone on her best days but could stand to improve her consistency from match to match. She could face a first-round test against big-hitting Brit Katie Boulter , but Noskova's draw otherwise looks decent, as she should be comfortably favored in every match prior to the final. The other seeds in her half of the draw are No. 4 seed Leylah Fernandez , fifth-seeded potential quarterfinal opponent Marie Bouzkova , and No. 7 seed Ann Li . Elise Mertens : Mertens rarely loses to players she should beat but struggles to hang with the game's elites. Luckily for the third-seeded Belgian, there aren't really any players that outclass her in a Japan Open draw without a top-15 player. Mertens is a respectable 3-4 against Osaka and has never faced Noskova. As long as Mertens has recovered from the back injury that forced her to withdraw during the Wuhan Open, the 21st-ranked Belgian could make a push for her third singles title of 2025 while utilizing her well-rounded game and excellent feel at net. Sleepers to Win the 2025 Japan Open Jessica Bouzas Maneiro : Bouzas Maneiro has quietly played at a borderline top-20 level since May. The 23-year-old Spaniard has won multiple matches in six of her last 10 tournaments while reaching the quarterfinals of the Canadian Open and Round of 16 at both Wimbledon and Cincinnati over that span. She snuck into the seeded range at the Japan Open, simplifying Bouzas Maneiro's early draw, but the No. 8 seed projects to meet Osaka in the quarterfinals. That would be an interesting clash of styles between Osaka's power and Bouzas Maneiro's consistency off the ground. Alexandra Eala : Like many young players, Eala's still trying to improve the consistency of her results. The 20-year-old Filipina has demonstrated a high ceiling when her game is clicking this year, making a run to the Miami Open semifinals, reaching a WTA 250 final in Eastbourne and taking home a WTA 125 title in Guadalajara. Two of those three results have come on hard courts, which have been Eala's best surface in her young career. Eala has proven capable of catching fire, but she'll need to get hot early to make a deep run at the Japan Open, with Mertens looming in the second round. Those looking for more tennis coverage can check out RotoWire's latest tennis news , Tennis Injury Report , Tennis Events page , and Tennis Player Comparison tool . SEE MORE ARTICLES & VIDEOS About the Author Sasha has been contributing NFL, NHL, NBA, MLB and Tennis content to RotoWire since 2015, with an emphasis on DFS. He is a huge New York sports fan who has been playing fantasy sports since middle school.

Elevated scoring might just be what the doctor ordered for Alyssa Thomas. She averaging 13.0 PPG, a bit below her season average and certainly below the semifinal series vs Minnesota (20.3 PPG). Yes, she’s a triple-double threat every single night, but Phoenix must tilt the offense to the paint & start getting her touches inside. She is arguably the most physical and strongest player in the league. Let her operate around the rim. October 10, 2025 Keys to a Phoenix Comeback EJ Arocho Lock Down The Paint Force A’ja to take tough shots! So far, she’s been able to do whatever she wants, averaging nearly 28.0 PPG & 13.0 RPG in these Finals. Single coverage has not & will not work… and double-teaming her hasn’t been done effectively enough! Phoenix’s bigs have to be much more physical & limit her ability to pound the paint and take open mid-range jumpers. The help defense must be top tier! More Touches for Thomas Elevated scoring might just be what the doctor ordered for Alyssa Thomas. She averaging 13.0 PPG, a bit below her season average and certainly below the semifinal series vs Minnesota (20.3 PPG). Yes, she’s a triple-double threat every single night, but Phoenix must tilt the offense to the paint & start getting her touches inside. She is arguably the most physical and strongest player in the league. Let her operate around the rim. She’s a problem for any defender & can easily power her way for easy 2’s and possible and-1 plays. She also a master at dime-dishing, so forcing the defense to collapse could create opportunities for lurking perimeter threats in Kahleah Copper, Sami Whitcomb & Satou Sabally. Improve Offensive Consistency Phoenix is a 3-point heavy team. At home, their percentage tends to be better. If their outside shooters get in rhythm early, it could certainly result in a dub. Whitcomb has to get back to her vintage self. DeWanna Bonner is a matchup nightmare and is tough to close out on. Monique Akoa Makani is an emerging 3-point specialist. Sabally & Copper have to improve efficiency because when those two get clicking, it can really rain 3’s. Control the Tempo Phoenix likes to play fast. But so does Vegas. Sometimes, the two don’t mix well and it makes for very frenetic stretches. Turnovers start to pile up, the lid closes on the basket and frustration boils over. Cold stretches have plagued this team in Games 1-3 so far. If Phoenix can slow the game down, make Vegas earn each possession, it may reduce the number of possessions where Vegas’s stars can take over. Use the mid-range and inside-out sets rather than always pushing the pace. Reserves & Role Players Must Step Up If Sabally is out for Game 4 (and possibly any after), Phoenix will need contributions from role players (Copper & Makani) and their bench (Bonner & Whitcomb) to help carry the scoring and defensive load. Emotional & Psychological Edge They must use the momentum of the comeback in Game 3 – even though they lost, rallying from large deficits shows toughness & fight. No quit in their game! Home Court Energy It’s win or go home in Game 4. And speaking of “home,” the Mercury must use the crowd — the X FACTOR. Lean on the home crowd and the comfort of being in Phoenix (sleep routine, less travel, familiarity). Tactical Adjustments & Scouting Tweaks If the Aces respond to certain sets, Phoenix must have counters ready. Perhaps try mixed defenses (zone, trap, switching) to confuse their offensive rhythm and get them out of sorts. A comfortable Vegas is a dangerous Vegas. Adjust matchups — sometimes mismatches can be exploited! SEE MORE ARTICLES & VIDEOS About the Author EJ Arocho is Mr. Women’s Basketball and lives in New Jersey. Lives by the shore but looking to make waves everywhere!

Despite yet another furious comeback in these playoffs, Phoenix fell just short and now it would take a truly historic turnaround to overcome their 3-0 deficit. If I were to be skeptical I would say the Aces shot the lights out and received a favorable whistle through three quarters and they didn’t in the fourth quarter, which explains their big lead and Phoenix’s comeback. That’s probably not fair to the Aces, who are one win away from their third WNBA title in four seasons. Let’s take a look at how they got there. October 9, 2025 The Aces Are 1 Game Away from the Championship. How Did They Get Here? Steve Pimental My Preview of Game 3 of the first-ever best-of-seven WNBA Finals focused primarily on what Phoenix needed to do to win that game and get back in the series. Because Phoenix played so poorly in Game 2, I thought the onus was on them to up their level and take Game 3 from the Las Vegas Aces. Despite yet another furious comeback in these playoffs, Phoenix fell just short and now it would take a truly historic turnaround to overcome their 3-0 deficit. If I were to be skeptical I would say the Aces shot the lights out and received a favorable whistle through three quarters and they didn’t in the fourth quarter, which explains their big lead and Phoenix’s comeback. That’s probably not fair to the Aces, who are one win away from their third WNBA title in four seasons. Let’s take a look at how they got there. A’Ja Wilson Leaves No Doubt I don’t want to be one of those people who uses the postseason as a referendum on a regular-season award. A’ja Wilson was a deserving MVP, even if I’m still not certainly I wouldn’t have voted for Napheesa Collier. In any case, Phoenix needed their own MVP candidate, Alyssa Thomas, to at least play Wilson to a draw to have any chance in this series. You could argue that was the case in Game 1, but Wilson has been much better the last two games. She already has the most points in a WNBA Finals, thanks in part to her 34-point effort on Wednesday. With Las Vegas making nearly all of their threes in the first three quarters, Phoenix was forced to mostly defend Wilson one-on-one. That was mostly a disaster, especially with Alyssa Thomas spending so much time defending Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young. Wilson was just as impactful on the defensive end. Kahleah Copper got her a couple of times on switches but Wilson finished with three blocks and 11 defensive rebounds. Very little came easily for Phoenix on the offensive end, and Wilson played the biggest part in that. Taking Care of the Basketball The Aces had eight turnovers as a team, the same number as Alyssa Thomas and Satou Sabally combined. More importantly, I can’t recall a single bad shot Las Vegas took in the entire game. I’m sure there were some, but I thought they basically got a good look every time down the floor, despite shooting just 42.6 percent from the field. If it wasn’t Wilson one-on-one in the paint, it was Jewell Loyd or Dana Evans knocking down open threes, or Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young going towards the basket. It stood in stark contrast to Phoenix’s struggles on the other end. If the Aces take care of the basketball and are patient enough to get good shots, they are extremely tough to beat. Attack the Offensive Glass As someone who was hoping for a long series, it was extremely frustrating to see the Aces grab 14 offensive rebounds. One of the reasons the Aces were able to pull away in the second quarter is that every time Phoenix got a stop, there would be a long rebound without a single Mercury player anywhere to be found. I give Phoenix a lot of credit for sticking together and making their comeback, because the lack of defensive rebounding was quite demoralizing. Make their Free Throws I can quibble with how often they got to the line, but at the end of the day, the Aces shot six fewer free throws than Phoenix but made the same amount. A’Ja Wilson alone was 11-for-12 from the line, and as a team, they made 23 of their 25 free throws. Like so much of the Aces’ game, making free throws isn’t flashy, but it very well made the difference in a game they won by just two points. Making Phoenix Work Offensively I really thought Phoenix would be able to take advantage of NaLyssa Smith, Dana Evans and Megan Gustafson defensively. They finally got the better of Gustafson a few times in the fourth quarter, though she stood up Alyssa Thomas to give A’Ja Wilson the chance to win it with 0.1 seconds remaining. Smith and Evans combined to commit 11 fouls in 32 minutes, but at least they were working hard and weren’t giving up easy baskets. Smith was a team-best +16 in this game, and you could argue her foul trouble is a big reason why the Mercury were able to come back at all. SEE MORE ARTICLES & VIDEOS About the Author

On some level, it is too soon for Phoenix to panic. They are going back home for the next two games of this seven-game series, and if they just can just defend their home court, they can even this series. On the other hand, they need to win four of the next five games to give Alyssa Thomas her first WNBA championship. To get there, they will have to play much better than they did in Las Vegas. So, let’s take a look at what they need to do to get there. October 7, 2025 How Can Phoenix Get Back in the Series? Steve Pimental Less than a week ago, I predicted a close WNBA Finals series. The Aces had barely escaped both of their playoff series with wins, while Phoenix had dispatched last season’s Finals teams in consecutive series. Through two games, that close series has only materialized in the first half. The Aces have managed to pull away in the second half of both home games, and if that trend continues, Phoenix will be going home in short order. On some level, it is too soon for Phoenix to panic. They are going back home for the next two games of this seven-game series, and if they just can just defend their home court, they can even this series. On the other hand, they need to win four of the next five games to give Alyssa Thomas her first WNBA championship. To get there, they will have to play much better than they did in Las Vegas. So, let’s take a look at what they need to do to get there. Lean on their defensive lineups. This might be a little counterintuitive. If anything, Phoenix’s problems have been more on the offensive end than the defensive end. That being said, Natasha Mack is the only Mercury player with a positive +/- in both games, and Monique Akoa Makani is third in +/- in the series, behind Satou Sabally. You could argue that Mack especially is more effective in fewer minutes, but considering both players are starters, it's not like they’re feasting on bench units. Akoa Makani might be Phoenix’s only two-way player outside of the big three, and I think she needs more than the 26 minutes she played in the first two games. Another reason to lean on Phoenix’s defenders is that the offensive players have been ineffective. Sami Whitcomb, Kathryn Westbeld and DeWanna Bonner are a combined 7-for-34 from the field through two games. There is a strong possibility they will shoot better at home the next two games, but if the offense is going to struggle anyway, they can at least make Las Vegas work more on the other end. Push the pace. Phoenix was third in the league in pace in the regular season, and first among the eight playoff teams. They didn’t get very many easy looks in game two, but what few they got came in transition or semi-transition. Even when Phoenix doesn’t force a turnover, I think they need to play faster to try to open up more advantages. If the Mercury can set their defense and get the matchups they want, they have shown they can make things very difficult for Phoenix’s offense. Attack mismatches. I lost track of how many times Alyssa Thomas got matched on Jackie Young, Chelsea Gray or Jewell Loyd and passed out of it rather than try to attack the basket or draw a double-team. Las Vegas’s guards did do a good job of attacking the dribbles of Thomas and Satou Sabally and forcing some turnovers, but Phoenix has to find a better way of turning those situations in their favor. Utilize the Thomas-Sabally two-man game. Sabally got floater in the lane at the end of the third quarter following a dribble-handoff with Alyssa Thomas. It probably helped that both forwards were defended by guards on that possession, but that is kind of the point. One or both of them are getting matched up with a guard a ton, and rather than trying to dribble-drive or throw the ball into the post, this gives Phoenix another way to attack that doesn’t just involve going one-on-one. This could be a way to get DeWanna Bonner going as well. Maybe use her as a screener for Thomas and force the defense to make some difficult decisions. Put Alyssa Thomas on Jackie Young The problem with this approach is that it takes Thomas off A’Ja Wilson, and unlike Thomas, Wilson had no problem in that game punishing weaker defenders. That being said, Natasha Mack and/or Satou Sabally can probably steal a few possessions on Wilson here and there. I noted two possessions in the second half when Thomas defended Young. They might have been the only two possessions Young didn’t score on in the second half. Thomas can play off Young a little bit and try to bait her into pull-up threes, like she did at the end of the third quarter. I don’t think they can play that way all the time, but I like it as a changeup, especially when Monique Akoa Makani is on the bench. SEE MORE ARTICLES & VIDEOS About the Author