CNN
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Following the end of the NCAA tournament, the next tentpole event in the women’s basketball calendar is the WNBA draft.

With teams looking for an injection of college talent to galvanize them ahead of the 2025 season, the draft offers franchises an opportunity to reset and recalibrate.

There is added intrigue as the WNBA’s first expansion team in 17 years, the Golden State Valkyries, will participate in their first ever draft.

Here’s everything you need to know.

This year’s edition of the WNBA draft is being held at The Shed in New York City on Monday night.

WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert will announce the picks, with coverage of the event starting at 7.30 p.m. ET on ESPN. The draft can also be streamed on ESPN+ and the ESPN App.

There is plenty of theorizing about who will go where, but there isn’t much doubt over who will be selected first overall by the Dallas Wings.

Having brought a 12th NCAA women’s championship back to Connecticut, UConn guard Paige Bueckers is widely expected to be drafted No. 1 after rounding out a stellar college career in the most emphatic fashion.

The senior has already been widely known on the women’s basketball scene and blossomed during her title victory, doing almost everything to help the Huskies to victory. She averaged 24.8 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 2.8 steals and 1.3 blocks per game in the 2025 NCAA tournament.

The win ends Bueckers’ time on the collegiate level in perfect fashion as she formed a potent backcourt with fellow guard Azzi Fudd.

Bueckers leaves Storrs as the top scorer in UConn’s women’s basketball history – a remarkable achievement for such a storied program – and third overall in points in women’s basketball history, despite missing the whole of the 2022 season with a torn ACL.

With a vast array of experience already, the 23-year-old enters this year’s draft as the consensus No. 1 overall pick and is primed to be an immediate difference-maker on the pro level.

Bueckers will be in attendance in New York to see her name called and, like Caitlin Clark last season, will be the early favorite to claim the Rookie of the Year accolade.

Outside of the Huskies legend, there is plenty of intrigue about who will be selected by which team.

Arguably, the most fascinating prospect in the draft is Dominique Malonga, who played in France and didn’t play a minute in the NCAA.

Still only 19 years old, Malonga averaged 15 points and 10 rebounds a game for ASVEL Féminin in 2024 and has recently shot up in mock drafts due to her high upside.

She became a viral hit when a video of her dunking at the age of 16 was widely shared, but since then the 6-foot-6-inch budding star has developed her skills to become a more well-rounded player.

Malonga was the youngest member of France’s silver medal-winning women’s basketball team at the 2024 Paris Olympics, and the Cameroon-born center offers a rare blend of agility, size and ball handling skills which, if they coalesce, could make a potent skillset.

Kiki Iriafen is another top prospect who will likely be picked at the top of the first round after excelling for the USC Trojans during the NCAA tournament.

A forward with an enviable combination of size and ball skills, Iriafen is the prototypical wing and already fits the mold which some of the WNBA’s most impactful players – like three-time WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier – have carved out.

Aneesah Morrow is another impactful forward who could be a vital addition to a winning team having grown into an all-round player with the LSU Tigers.

She averaged nearly 21 points per game along with 12.3 rebounds and 1.5 steals during the postseason for LSU. Her combination of size and scoring could make her a perfect player for the pros.

1) Dallas Wings

2) Seattle Storm (via Los Angeles Sparks)

3) Washington Mystics (via Chicago Sky)

4) Washington Mystics

5) Golden State Valkyries

6) Washington Mystics (via Dallas Wings via Atlanta Dream)

7) Connecticut Sun (via New York Liberty via Phoenix Mercury)

8) Connecticut Sun (via Indiana Fever)

9) Los Angeles Sparks (via Seattle Storm)

10) Chicago Sky (via Connecticut Sun)

11) Chicago Sky (via Minnesota Lynx)

12) Dallas Wings (via Phoenix Mercury)

CNN
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Carlos Alcaraz got his clay-court season off to a winning start by claiming his first title at the Monte-Carlo Masters.

The Spaniard had to come from behind to defeat Lorenzo Musetti 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 in Sunday’s final, securing his sixth Masters 1000 victory and first since Indian Wells last year.

Musetti, who was bidding for the biggest win of his career, was hampered by a leg injury in the final set and finished the match despite struggling to move around the court.

For Alcaraz, the win sets him up perfectly for the weeks ahead as he prepares for his French Open title defense next month.

“A lot of people have really high expectations of me on having a really good clay season,” the four-time grand slam champion told reporters after the match. “Probably, they want me to win almost every tournament, so it’s kind of a bit difficult to deal with it, I guess.

“But one thing I learned over the last month is I have to think about myself … think about my people, my team, my family, my close friends, and no matter what happens on court, if I win, if I lose, I have to leave the court happy and proud with what I’ve done.”

Alcaraz can certainly be proud of his achievements in Monte-Carlo this past week and a half, coming from a set down on three occasions to lift the title.

He fell 3-1 behind in the first set against Musetti after miscuing a forehand, while the Italian hit seven winners to take an early lead in the match.

It didn’t take long, however, for Alcaraz to get back into the contest, breaking Musetti’s serve twice and wrapping up the second set inside an hour and 20 minutes of play.

The deciding set was even more one-sided with Musetti clearly struggling with an injury, even after getting treatment at 0-3 down. It meant that Alcaraz could breeze through the closing stages, hitting the winning forehand into an open court with Musetti unable to move freely.

“Hopefully, if everything goes well, I will be playing this tournament for the next 10, 15 years, so let’s see if I can get at least one more,” said the 21-year-old. “All I’m thinking about right now is just to enjoy this moment and let’s see in the future.”

Alcaraz, who suffered a surprise second-round exit against Belgium’s David Goffin at the Miami Open in his last tournament, jumps above Alexander Zverev to second in the world rankings.

Musetti rises from 16th to a career-high 11th in the rankings having defeated top-10 seeds Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alex de Minaur on his way to the final.

CNN
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It was a weekend of firsts for the San Diego Padres as their hot start to the season shows little sign of slowing – and it’s hard to know which statistic to start with.

On Sunday, the Padres became the first MLB team since the then-named Cleveland Indians in 2017 to hold an opponent scoreless over a series of at least three games with a 6-0 win over the Colorado Rockies. It was also the first time in franchise history that the team has achieved the feat.

The series result also marked the first time the Rockies have ever been dealt a shutout in a series of three or more games, according to MLB.com.

They say there’s no place like home, and for the Padres and Petco Park that certainly seems to be the case. With the victory, San Diego moved to 10-0 at home, another franchise record.

Additionally, the Padres became the second team in MLB history – matching the 1966 Cleveland team – to rack up six shutouts in the first 16 games of the season, all of which have come at Petco Park.

The only other time a team has held its opponent to fewer than a dozen runs over its first nine home games happened in 1876, according to Opta – the first year of MLB.

Veteran outfielder Jason Heyward said the key to the hot start is the Padres’ ability to play as a team.

“I think, you know, no matter what the result is on any given day on both sides of the baseball, let’s go up there, have our approach,” Heyward said after Saturday’s 2-0 victory over Colorado.

“It’s not gonna be perfect. Right? It’s not always gonna work out the way you want. But it’s following up with that approach and that process and we’ve been doing a great job I think since spring training in just falling in love with that.”

Padres manager Mike Shildt reiterated his player’s perspective on the positive clubhouse and stadium environment post-game.

“It’s an unbelievably supportive place; it’s a fun place that our guys love to play. I feel like we’re playing with our fans and the support we’re getting and, conversely, it’s a really challenging place (for our opponents) to play.

“You know, it’s a playoff-like atmosphere almost every game,” Shildt added.

The camaraderie of the team is palpable and it’s translating in the performances, especially with the pitching staff. The Padres are second in the league with a team ERA of 2.68 and their bullpen has an MLB-leading 1.51 ERA.

Sunday’s starter, Michael King, pitched the first complete game shutout of his career in front of a sellout crowd and became the first Padres starter to notch an individual shutout this season.

“These fans are incredible,” the 29-year-old said of the support. “They show out and it’s always fun to put on a show for ‘em.”

“We got a lot of different approaches. I mean the Rockies just saw three different starting pitchers. You got a four-seam curveball guy in Nick (Pivetta), a lefty (Kyle Hart) with every pitch you have and really good command, and me as a sinker-sweeper guy,” King said of the pitching staff’s versatility and dominance.

The MLB-leading Padres (13-3) will look to record their fourth consecutive shutout tonight when they host the Chicago Cubs at 9:40 pm ET.