📰🏟️ Justin time
Plus: WC favorite’s toughest test yet…
Good afternoon. The top-5 sports stories of the day are at your fingertips. Just keep scrolling.
—Kyle
1) Wimbledon semifinals take Centre Court
The women’s semifinals kicked off this morning, with Czech star KarolĂna Muchová (10-seed) defeating American Coco Gauff (7) to advance to her first career Wimbledon final on Saturday.
- Muchová will face the winner of Marta Kostyuk (12) v. Linda Nosková (9), which is ongoing at the time of this send.
- On the men’s side, London native and Wild Card entrant Arthur Fery looks to continue his 'Fery-tale' run against Alexander Zverev (2) on Friday morning.
- They’ll be followed by a battle of heavyweights Jannik Sinner (1) and Novak Djokovic (7) for a spot in the final on Sunday.
Live from The All England Club
2) Tigers SP Justin Verlander is retiring
Future Hall-of-Fame SP Justin Verlander yesterday announced plans to retire after finishing the season in Detroit, where he’s currently recovering from injury.
- Verlander, 43, has won 3 Cy Youngs, 2 World Series, an MVP—1 of 2 full-time pitchers this century—and pitched 3 no-hitters across 20 seasons.
- His 3,554 career strikeouts are the 8th-most in MLB history, while he ranks 24th in pitching WAR (82.3) and 37th in wins (266).
- Verlander was also named to the 2026 All-Star Game yesterday as the AL’s Legend Pick, joining Bryce Harper from the NL.
We won’t see a pitcher like Verlander again
3) World Cup favorite faces toughest test yet
France, the world’s #1-ranked team, faces #6 Morocco in the World Cup quarterfinals this afternoon (3 pm CT), in its toughest game thus far.
- Les Bleus are the tournament’s joint top goal scorers alongside Argentina, led by star French striker Kylian Mbappé (7 goals, 1 behind Messi).
- But they’ll have their hands full with a Moroccan squad that’s shown strong defense, goal scoring, game control, and clutch play in the tournament.
- Morocco is looking to make its 2nd straight World Cup semifinal, after becoming the first African team ever to make it that far in 2022.
What to know for tonight’s quarterfinal
4) MLB HR Derby field is filling out
KC Royals RF Jac Caglianone and Boston Red Sox 1B Willson Contreras have both accepted invitations to join next week’s Home Run Derby, with the 8-player field now half full.
- Caglianone (14 HR) and Contreras (20) will join Tampa Bay Rays 3B Junior Caminero (26) and NY Yankees 1B Ben Rice (26) for Monday’s contest in Philadelphia.
- The 2026 HR Derby features a new format: instead of timed rounds where players hit as many balls as they can, the event will revert back to a swing-based format.
Breaking down the HR Derby field
5) NBA’s top-2 picks square off in Summer League
The NBA’s Las Vegas Summer League tips off this afternoon, following 2 smaller regional circuits of NBA summer action.
- Day 1 in Vegas features 7 games across Prime Video, ESPN, and ESPN2.
- That includes #1 pick AJ Dybantsa’s Washington Wizards vs. #2 pick Darryn Peterson and the Jazz in a primetime matchup (8 pm CT on ESPN).
- A total of 76 games will be played in the 11-day Summer League tournament, with all 30 NBA teams playing at least 5 times.
Who’s the player to watch on your team?
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