Good morning, Court Theorists! ☕️
It was a wild first day of tennis at the ATP Next Gen Finals because the quality of play among these 20-and-under hotshots was truly off the charts. But one match stood above the rest. And we’ll also get into the suggestions you all made for a Juan Carlos Ferrero replacement.
Today’s tennis mood: Excited plus highly entertained.
Let’s tennis!
Three Points
🎾 Day Two: If the second day of the Next Gen Finals is anything like opening day, get comfortable because you won’t want to miss what’s on tap in Jeddah. Just catching up? The ATP has a helpful guide to this year’s field.
Here’s the full line-up of today’s matches:
- Dino Prizmic vs. Justin Engel
- Alexander Blockx vs. Nishesh Basavareddy
- Nicolai Budkov Kjaer vs. Rafael Jodar
- Learner Tien vs. Martin Landaluce
🎾 THE match from yesterday: That honor belongs to Rafael Jodar defeating Learner Tien in five sets. The 20-year-old Spaniard, who is also college student at the University of Virginia, fended off four match points to take down the highest-ranked player in the tournament. Not bad for the first time Jodar has ever faced a top 100 opponent, never mind top 50. As for Tien, he had a good sense of humor about it.
🎾 Your call: With yesterday’s shocking news that Carlos Alcaraz and Juan Carlos Ferrero are going their separate ways, I asked you all who should be the next top coach in the Alcaraz box. Here are the suggestions I received:
- Andre Agassi x 3
- Boris Becker x 8
- David Ferrer x 6
- Tim Henman x 1
- John McEnroe x 1
- Andy Murray x 4
- Diego Schwartzman x 1
- One text from a friend: “This Carlitos-JCF split is hitting me harder than my parents’ divorce.” 💔
