👋 Welcome back to The Daily Theory, our morning rundown to help you stay on top of your favorite sport. I’m Allen McDuffee, your guide to all things tennis.

On tap today: Matteo Berrettini takes down Alexander Zverev, Peyton Stearns opens her DMs for a new coach, Novak Djokovic takes on Alejandro Tabilo, plus more tennis news today.

Let’s tennis!

Three Points

🎾 A big win: In The Daily Theory, we called out a potential upset in the Alexander Zverev-Matteo Berrettini match. And that’s exactly what happened. In a two-and-a-half-hour match (2-6, 6-3, 7-5), Berrettini pulled off the biggest win of his career. On paper, at least. By form? Not exactly. Zverev has been performing well below his number two ranking in the world. Still, it was a significant win for Berrettini, who is climbing his way back to his previous top ten form.

  • What he said: “I wasn’t hitting my forehand and serve like I had in previous days and I had to adapt and adjust to the conditions and Sascha was playing unbelievable, so it was not easy,” said Berrettini. “Then I told myself to be more aggressive and if I am going to lose this match, I am going to do the right things and luckily it worked.”
  • Next: Berrettini plays the winner of Jiri Lehecka vs. Lorenzo Musetti in the round of 16.

🎾 Peyton Stearns has her DMs open: On Tuesday, Tom Hill announced on social media that he ended his coaching relationship with Peyton Stearns.

  • What he said: “After a great 12 months together, I’ve made the decision to end my coaching partnership with Peyton,” Hill posted on Instagram. “I’m incredibly proud of everything we achieved together: Her first WTA title, career-high rankings in both singles and doubles, and her first Top 10 win. I’m very grateful to have been a part of her journey and to have seen her grow both on and off the court.”
  • Between the lines: The wording makes it sound like he’s accepted another offer. Might it be a return to Maria Sakkari? She’s struggled to regain form since firing him a year ago. Keeping a coach has been equally difficult for her.
  • What about Stearns?: On X, Stearns posted: “Looking for a new coach… DMs are open.”

🎾 In other coaching news: Diana Shnaider has enlisted the help of fellow Russian, Dinara Safina, for the clay season. The 21-year-old has nearly reached the top 10 in the world with a tight-knit team of family members.

  • What she said: “The past few months, I have been searching for a partnership like this that I am confident will be great for me both on and off the court,” Shnaider posted on Instagram. “While taking the time find this new partnership, I am appreciative of my dad for helping me out as my coach. My parents and little brother are my biggest supporters in the whole world and I am grateful for their continued support and love❤️.”
  • All in the family: The announcement comes just a couple of weeks after Safina’s older brother, Marat Safin, began working with Andrey Rublev.

🎾 A coaching question: What is happening in the Stefanos Tsitsipas camp? He has Dimitris Chatzinikolaou listed as his coach. However, during his match yesterday against Jordan Thompson, there was no evidence of Chatzinikolaou’s presence. Cameras were focused on his father Apostolos and his mother Julia — a combination that has proved disastrous in the past. Is this another case of TsitsiPa pushing out another coach to make sure he’s the only voice in the room? We’ll have to see.

And, that’s game.

What They Said

I think it’s fairly obvious how satisfied I am, no? I mean, I won not many matches. So it’s been the worst period since my (ankle) injury, (these) last few months...Decisive is that I played a great first set, and once I got broken in the second set I play ten levels down. My ball is much slower. I stop hitting the ball. The same story the last few months. Nothing changes. So it’s me who lost the match, once again.

-Alexander Zverev after losing his first match at Monte Carlo as the first seed.

Watch This!

🔥 Novak Djokovic vs. Alejandro Tabilo (2nd round ATP 1000 - Monte Carlo): Watch this one for the clay court rematch. A year ago, Tabilo took apart Djokovic in Rome. Neither one is the same player as last year, so we shouldn’t expect the same result. But that doesn’t mean this won’t be a battle with other things to observe. This will be an important temperature check for Djokovic, who has tried to downplay expectations for this week’s event. Tabilo is known for his heavy side-to-side shot-making on the dirt, which will test Djokovic’s movement and endurance. And we’ll really know where Djokovic stands by how he handles the Tabilo serve.

  • The record: Alejandro Tabilo leads the head-to-head record over Novak Djokovic 1-0. Their only meeting came in a surprise upset on the red clay of Rome last year.
  • On the line: Djokovic hasn’t had a bad year. But it hasn’t been a good one, either. Coach Andy Murray is clearly trying to break through that fine line with more tournaments, which Djokovic seems to be going along with for now. An early exit won’t help Djokovic’s state or relations in his box. Meanwhile, Tabilo is trying to climb back up into the top 20, and the clay season is important to defend a ton of points and make up some lost ground, too.
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On The Radar

Other tennis matches we’re monitoring today:

Monte Carlo - ATP 1000

  • Francisco Cerundolo vs. Carlos Alcaraz (2nd round)
  • Jiri Lehecka vs. Lorenzo Musetti (2nd round)
  • Andrey Rublev vs. Gael Monfils (2nd round)
  • Roberto Bautista Agut vs. Casper Ruud (2nd round)
  • Nuno Borges vs. Pedro Martinez (2nd round)
  • Tomas Martin Etcheverry vs. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (2nd round)
  • Flavio Cobolli vs. Arthur Fils (2nd round)

🌎 Looking for women’s action? Billie Jean King Cup is happening throughout the week.

📺 Learn how to watch today’s action over at Tennis Watchers.

Read, Watch, Listen

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For real-time match commentary and conversation, follow Court Theory on Bluesky. Have feedback? Hit reply and drop me a line!