👋 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.
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Programming note: We’re back in action, but we need tennis to catch up. Because of the lull in play, today’s edition is somewhat abbreviated.
Let’s tennis!
Two Points
🎾 Kickoff time: Billie Jean King Cup has kicked off this morning...err...evening? Anyway, the finals have officially begun in Shenzhen as Italy takes on China as I send off this newsletter. For the next six days, China, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Spain, Ukraine, and the United States will compete for the 2025 title. The full schedule is available on the Billie Jean King Cup website.
🎾 X marks the spot: As previously reported in The Daily Theory, Venus and Serena Williams are launching a new podcast on exclusively X (formerly known as Twitter), and Wednesday is the day. The podcast, “Stockton Street,” is named for their childhood home in Compton, California, and is set to publish every other week.
- Why it matters: Current and former tennis players launching podcasts has been en vogue for the last 18 months or so. But what makes this different is the platform. At a time when X has become a polarizing force in politics and society, it has remained strong when it comes to sports. Yes, athletes curate their personal brands on Instagram. But that’s not where sports debates occur. And until Bluesky can get tennis players, news organizations, tournaments, and governing bodies on that platform, it remains highly niche. The bottom line: for better or worse, X remains the platform for sports.
And, that’s game.
On The Radar
Matches we’re monitoring today:
Seoul - WTA 500 (Hard)
- Jaqueline Cristian vs. Emma Raducanu (1st round)
- Diana Shnaider vs. Catherine McNally (1st round)
- Suzan Lamens vs. Tatjana Maria (1st round)
- Lois Boisson vs. Ekaterina Alexandrova (2nd round)
- Katerina Siniakova vs. Daria Kasatkina (2nd round)
- Maya Joint vs. Sofia Kenin (2nd round)
- Clara Tauson vs. Eva Lys (2nd round)
Billie Jean King Cup, Laver Cup, the ATP 250 events in Chengdu and Hangzhou all begin later in the week.
📺 Learn how to watch today’s action over at Tennis Watchers.
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Read, Watch, Listen
- Court Theory friend Carole Bouchard wants to know exactly what tennis thinks it’s doing to and for its hardcore fans. 🤨
- Also from a Court Theory friend: Charlotte Salley has the sustainability report from the U.S. Open, and it’s not as bad as you might think.
- Ever heard of “emergency crunches?” Jessie Pegula needed a set during her match against Barbora Krejcikova at the U.S. Open.
- Steve Tignor writes that Carlos Alcaraz picked up where Roger Federer left off.
- On Served, Andy Roddick takes on all the tennis news from last week.
- Robert Cash and JJ Tracy are looking to take their U.S. Open momentum into the Asia swing.
- Emma Raducanu may have taken a last-minute wild card to play in Seoul, but the BBC would like you to know Team Great Britain is just fine without her.
