👋 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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Today’s tennis mood rating: Anticipation plus annoyance.

Let’s tennis!

Three Points

🎾 One win: That’s all Elena Rybakina needs to seal her (indeed, the last) spot in the WTA Tour Finals in Riyadh. If she takes that final step, she edges Mirra Andreeva out of the eighth slot. She put herself in this position by defeating Leylah Fernandez in straight sets in Tokyo on Thursday.

  • What she said: “Today was a very difficult match,” Rybakina said after the match. “It’s always not easy against Leylah, and especially the first match for me here. ... I’m pretty happy with the win and looking forward for my next match.” She added: “I’m feeling a little bit tired, of course, but I’m ready to make a last push. I’m very happy with the last week, and I’m trying to bring everything from last week into here.”
  • Noteworthy: Rybakina was given a helping hand after Andreeva was unable to compete in Tokyo due to visa issues.
  • Next: Rybakina faces Victoria Mboko in the quarterfinals of Tokyo on Friday.

🎾 Sour grapes: At a time when many of us were celebrating the depth of men’s tennis, Alexander Bublik called Valentin Vacherot’s Shanghai Masters 1000 title — and Arthur Rinderknech’s run to the final — a “failure” of players on the ATP Tour. Perhaps Bublik, who lost to Vacherot in Shanghai, is projecting onto the entire tour a bit much.

  • What they said: “If he’s able to win a Masters, that’s our fault,” Bublik said in an interview with ATP Media. “All of us, we failed. We didn’t get ready enough for the Masters. That’s all of us, in a way. He cracked, how many top-20 players? Two top-10? He won a Masters. On the other side, there’s Arthur [Rinderknech] killing everyone, so I guess it’s question to us.”
  • Yes, but: Take note of how Bublik did not raise this question when he reached the quarterfinals of Roland-Garros by taking out two top 10 players while ranked outside the top 50. No, an emotional Bublik with tears in his eyes considered that the “greatest moment of my life.” It’s a shame he wants to ruin someone else’s greatest moment.

🎾 New strategy hire: The WTA has appointed David Highhill as the organization’s new head of strategy. Highhill comes to the WTA from the NFL, the continuation of a recent trend of the WTA hiring from outside tennis.

  • What she said: “[Highhill’s] track record and experience in strategy and new business development, as well as data insights and analytics in professional sports, make him a valuable addition to our leadership team,” said WTA CEO Portia Archer. “David will play a vital role in driving the strategic development of women’s tennis and the organizational effectiveness of the WTA. I look forward to working closely with David as we continue to pursue our global ambitions for the sport.”
  • Noteworthy: According to the press release, Highhill was most recently the general manager of sports betting at the NFL, “leading the league’s strategy across all elements of sports betting, including integrity protection, brand advancement, fan engagement and responsible betting.”
  • One question: Is betting the “new business development” Archer referred to? That will more than raise some eyebrows, given the direct link between Betting Bros and abusive behavior toward (especially women) players on the tour.