👋 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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Four Points

🎾 A clip slip: World number two Carlos Alcaraz put on a solid performance to win in straight sets against American Reilly Opelka, but that was not the topic of conversation on the young Spaniard. This was...

  • What he said: “I don’t know who told him to do that, but it’s terrible. From a guy who gets haircuts week in, week out, who prides himself on good haircuts, it’s horrendous,” Tiafoe said. “But at the end of the day, it’s Carlos, and that’s my guy. But yeah, he needs to get with me. He needs to get with me for sure.”
  • The backstory: Alcaraz confessed it was a haircut gone wrong at the hands of his brother, who was inexperienced with clippers. He isn’t too worried, though. “Every time that I get a haircut, in two or three days it’s gone,” Alcaraz said. “In three days you’re going to see another hair[style].”

🎾 A spot more than earned: Venus Williams may not have won her first-round match against Karolina Muchova, but she more than proved she deserved the wild card she was awarded. It was a match filled with vintage Venus and a few of her signature serve and forehand swing volleys — one of my favorite serve + ones in all of tennis. All in all, she covered the court well, had a solid winners-to-unforced-errors ratio, and broke Muchova’s serve on a few occasions. But it was her serve that let her down, logging 10 double faults and a low first serve percentage.

  • What she said: At the end of her press conference, there was an emotional moment of true honesty from Venus. “What did I prove to myself? For me, getting back on the court was about giving myself a chance to play more healthy,” she said. “When you play unhealthy, it’s in your mind. It’s not just how you feel. You get stuck in your mind too. So… it was nice to be freer.”
  • Next: We really don’t know. Williams said she doesn’t plan to travel internationally much at this stage of her career. And since there are no tour-level tournaments left in the U.S. the remainder of the year, opportunities won’t arise until 2025.

🎾 Catch-up time: Are you just getting started with this year’s U.S. Open? We’ve got you covered! Check out the Court Theory guide to the U.S. Open, filled with all the big questions and fine details you need to enjoy this year’s tournament.

🎾 Your attention, please: Just a few notes while you’re catching today’s action...

  • One big question: What should we expect from Coco Gauff today? It’s been another rough stretch with her serve, which has taken a toll on her confidence. In prime time on Arthur Ashe, she goes up against the veteran Ajla Tomljanovic, who has had some big moments in New York but is also struggling with confidence.
  • Today marks the return of Emil Ruusuvuori, the talented Finnish player who has been off the tour since May, citing mental health reasons. He faces Alexei Popyrin.
  • Curious match of the day belongs to Alexander Bublik vs. Marin Cilic. This has high potential to be a truly outstanding battle with a decent chance for an upset by the former U.S. Open champ.
  • We’ve got a few of our “unfortunate first rounds” taking place today, including: Ashlyn Krueger vs. Sofia Kenin, Lorenzo Musetti vs. Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, and Christopher O’Connell vs. Alex de Minaur.
  • One final young American upstart is in action today. That’s Valerie Glozman, the Stanford University standout, who won the NCAA wild card playoff for direct entry into this year’s U.S. Open. She faces Suzan Lamens.