👋 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.
New to Court Theory? Sign up for free!
Let’s tennis!

Three Points
🎾 New coach, who dis: Coco Gauff has split with Matt Daly, the technical expert she brought in on the heels of last year’s U.S. Open to solve the ongoing problems of her serve and forehand. A year later, those issues remain unresolved (perhaps even worse in some respects), so Gauff has turned to new expertise. Gavin MacMillan, the biomechanics specialist who most notably turned Aryna Sabalenka’s serving problems around, has joined the team. MacMillan was on the court with Gauff for her Wednesday practice session on Arthur Ashe Stadium and then again out in the rain to work on her serve.
🎾 Still champs: When the new criteria for selecting mixed doubles teams to compete at the U.S. Open were revealed, defending champs Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori weren’t sure if they would be allowed in. They were given a wild card, and now, after two days of abbreviated matches, they are U.S. Open mixed doubles champs again, defeating Iga Swiatek and Casper Ruud 6-3, 5-7, 10-6 in the final.
- The money: Last year, when they spent a week playing full sets, they split the $200,000 check. This year, in two days, they earned $1 million.
- What she said: “I think this one is also for the doubles players that couldn’t play this tournament,” Errani said afterwards.
🎾 Follow-up: In yesterday’s edition of The Daily Theory, I called out Emma Navarro’s match against Alycia Parks because, well, it’s been a rough stretch for Navarro. She pulled out of the U.S. Open mixed doubles to get more matches as a last-minute entry in Monterrey before the women’s singles event began.
- Update: She lost her first match against Parks, hitting just six winners to her 24 unforced errors. That was accompanied by two aces and 10 double faults. From the beginning, Navarro was on defense and rarely converted it to offense. There seemed to be little on her ball, putting everything in the Parks strike zone.
- Next: Navarro enters the U.S. Open with semifinal points to defend. Another early exit would mean a significant rankings slide.
And, that’s game.

On The Radar
Matches we’re monitoring today:
Monterrey - WTA 500 (Hard)
- Diana Shnaider vs. Elise Mertens (Quarterfinals)
- Alycia Parks vs. Rebecca Sramkova (Quarterfinals)
- Linda Noskova vs. Ekaterina Alexandrova (Quarterfinals)
- Antonia Ruzic vs. Marie Bouzkova (Quarterfinals)
Cleveland - WTA 250 (Hard)
- Ann Li vs. Iva Jovic (2nd round - TBF)
- Katie Boulter vs. Viktorija Golubic (2nd round)
Winston-Salem - ATP 250 (Hard)
- Sebastian Korda vs. Miomir Kecmanovic (Quarterfinals)
- Hamad Medjedovic vs. Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard (Quarterfinals)
- Yunchaokete Bu vs. Botic van de Zandschulp
Be sure to keep up with U.S. Open qualifying.
📺 Learn how to watch today’s action over at Tennis Watchers.

We’re working hard to bring you the best in tennis each day, so please share Court Theory with your tennis friends to help us keep growing with more people like you!
Read, Watch, Listen
- At The Athletic, Charlie Eccleshare breaks down what makes the U.S. Open mixed doubles format so great.
- The ATP and Safe Sport released their report after deploying AI tools to help tamp down on online abuse aimed at players.
- Ethan Quinn talks about his U.S. Open experiences.
- A familiar note from Kei Nishikori.
- Inside the WTA’s professional development seminars that help new players navigate the tour.