👋 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, we’ve got: a changing Novak Djokovic, Qinwen wants friends (maybe), Stefanos Tsitsipas gets practical, Jack Draper vs. Jenson Brooksby, and other news from Indian Wells.

Let’s tennis!

Three Points

🎾 One change we didn’t see coming: To call Novak Djokovic’s loss to Botic van de Zandschulp on Saturday a shock doesn’t quite capture the full experience of what happened. The Dutchman, who got in the draw as a lucky loser, has been known to pull off some amazing upsets. And Djokovic, who is just shy of 38 years old, hasn’t been himself physically or form-wise for some time. Still, what makes the difference is how Djokovic is outwardly expressing his self-view, which borderlines on pre-retirement talk: “Things are different, obviously, for me the last couple of years. I’ve been struggling to play on the desired level. Every now and then, I have a couple of good tournaments, but, you know, mostly it’s really a challenge. It’s a struggle for me.”

🎾 Down a break: On Sunday, Iga Swiatek sent Dayana Yastremska packing in just over an hour 6-0, 6-2. But Yastremska almost didn’t have the chance to unpack in the first place, according to the 24-year-old Ukranian. An unknown person claiming to be Yastremska filed a false report that her passport was lost, which triggered a flag in the system and automated a deportation order.

  • What she said: “[M]y passport was right there in my hands and had never been missing,” Yastremska told Ukrainian Tennis BTU. “They stamped my visa as canceled, and honestly, at that moment I thought, ‘That's it—I’m done, heading back home.’” She added: “After four tense hours, they gave me a document allowing me to stay in the U.S. for six months, after which I’d need to renew my visa. It was stressful and intense—straight out of a movie.”

🎾 Coming out of isolation: Qinwen Zheng has made it clear that she isn’t on the WTA Tour to make friends. But maybe her stance is starting to soften. After her win over Lulu Sun on Sunday, Zheng said she might be open to tennis friendships after all.

  • What she said: “Actually, there are two people in the tennis community whom I really want to befriend. But I haven’t taken that step yet. I’ll talk about it once I do.”
  • Previously: “My answer is very clear: I prefer to always keep distance with players...If I become friends with someone and I have to compete with them on court, I feel I’m not able 100% focused and fighting. Once I figured out that, I decided don’t try to make a friend on tour...”

And, that’s game.

What They Said

So it’s just the thing was that it felt like I wasn’t able to go out on the court and really do that to the level that I was doing it in practice. I was playing practice sets, and I was playing really well. I was winning a lot of the practice sets against good opponents. It’s just that it didn’t click when it came to the match, and I had to wait a little longer for that. With a few more changes that I added to my game I felt like it added a lot of confidence stepping out onto the tennis court.

-Stefanos Tsitsipas on the recent tweaks he’s made leading to more success on the court.

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Watch This!

🔥 Jack Draper vs. Jenson Brooksby (3rd round ATP 1000 - Indian Wells): It’s the first match of the day, but this is a prime time match if we here at Court Theory HQ have ever seen one. Watch this one for the contrasting styles of play: power player vs. counterpuncher with a high tennis IQ. Expect the usual big hitting from Jack Draper, which may play right into Jenson Brooksby’s hands. This match will likely come down to how well Brooksby serves. We’re not looking for speed here: too low of a first serve percentage and that gives Draper a chance to control the point right off the bat.

  • The record: Jack Draper leads the head-to-head over Jenson Brooksby 2-0. But don’t let that record fool you. Both matches were in 2022 and both were on fast courts: one on the grass of Eastbourne and one on the indoor hard courts of Antwerp.
  • On the line: Brooksby is trying desperately to get back on track after two years away from the tour. Pushing further into Indian Wells by defeating the number 14 player in the world in front of a California crowd would go a long way in making that statement. Meanwhile, Draper wants to prove he’s improving his fitness level. He’ll have an opportunity to demonstrate that against a player who is constantly going to put one more ball in play.

On The Radar

  • Coco Gauff vs. Maria Sakkari (3rd round WTA 1000 - Indian Wells)
  • Denis Shapovalov vs. Carlos Alcaraz (3rd round ATP 1000 - Indian Wells)
  • Alejandro Tabilo vs. Taylor Fritz (3rd round ATP 1000 - Indian Wells)
  • Karen Khachanov vs. Ben Shelton (3rd round ATP 1000 - Indian Wells)
  • Emma Navarro vs. Donna Vekic (3rd round WTA 1000 - Indian Wells)
  • Grigor Dimitrov vs. Gael Monfils (3rd round ATP 1000 - Indian Wells)
  • Botic van de Zandschulp vs. Francisco Cerundolo (3rd round ATP 1000 - Indian Wells)
  • Hubert Hurkacz vs. Alex de Minaur (3rd round ATP 1000 - Indian Wells)
  • Matteo Arnaldi vs. Brandon Nakashima (3rd round ATP 1000 - Indian Wells)
  • Polina Kudermetova vs. Sonay Kartal (3rd round WTA 1000 - Indian Wells)
  • Belinda Bencic vs. Diana Shnaider (3rd round ATP 1000 - Indian Wells)

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

Read, Watch, Listen

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Which matches are you watching? What news caught your eye today? Hit the comments below!