👋 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: the essence of Fred Stolle’s greatness, Osaka needs more time, Reilly Opelka making more excuses, Naomi Osaka faces “a bump in the road,” and more in today’s tennis news.

Let’s tennis!

Three Points

🎾 In memoriam: On Wednesday, our sport lost one of its greats, Fred Stolle. The 86-year-old Australian who took up the United States as his home was great for many reasons. But for those of us who missed his playing career, his greatness came in the form of generosity of spirit. What he saw as a kind of duty to give to players and fans made an immeasurable difference in our sport. And, if you read the obituary by Richard Evans in The Guardian, you’ll understand exactly why that was such a triumph.

🎾 A little more time for Osaka: Naomi Osaka’s first-round loss to Camila Osorio in straight sets may be more of a sting to her fans than the former world number one, who called it “a bump in the road.” It was Osaka’s first match since retiring at the Australian Open — a factor she said played a role in the outcome of the match.

  • What she said: “[I]t feels really weird, because I do think I did well in Australia. It feels like a little bit of a stopping/starting again. So I think it would have been really helpful to play more matches coming into this tournament, but obviously I couldn’t,” said Osaka. “The same thing kind of goes with my tennis today. Like, there were certain things that felt extremely off, because I could only start practice serving after a certain amount of time and stuff like that. So I think given the situation, it wasn’t that terrible, but, like, I would have liked to win and continue playing the tournament.”

🎾 Lame excuses: Indian Wells wild card Reilly Opelka bowed out in the first round on Wednesday to Roman Safiullin. Despite leading in the first set 5-2, the American lost in straight sets 7-5, 6-4. At 1-1 in the second set, Opelka began complaining of low visibility and refused to play. After the chair umpire told him to continue, he claimed needing medical treatment: “Call me the physio then; I had four surgeries on my wrist.” For that false claim, he was given an unsportsmanlike conduct warning. As this drama played out, the lights came on, and Opelka served out the game. Shortly after, a physio came out. But Opelka decided he no longer needed treatment.

  • If you’re keeping track at home: This is the umpteenth run-in Opelka has had with officials since returning to competition last year, including one last month in Dallas that really takes the cake.
  • Lately: Opelka has gone on a strange anti-doubles crusade in recent weeks, calling for the “failed singles players” to be eliminated from pro tennis. Maybe Opelka should concentrate on getting his own affairs in order. What he’s putting on display right now doesn’t exactly scream “successful tennis player.”

And, that’s game.

What They Said

I think coming into this tournament, I would be lying if I said that I don’t have more expectations after having the start of the year that I do. But, I think at the same time it’s really important for me and for my team to remember how we got there and what we were doing. And I think kind of going back to that, and staying really grounded in that is going to be really important. I think the balance of being honest with my expectations rising, but also knowing that I don’t think anyone really thrives when you have such a dramatic mind shift so quickly after success. So, I think really just trying to go back to what worked and what we were doing and what we were focusing on and continuing to try to keep that mindset.

-Madison Keys on managing expectations for her first tournament back after winning the Australian Open.

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Watch This!

🔥 David Goffin vs. Lorenzo Sonego (1st round ATP 1000 - Indian Wells): If you’re saying to yourself, “well, this sure is a wild card pick for a match of the day,” you would be correct. But hear me out! Goffin, who went on a really strong run in the second half of last year — but struggled to kick off the year — is back on track with a quarterfinal appearance in Acapulco last week in which he took out Ben Shelton in straight sets. Meanwhile, Sonego started off the year playing some incredible tennis that took him to the quarterfinals at the Australian Open. But what makes this an interesting match-up is the style of play. Expect clean ball-striking from both, with Sonego pressing Goffin so he can get into the net to finish points. How will Goffin’s passing shots look today? That’s likely the key to the outcome.

  • The record: Lorenzo Sonego leads the head-to-head record over David Goffin 2-1, taking their most recent meeting at on the hard courts of Winston-Salem last year.
  • On the line: These two players are closer to the end of their careers than the beginning, and both of them know every week counts. Sonego is still playing to beat his career-high ranking of 21 (now at 37), so first-round losses are not an option, as far as he’s concerned. Meanwhile, Goffin already achieved his top 10 status and has nothing to prove on that front. So these matches are about playing great tennis to have chances on increasingly bigger stages.

On The Radar

  • Jacob Fearnley vs. Joao Fonseca (1st round ATP 1000 - Indian Wells)
  • Emma Raducanu vs. Moyuka Uchijima (1st round WTA 1000 - Indian Wells)
  • Botic van de Zandschulp vs. Nick Kyrgios (1st round ATP 1000 - Indian Wells)
  • Mackenzie McDonald vs. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (1st round ATP 1000 - Indian Wells)
  • Jan-Lennard Struff vs. Gael Monfils (1st round ATP 1000 - Indian Wells)
  • Mariano Navone vs. Learner Tien (1st round ATP 1000 - Indian Wells)
  • Benjamin Bonzi vs. Jenson Brooksby (1st round ATP 1000 - Indian Wells)
  • Zhizhen Zhang vs. Gabriel Diallo (1st round ATP 1000 - Indian Wells)
  • Matteo Arnaldi vs. Aleksandar Kovacevic (1st round ATP 1000 - Indian Wells)
  • Iva Jovic vs. Julia Grabher (1st round WTA 1000 - Indian Wells)
  • Ajla Tomljanovic vs Caty McNally (1st round WTA 1000 - Indian Wells)
  • Arthur Rinderknech vs. Nuno Borges (1st 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!