👋 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: Iga withdraws from Billie Jean King Cup, Sabalenka is more dominant than we realize, Emma Navarro takes on Hailey Baptiste, plus more in tennis news.

Let’s tennis!

Three Points

🎾 A tough call: Iga Swiatek announced on Wednesday that she will not play in Billie Jean King Cup next week when Poland hosts Switzerland and Ukraine.

  • What she said: “I have made a difficult decision. I know that this is not the information that fans, especially Polish ones, wanted, nevertheless it is the right decision for me right now,” she posted on Instagram. “I always represent my country with pride. I played everything there was to play for the country last year.” She added: “Now it’s time for more balance, focusing on myself and my training.”
  • What it says: This is the same message Swiatek has been urging for years: Fix the schedule. But now there’s a different level of urgency for Iga as she goes into her strongest season with the most points to defend.

🎾 THE numbers game: When the rankings came out on Monday, it highlighted exactly how dominant Aryna Sabalenka has become on the women’s tour. For the first time in her career, she broke the 10,000-point threshold — something only three other women (Ash Barty, Iga Swiatek, Serena Williams) have done in the last decade. Sabalenka entered the Miami Open with 9,606 points and replaced the 65 points from her 2024 early exit with 1,000 points from winning the title this year, totaling 10,541 points.

  • The gap: But it’s not just breaking the 10,000-point threshold that’s impressive — it’s the gap ahead of everyone else. Sabalenka is now 3,071 points ahead of number two, Iga Swiatek. And she’s sitting on more than double the points of the number five player in the world, Madison Keys.
  • Looking ahead: The gap could widen in the upcoming months as Swiatek comes into her strongest season and has the most points to defend.

🎾 We’re talkin’ here: Citing multiple sources, The Athletic is reporting that Andre Agassi is set to become a studio commentator for TNT Sport for Roland-Garros this year. “Agassi is expected to be part of the coverage toward the end of the network’s presentation with a featured spot during the semifinals and finals,” per the report. UPDATE: TNT Sports has confirmed the reporting with their own press release.

  • Most recently: Agassi acted as a commentator during the Netflix Slam match between Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal. The general consensus among tennis fans was that he had fascinating insights, but didn’t know when to let the live tennis be the star of the show.

And, that’s game.

What They Said

That was a unique experience, my first one on clay. Not too comfortable out there. There are a few slips and a few almost falls. To get through that one, not on the floor, but also against a really tough opponent in Jordan — he beat me when I was a little bit younger just on tour at a Challenger. To get revenge a little bit felt really good, but also to get one on clay and start the clay-court season.

-Ethan Quinn after picking up the highest-ranked win of his career over Jordan Thompson on Tuesday in Houston.

Watch This!

🔥 Hailey Baptiste vs. Emma Navarro (2nd round WTA 500 - Charleston): This might be an unusual pick of the day, but each player is in a unique moment of their season, making for an interesting match-up. An unsure Navarro is going up against a confident Baptiste, who is currently punching well above her number 90 ranking. Expect Navarro to test Baptiste’s shot tolerance on the clay until she has her own chance to go for a winner. However, with all the pressure on Navarro, Baptiste can play loose — and that’s when she’s her most dangerous.

  • The record: Emma Navarro leads the head-to-head over Hailey Baptiste 2-1. She won their most recent meeting 18 months ago during an ITF event, which was also on the clay in Charleston. This will be their first meeting in a WTA Tour event.
  • On the line: Emma Navarro is fighting to correct her erratic year. Losing her first match at her hometown tournament isn’t an option, as far as she’s concerned. Meanwhile, Hailey Baptiste is on a good run, coming off the Sunshine Double with a 5-2 record (which included a win over Daria Kasatkina) and a first-round win in Charleston. She wants to keep that going.

On The Radar

  • Daria Kasatkina vs. Lauren Davis (2nd round WTA 500 - Charleston)
  • Qinwen Zheng vs. Maria Sakkari (2nd round WTA 500 - Charleston)
  • Anna Kalinskaya vs. Catherine McNally (2nd round WTA 500 - Charleston)
  • Ekaterina Alexandrova vs. Ann Li (2nd round WTA 500 - Charleston)
  • Sofia Kenin vs. Belinda Bencic (2nd round WTA 500 - Charleston)
  • Ashlyn Krueger vs. Katie Volynets (2nd round WTA 500 - Charleston)
  • Ajla Tomljanovic vs. Peyton Stearns (2nd round WTA 500 - Charleston)
  • Maria Tig vs. Julieta Pareja (2nd round WTA 250 - Bogota)
  • Alejandro Tabilo vs. Jenson Brooksby (2nd round ATP 250 - Houston)
  • Colton Smith vs. Ethan Quinn (2nd round ATP 250 - Houston)
  • Tommy Paul vs. Cristian Garin (2nd round ATP 250 - Houston)
  • Luciano Darderi vs. Tristan Boyer (2nd round ATP 250 - Marrakech)
  • Richard Gasquet vs. Flavio Cobolli (2nd round ATP 250 - Bucharest)
  • Sebastian Baez vs. Gabriel Diallo (2nd round ATP 250 - Bucharest)

📺 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!