👋 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!

On tap today: Petra Kvitova lands her first post-return win, Casper Ruud builds his brain like his glutes, Jack Draper has his own mental approach, Alexander Zverev is trying to convince everyone (including himself) that everything is fine, Tallon Griekspoor takes on Miomir Kecmanovic, plus more in today’s tennis news.

Let’s tennis!

Four Points

🎾 Kvitova logs first win: Petra Kvitova, who was 0-4 since returning to the tour in February, pulled down her first win on Tuesday by defeating Irina Begu of Romania, 7-5, 6-1.

  • A return that almost didn’t happen: “I was 95 percent that I would never come back,” Kvitova said. “I had enough of tennis at that time. I was like, ‘I can’t do it any more,’ so we decided to try for a baby. I didn't say anything because it wasn’t percent.” She added: “When I could do something finally after pregnancy, I played some tennis – and it felt so good. I was laughing. Every shot I hit smoothly, I was like, ‘Wowwww – it’s still there.’ It’s not in the legs – but in the hands, it’s sometimes very good.”
  • Next: Kvitova faces Ons Jabeur in the second round.

🎾 Building your brain like your glutes: On the same week Casper Ruud won his first Masters 1000 tournament, he also disclosed he had been struggling with some mental health challenges and sought help. Coincidence? We here at Court Theory HQ think not. On Tuesday, Ruud likened his decision to talk to a professional to conditioning muscles of the body and offered up some very sensible advice to others.

  • What he said: “When you talk to someone, whether it’s a psychologist, psychiatrist or anyone, I think it helps like a kind of personal training for your brain,” Ruud told Tennis Channel on Tuesday. “You get personal training in the gym to work on your glutes or your arms, but I think talking to someone in this aspect is like personal training for your feelings. He added: “It was really nice and I had a great experience with it. I encourage anyone who’s doubting whether they should try it to try it, and see how it goes.”

🎾 Speaking of mental hurdles: Ruud’s opponent in last week’s final in Madrid, Jack Draper, who has spoken about his difficulties with anxiety, revealed his own methods for breaking through: accepting responsibility and creating his own reality.

  • What he said: “I came to a conclusion that if I wanted to change my view on life or change my perspective, I was going to have to take responsibility for that,” Draper told Tennis Channel. “I’m a big believer that you can create your own reality, have good people around you, have good energy, accept the struggle and hard work. It’s going to be hard most days. That’s the biggest message I send to myself: I have the power to achieve anything I put my mind to.”

🎾 Spin City: Alexander Zverev is attempting to put on a brave face in the face of some serious questions about his year, ever since telling the world out loud, “I’m not good enough,” following his straight-set loss in the Australian Open final. As the world number two heads into Rome, he seems to be trying to convince himself that everything is normal as much as he’s trying to persuade everyone else.

  • What he said: “I’m there [number two] because I won tournaments. I’m there because I have results. The ranking system doesn’t lie. You get points for winning matches, you get points for winning titles,” Zverev said ahead of the tournament.
  • Getting philosophical and reading the tea leaves: “Do you think Novak [Djokovic] is happy with his results? Do you think Carlos is happy with his results? I’m not happy with my results. At the end of the day in big matches, big moments, I still believe the top players will rise, and I still believe that I am going to find my tennis for the biggest tournaments.”