👋 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 slightly altered Daily Theory thanks to the power outage in Madrid that left us with not much play yesterday and a still-developing schedule of play today. 😬

Let’s tennis!

Three Points

🎾 Power restored: The Madrid Open resumed play on Tuesday after a massive power outage struck Spain, Portugal, and parts of France on Monday. It was a chaotic day for the capital city, leaving players to find their own way back to their hotels, with many of them choosing to walk as much as 90 minutes with their equipment on their backs.

  • Update: While most of the country was without electricity for about 10 hours, Caja Mágica, the facility where the Madrid Open is played, took a bit longer for power to be restored, and play was delayed by an hour.

🎾 Maxed out: Two-time major doubles champ Max Purcell has accepted an 18-month ban for a Tennis Anti-Doping Program rules breach. According to the ITIA, the Australian did not take a banned substance. Instead, he received two intravenous infusions of over 500ml, breaking the allowable limit of 100ml within any given 12-hour period. At the time of the provisional suspension in December, Purcell insisted he had taken vitamin infusions to replenish and that the clinic gave him a larger infusion than he requested.

  • Raising an eyebrow: The ITIA’s decision said Purcell asked the clinic staff not to keep receipts relating to his infusion. The investigation also found messages between Purcell and another player in which Purcell “discussed ways in which he could justify receiving infusions, including feigning illness.” None of that sounds like something on the up-and-up.
  • What he said: “This case has been going on for months, seriously affecting my quality of life,” Purcell posted on Instagram. “From being unable to eat and sleep properly, to refusing to be by myself, to developing nervous and anxious tics which I still currently battle day to day...I’m so glad this is finally over for me and I can move on with my life.”
  • What they said: “This case does not involve a player testing positive for a prohibited substance but demonstrates that the anti-doping rules are broader than that,” ITIA chief executive Karen Moorhouse said. “It also shows that the ITIA considers intelligence from a range of sources with the overriding aim to protect everyone covered by the tennis anti-doping rules, and ensure a level playing field for all.”

🎾 Joining forces: The United States Tennis Association and the American Tennis Association have announced a joint initiative focusing on greater diversity in the sport. The collaboration is meant to bring more Black tennis professionals to the fore through a mentorship program. The program falls on the 75th anniversary of Althea Gibson becoming the first Black player to play in the U.S. Championships and the 50th anniversary of Arthur Ashe winning Wimbledon.

  • What they said: “We are proud to formalize our relationship with the ATA, which has a rich and storied history of breaking down barriers and transforming tennis into a sport that is more diverse and inclusive,” the USTA’s chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer, Marisa Grimes, said in a statement.

And, that’s game.

Watch This!

🔥 Stefanos Tsitsipas vs. Lorenzo Musetti (3rd round ATP 1000 - Madrid): Watch this one for a potential revenge match. Earlier this month, Musetti stopped Tsitsipas in his tracks in the quarterfinals at his favorite tournament as the defending champion of Monte Carlo. More than that, this is an enjoyable classic clay court battle between two guys who know how to play on the dirt and wield one-handed backhands. Like last time, look for Tsitsipas to bully Musetti off the court, while Musetti attempts to put Tsitsipas in uncomfortable positions until he can strike a winner of his own.

  • The record: Stefanos Tsitsipas leads the head-to-head record over Lorenzo Musetti 5-1. But! That single Musetti win came on the clay just a few weeks ago at Monte Carlo. Before that, they hadn’t faced each other in two years.
  • On the line: Stefanos Tsitsipas considers clay season to be his season. Thus far, it’s anything but. An early round exit in Madrid won’t help those matters as we inch that much closer toward Roland-Garros. Lorenzo Musetti wants to prove his win over Tsitsipas — and subsequent run to the finals — in Monte Carlo wasn’t a fluke. A repeat performance in Madrid would help with that.
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For real-time match commentary and conversation, follow Court Theory on Bluesky.

On The Radar

More tennis matches we’re monitoring today:

Madrid - WTA 1000 (Clay)

  • Grigor Dimitrov vs. Jacob Fearnely (3rd round)
  • Diana Shnaider vs. Iga Swiatek (4th round)
  • Aryna Sabalenka vs. Peyton Stearns (4th round)
  • Elina Svitolina vs. Maria Sakkari (4th round)
  • Taylor Fritz vs. Casper Ruud (4th round)
  • Alexander Zverev vs. Francisco Cerundolo (4th round)
  • Daniil Medvedev vs. Brandon Nakashima (4th round)
  • Frances Tiafoe vs. Alexandre Muller (3rd round)
  • Alex de Minaur vs. Denis Shapovalov (3rd round)
  • Madison Keys vs. Donna Vekic (4th round)
  • Karen Khachanov vs. Tommy Paul (3rd round)
  • Jack Draper vs. Matteo Berrettini (3rd round)

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

Read, Watch, Listen

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For real-time match commentary and conversation, follow Court Theory on Bluesky.