👋 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.

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Let’s tennis!

Four Points

🎾 Anticipation: It’s a rematch! Just two weeks ago, Victoria Mboko played an incredibly competitive match against Elena Rybakina in Washington. Tonight, she gets a second shot at the former Wimbledon champ, but this time it will be on home soil. For Mboko, having a big hitter across the net will be an ideal opponent under these circumstances, in which she can draw on the crowd in difficult moments. And if Rybakina isn’t executing her shots, or if her serve goes missing (which can happen), it will be hard to pull out a win.

🎾 An emotional moment: Clara Tauson dedicated her straight-set win over Madison Keys on Tuesday to her grandfather, who died just two days ago. It was an inspired win over the Australian Open champion, hitting 11 winners and five aces.

  • What she said: “I really wanted to win for him today,” Tauson told the crowd before breaking down in tears. “I really wanted to come out here and show my best tennis for him, and hopefully he’s watching.” She added: “He used to coach me a little bit playing tennis and drove me to almost every single practice from my school.”
  • And what she said: “Not my best performance out there today,” said Keys, who won this year’s Australian Open. “She played amazing tonight. She played incredibly well, she served really well. It was just one of those things where I felt like I kept trying different things, and she was just beating me...When she’s serving like that, it’s going to be really hard to break her.”
  • Next: Tauson faces Naomi Osaka in tonight’s semifinals.

🎾 A back-up plan: In his straight-set quarterfinal win over Alex de Minaur on Tuesday night, Ben Shelton showcased an overlooked side of his game: his ability to grind from the baseline. In fact, de Minaur, who is known for his speed and his shot tolerance off the ground, came into the net twice as much as Shelton did in 90 minutes of play.

  • What he said: “A lot of guys see me as just a server and not as much as a baseliner,” Shelton said after the match. “Psychologically, when I get into a match and go into lockdown mode and put a million balls in the court, my rally ball does come with a good bit of weight, and I feel I surprise guys at times.” He added: “Being able to win the longer rallies and be comfortable in my own skin and not feeling like I’m rushing to make something happen is a huge part of my evolution."
  • By the numbers: Yes, Shelton smacked a total of 22 winners. But he also drew 28 unforced errors from de Minaur and won 32 baseline points compared to de Minaur’s 29, which included winning points with nine or more shots 12-7 over de Minaur.
  • Next: Shelton faces Taylor Fritz in tonight’s semifinals.

🎾 Cincy’s Open: The Cincinnati Open, which begins main draw matches on Thursday (bafflingly the same day as Montreal and Toronto have their finals), has released the draws. And even before qualifying is done, there are some outstanding first-round matches lined up. Check out the women’s draw and the men’s draw.