👋 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 Miami Open opening day, Iga Swiatek reluctantly explains herself, Djokovic has shown up in Miami, Petra Kvitova takes on Sofia Kenin, plus more tennis news.

Let’s tennis!

Three Points

🎾 The Court Theory Miami Open Guide: Check out our preview of this year’s Miami Open to learn everything you need to know to enjoy the next two weeks of action from Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.

🎾 Iga gets candid: Iga Swiatek somewhat reluctantly took to social media to explain what happened in her semifinal match at Indian Wells, resulting in the crowd booing her. In a display of frustration, she slammed a ball down that a ball person had just bounced to her. At the time, it was unclear if she was knocking it at him or up at her box. Either way, the crowd didn’t like it. However, like most things in life, what transpired is about more than a single moment.

  • What she said: “It’s true – I expressed frustration in a way I’m not proud of. My intention was never to aim the ball at anyone but merely to release my frustration by bouncing it on the ground. I immediately apologized to the ball boy, we made eye contact, and nodded to each other when I expressed regret that it happened near him,” Swiatek wrote. “I’ve seen many players bounce balls in frustration, and frankly, I didn’t expect such harsh judgments. Usually, I control such impulses, so half-jokingly I can say I lack experience in this and misjudged my aim in the heat of the moment.”
  • Feeling like you can’t win: “When I’m highly focused and don’t show many emotions on court, I’m called a robot, my attitude labeled as inhuman. Now that I’m more expressive, showing feelings or struggling internally, I’m suddenly labeled immature or hysterical,” Swiatek wrote.
  • The reality: “That’s not a healthy standard – especially considering that just six months ago, I felt my career was hanging by a thread, spent three weeks crying daily, and didn’t want to step on the court...The second half of last year was extremely challenging for me, especially due to the positive doping test and how circumstances completely beyond my control took away my chance to fight for the highest sport goals at the end of the season.”

🎾 In the 305: Novak Djokovic is back in Miami and practicing on-site at Hard Rock Stadium. If he plays this year, it will be the first time since 2019 that the former world number one has competed at the 1000-level event. On the other hand, he’s shown up to The Magic City before to take in basketball games and to fulfill sponsor obligations while skipping out on the tournament. What will happen this year? That’s anybody’s guess. But his newest coach, Andy Murray, has a particular affinity for Miami, having lived much of his competing life there.

And, that’s game.

What They Said

When I found my reason for playing, I had to start over again. It was too important to me and people thought I was Bruce Springsteen playing at the local bar or something. But for me it was the most connected I’d ever felt with tennis, because I finally had my reason to be back out there. While I was playing guys that probably never dreamed they’d meet me, let alone beat me. At the end of it, I was where I needed to be. That felt so good.

-Andre Agassi on his decision to return to the ATP Challenger Tour at a low point in his career.

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Watch This!

🔥 Petra Kvitova vs. Sofia Kenin (1st round WTA 1000 - Miami): This is one of the unfortunate first-round matches in our Miami Open Guide. Nobody wants to see Petra Kvitova, one of the most beloved players in tennis history, have to face Sofia Kenin, the once-promising American who had some of the toughest times on tour and in life. Watch this one because we don’t know how long we’ve got the Czech star and for a temperature check on her early return to tennis.

  • The record: Petra Kvitova leads the head-to-head record over Sofia Kenin 2-1. But these two have not faced each other in nearly five years.
  • On the line: Petra Kvitova is just coming back from having her first child and says she’s just happy to be back and feeling no pressure. Still, this is her third tournament and the champion in her wants to get on the board after two first-round losses. As for Sofia Kenin, she is searching for a sweet spot in her tennis that has led to some impressive wins and baffling losses this year. A first round exit won’t help with that endeavor.

On The Radar

  • Varvara Gracheva vs. Alycia Parks (1st round WTA 1000 - Miami)
  • Renata Zarazua vs. Ashlyn Krueger (1st round WTA 1000 - Miami)
  • Viktoriya Tomova vs. Catherine McNally (1st round WTA 1000 - Miami)
  • Claire Liu vs. Linda Fruhvirtova (1st round WTA 1000 - Miami)
  • Taylor Townsend vs. Ann Li (1st round WTA 1000 - Miami)
  • Olga Danilovic vs. Hailey Baptiste (1st round WTA 1000 - Miami)

📺 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!