👋 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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On tap today: Gael Monfils steals in five, women are still left off the prime time schedule, Coco leaves her rackets behind, Iga Swiatek takes on Emma Raducanu, and more in today’s tennis news.

Let’s tennis!

Four Points

🎾 The Show: Gael Monfils likes to put on a show, but this one was a little ridiculous even for him. On Tuesday, as the clock struck midnight in Paris, the 38-year-old decided it was time to wind up his first-round match against Hugo Dellien. There were all the signs it was a Monfils match: wild dives for the ball, winners nobody had any business hitting, and running down shots that maybe only he and two other players could reach. In the end, it was perhaps the least discussed part of his game that won it: giving his opponent just enough space to defeat himself. That’s how Monfils came back from two sets down to win in five, 4-6, 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7-4), 6-1.

  • What he said: “I feel like the belief, the belief of myself, the belief that even I’m down, I need to find the solution,” Monfils said of his win. “I keep fighting with the opponent, with my thoughts also because it is never easy also in your mind.”
  • The McEnroe quote worth hearing: “If you haven’t liked watching this, I don’t know, go watch pickleball.”

🎾 How long?: We’re on Day Four of Roland-Garros, and for the fourth day, a men’s match is in the prime time slot (Monfils vs. Draper is scheduled for tomorrow, so count five). How long will the Roland-Garros organizers continue telling us that there aren’t compelling women’s matches to put on during prime time? Earlier this week, French Tennis Federation president Gilles Moretton really stepped in it when he said they had to consider what was “better for spectators.” The message: women’s tennis isn’t good for spectators.

  • A choice: Tonight’s match on Court Philippe-Chatrier is Emilio Nava vs. Holger Rune. Nothing against Nava and Rune, but that isn’t even the most compelling men’s match of the day. On that same court in the final slot of the day session is Emma Raducanu vs. Iga Swiatek — a match, dare we say, more compelling than the scheduled one.
  • What she said: “Whoever is making the decision, I don’t think they have daughters, because I don’t think they want to treat their daughters like this,” said Ons Jabeur.
  • Markets are made: “It’s a bit ironic...they don’t show women’s tennis, and then they ask the question, ‘yeah, but mostly they watch men.’ Of course, they watch men more because you show men more,” said Jabeur. “It’s a shame from the Federation, a shame from [Amazon] Prime, that they made such a contract like this.” In this one quote, Jabeur highlights a recurring Court Theory theme: markets are made, they don’t fall from the sky. And every time a contract is negotiated, whether it’s for an individual player’s sponsor or a massive television contract, women get a smaller cut because they’re systematically left off the biggest stages.

🎾 Ummmm, Coco?: When Coco Gauff entered the stadium for her first-round match against Australia’s Olivia Gadecki, she looked ready. Just one problem: as she got to her chair and opened her bag, there were no rackets in there.

  • What she said: “Honestly, as long as I’ve been on tour, my coach has always put the rackets in the bag before the match because he’s very superstitious,” Gauff said after the match. “I’m blaming it on my coach. It’s OK.”
  • And what she said: “Now that I think about it, it seems like that was the only way I was going to win the match,” Gadecki said. “It was a funny little incident.”
  • A bit of fun: After the match, Gauff took to social media with an unfinished hand-written checklist and a self-deprecating jab at Frances Tiafoe, who did the exact same thing this year.

🎾 Theme on the tours: U.S. Open pre-sale for American Express cardholders went on sale Tuesday. Just a few hours into the sale, as buyers were queued up hoping to grab their preferred seats, the complaints almost immediately started rolling in: tickets had already been grabbed and put up for resale by “brokers” at double (and sometimes more) the face value.

  • Time for action: This isn’t a new problem. Tennis fans have been complaining about this problem for years now. And the fact that the U.S. Open organizers won’t protect tennis fans on pre-sale day from buying syndicates whose sole goal is to turn a profit by bottom-feeding is so incredibly disrespectful — especially while singing the tune of making tennis more accessible.
  • Don’t look to Ticketmaster: We already know that Ticketmaster won’t solve the problem. It’s incentivized to keep buying syndicates in business because it collects fees every time tickets change hands.

And, that’s game.

What They Said

A couple of times I peed, and 30 minutes later the guy rings the doorbell and he’s sitting on my couch for three hours. I’m not the best pee-er when somebody’s watching...At the same time, it is what it is. I’m not the best in keeping the location up to date. Sometimes it’s a struggle, but overall it’s fine. You get to know these people...The guy who comes to my home is a pretty nice guy. I have fun chats with him sometimes.

-Tallon Griekspoor on the anti-doping protocol in tennis.

Watch This!

🔥 Emma Raducanu vs. Iga Swiatek (2nd round - Roland Garros): This is a temperature check match for Swiatek, perhaps a touch earlier in the tournament than she would prefer. She’s never lost a set to Raducanu, but she’s never faced the Brit when she was playing with this much confidence (and when Swiatek’s confidence was so low). Expect Raducanu to stay in points with lots of deep balls to keep Swiatek on her back foot until the right ball comes along to punish. Whether or not Raducanu has a chance in this match will likely come down to her ability to keep the first serve percentage up and the double faults at bay.

  • The record: Iga Swiatek leads the head-to-head record over Emma Raducanu, 4-0. Their most recent meeting came at the Australian Open this year in which Raducanu won only one game.
  • On the line: Swiatek hasn’t won a tournament since last year’s Roland-Garros. An early exit keep her in the top 10, but not by much. Meanwhile, Raducanu has little to lose and much to gain. Staying in Roland-Garros would mean a chance to rack up some big points for a rankings surge.
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On The Radar

More tennis matches we’re monitoring today:

Roland-Garros - WTA (Clay)

  • Jasmine Paolini vs. Ajla Tomljanovic (2nd round)
  • Elena Rybakina vs. Iva Jovic (2nd round)
  • Diana Shnaider vs. Dayana Yastremska (2nd round)
  • Eva Lys vs. Victoria Mboko (2nd round)
  • Caroline Dolehide vs. Jelena Ostapenko (2nd round)
  • Donna Vekic vs. Bernarda Pera (2nd round)
  • Danielle Collins vs. Olga Danilovic (2nd round)

Roland-Garros - ATP (Clay)

  • Emilio Nava vs. Holger Rune (2nd round)
  • Casper Ruud vs. Nuno Borges (2nd round)
  • Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard vs. Samir Dzunhur (2nd round)
  • Quentin Halys vs. Miomir Kecmanovic (2nd round)
  • Marton Fucsovics vs. Tommy Paul (2nd round)
  • Karen Khachanov vs. Sebastian Ofner (2nd round)
  • Frances Tiafoe vs. Pablo Carreno Busta (2nd round)
  • Jenson Brooksby vs. Sebastian Korda (2nd 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.