Good morning, Court Theorists! ☕️☀️
Today’s tennis mood: Intrigued by the semis and lining up my questions on WTA finances.
Let’s tennis!
-Allen
🎾 On tap: We’ve reached the semifinals of both Wuhan and Shanghai, and we’ve got some seriously interesting — even if a bit surprising —match-ups this weekend. In particular, because of some impressive upsets in recent days that have taken out the standard contenders, Iga Swiatek now has a clear path to winning the WTA 1000 event, which would give her a huge boost toward snagging the last spot for the WTA Tour Finals. There’s a caveat, though. She could face Jelena Ostapenko in the final, against whom Swiatek has a 0-6 record.
🎾 To Vienna! That’s Carlos Alcaraz, who has accepted a wild card into the ATP 500 event. It’s a perfect storm of Alcaraz needing matches and rescheduling of the Six Kings Slam to December.
The backstory: Alcaraz has played the tournament just once in 2021 because, according to some reports, the organizers didn’t fork over the $750,000 appearance fee he required in subsequent years. That money, according to those same reports, was better spent on Jannik Sinner, who speaks German because of his family roots and the province where he grew up. (There’s a whole history lesson that I’m not getting into here. 🫠)
🎾 One to watch: Rafael Jodar vs. Daniil Medvedev (Semifinals - ATP 1000 - Shanghai): Watch this one for the competitive drama. Expect nothing but bombs from Jodar, and expect Medvedev to test just how many of them Jodar can put in the court.
The record: This will be the first time Rafael Jodar and Daniil Medvedev face each other.
On the line: Jodar has a real shot at making the top 10 this year, possibly even by the end of this tournament if he keeps this streak going. Meanwhile, Medvedev has made it clear he wants to make the ATP Tour Finals. And with his recent moves, he’s in a good position to do it. But with only three spots locked down so far (Zverev, Alcaraz, and Shelton), plenty of players are still in the running — including his opponent.
🎾 🏆 🎤 YOUR CALL
And that’s game.
