👋 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: Carlos Alcaraz goes from zero to W, Billie Jean King Cup yields finalists, a men’s rankings shake-up, Alexandre Muller takes on Alexander Zverev, plus more in today’s tennis news.
Let’s tennis!
Four Points
🎾 Sunday roller coaster: The Monte Carlo final between Carlos Alcaraz and Lorenzo Musetti kicked off with something of a shocker: Musetti snatching the first set 6-3 with some brilliant clay court tennis, drawing 14 unforced errors from Alcaraz. But then his body began to fail him. The next two sets went by in a blink of an eye, 6-1, 6-0, with Musetti unable to run for a ball by the time it was over.
Notable: Up to this point, Alcaraz had not won a single match at Monte Carlo, making this quite a leap forward (and a jump up a spot in the rankings to number two). As for Musetti, his incredible week at a 1000 event means he’s up to number 11 and just 15 points shy of overtaking Casper Ruud to make the top 10 for the first time.
What he said: “This is the first tournament of the clay season, the first tournament on clay. I knew that it was going to be really difficult, I was going to face difficult moments, and in those situations, I had to stay positive,” Alcaraz said after the match, adding “I think that changed a lot, because in the matches, you have to face [difficult moments], not be worried about them, not be afraid of them. When you realize and you accept it and you face it, everything is going the right way.”
And what he said: “The thing is that, as you probably saw, I couldn’t finish the match properly, but, you know, in a final, I didn’t want to retire,” Musetti said after the match, noting that it was unclear exactly what ailed him but expected exams in the upcoming days to find answers. He added: “Probably, you know, the toughness of the long week and the long matches that I played, at the end it cost me a little bit today.”
Looking forward: “This week gave me the confidence to be more ambitious even in bigger tournaments like this one or, for example, in French Open,” said Musetti. “That’s a massive point of the season, for me really important, which I don’t have so many points to defend. So hopefully I can be prepared, you know, to do some great things there.”
🎾 Moving on: Last week, eight teams qualified for the Billie Jean King Cup Finals in Shenzhen in September. The U.S., China, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Spain, and Ukraine all made it out of the qualifiers. And, several other countries advanced in the group stages for a shot in the November playoffs and a chance at getting into the top level next year.
🎾 Rankings report: After last week’s 1000 event in Monte Carlo, there’s quite a shake-up at the top of the rankings.
Carlos Alcaraz jumps up one spot to #2, replacing Alexander Zverev.
Alex de Minaur goes up three spots to #7.
Andrey Rublev ticks up one slot to #8.
Daniil Medvedev is back in the top 10 at #9.
Casper Ruud slides down three spots from #7 to barely hold in the top 10.
Lorenzo Musetti jumps up 5 spots to #11, just 15 points shy of the top 10.
In the biggest move, Stefanos Tsitsipas backslides 8 spots to #16 after failing to defend his title.
🎾 Deal of the day: More players are showing up to the practice court and at tournaments with their pets. So you know what that means: A chance for another sponsorship. The ATP Tour has signed a deal with Purina PRO PLAN to be the Official Pet Nutrition Partner of the ATP Tour.
And, that’s game.
Watch This!
🔥 Alexander Zverev vs. Alexandre Muller (1st round ATP 500 - Munich): Watch this one for the drama. All the pressure is on Zverev, who is in a season of a downward spiral since a blistering loss to Jannik Sinner in the Australian Open final. Now, before a home crowd in Munich, he will either relax and embrace the support —or, he’ll cave under the pressure. Which one will it be? Who knows, but if Muller — who has been punching above his ranking as of late — plays anything like he has of late, Zverev will be given every chance possible to fail.
The record: Alexander Zverev leads the head-to-head record over Alexandre Muller, 1-0. Their only meeting came at last year’s U.S. Open.
On the line: For Zverev, this tournament is all about pride in the middle of a dismal season. For Muller, he’s looking to capitalize on the moment and to build on his career-high ranking.
💬
For real-time match commentary and conversation,
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On The Radar
More tennis matches we’re monitoring today:
Stuttgart - WTA 500 (Clay)
Anastasia Potapova vs. Clara Tauson (1st round)
Veronika Kudermetova vs. Diana Shnaider (1st round)
Rouen - WTA 250 (Clay)
McCartney Kessler vs. Fiona Ferro (1st round)
Elsa Jacquemot vs. Elena-Gabriela Ruse (1st round)
Munich - ATP 500 (Clay)
Miomir Kecmanovic vs. Marcos Giron (1st round)
Borna Gojo vs. Ben Shelton (1st round)
Tallon Griekspoor vs. Learner Tien (1st round)
Billy Harris vs. David Goffin (1st round)
Barcelona - ATP 500 (Clay)
Pedro Martinez vs. Brandon Nakashima (1st round)
Holger Rune vs. Albert Ramon-Vinolas (1st round)
Matteo Arnaldi vs. Sebastian Korda (1st round)
Hamad Medjedovic vs. Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard (1st round)
📺 Learn how to watch today’s action over at Tennis Watchers.
Read, Watch, Listen
Alexandre Muller goes from Roger Federer’s practice partner to his golf buddy, but all his focus is on Munich.
Daria Kasatkina talks with Caroline Garcia on Tennis Insider Club.
If you put Carlos Alcaraz in a major or 1000-level final, he wins it.
And he celebrates with the ball kids after.
The Ukrainian Billie Jean King Cup team dedicated its win to the country’s soldiers.
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