👋 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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Today’s tennis mood rating: Anticipation plus quizzical.
Let’s tennis!
Three Points
🎾 Day five: We’re into the fifth day of the ATP Tour Finals in Turin, and the final day of round-robin action in the Jimmy Connors Group. In very different ways, Carlos Alcaraz and Alex de Minaur have already sealed their fate in the group stage. But it’s Taylor Fritz and Lorenzo Musetti who have a chance to join Alcaraz in the semifinals. The ATP has helpfully put together all of the qualifying scenarios. Here’s the full line-up of two singles matches and two doubles matches on tap today.
Turin - ATP Tour Finals (Hard)
Taylor Fritz vs. Alex de Minaur (Round Robin)
Carlos Alcaraz vs. Lorenzo Musetti (Round Robin)
Krawietz/Putz vs. Bolelli/Vavassori (Round Robin)
Cash/Glasspool vs. Granollers/Zeballos (Round Robin)
Learn how to watch today’s action over at Tennis Watchers.
🎾 Your attention, please: The doubles team of Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe announced that they are ending their partnership. The two began playing together in 2023 and won two U.S. Opens and a WTA Tour Finals title together, plus several tour titles. In their announcement, they named no future doubles partners.
What they said: “WHAT. A. RIDE. 🥹” Dabrowski posted on Instagram. “2.5 years. Titles, tears, and triumphs. A rollercoaster of emotion no one could have predicted. A business partnership comes to its end, and a friendship remains.” She added: “We want to thank every person who has supported us through our journey on tour together. Through our stubbornness you encouraged us to keep an open mind. Through our tiredness you held space for rest and resets. Through our injuries you trusted us to come back stronger. Through our desire to be better, you helped us win Slams. We couldn’t have achieved anything without all of you. We love you. Thank you, and goodnight 💖”
🎾 See you next year!: The teams for United Cup, which begins on January 2, 2026, have been announced. Per usual, the mixed team event has plenty of top 10 talent on the rosters, but there are some significant gaps, as well. The United States, which has won it twice and typically fielded a strong team, has an unusual line-up for 2026: Coco Gauff, Varvara Lepchenko, Nicole Melichar-Martinez, Taylor Fritz, Mackenzie McDonald, and Christian Harrison. No word on the captain just yet, but last year, Michael Russell was at the helm.
And, that’s game.
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