Good morning, Court Theorists! ☕️☀️

Today’s tennis mood: Reminiscing over the Serena moment that inspired the Barbie collectible and looking into my crystal ball for what is going to happen in Beijing.

Let’s tennis!
-Allen

🎾 On tap: We’re into the semifinals of the WTA 1000 in Beijing with some truly surprising players. And at the ATP Masters 1000 in Shanghai, we’ve got some absolute bangers on deck. But a couple of things particularly stand out: How will Valentin Vacherot handle his title defense a year after coming into the Shanghai qualifying as an alternate all the way to the final, where he defeated his cousin Arthur Rinderknech to take it all? Also, how will Daniil Medvedev behave after his default in Beijing on Monday? In action today: Mirra Andreeva, Qinwen Zheng, Carlos Alcaraz, Felix Auger-Aliassime, and Casper Ruud, among others.

🎾 Happy Birthday, Ben: Ben Shelton celebrated his 24th birthday by taking a straight-set win over Daniel Altmaier in his first match of the Shanghai Masters. That called for a double celebration. The win gave him enough points to qualify for the ATP Tour Finals, putting him in the company of Alexander Zverev and Carlos Alcaraz.

🎾 One to watch: Mirra Andreeva vs. Nikola Bartunkova (Semifinals - WTA 1000 - Beijing): Watch this one because it’s a rematch! These two played just last month for the first time at the U.S. Open. Andreeva won 6-2, 7-6, but Bartunkova really figured some things out in the second set to set up a fascinating semifinal tomorrow.

We may have noticed Mirra Andreeva first because of her rapid rise as a teen on the WTA Tour. But by any other standards, Nikola Bartunkova at age 20 is doing some pretty incredible things, as well. At the top of the list is defeating Aryna Sabalenka and Karolina Muchova thus far in Beijing. Does she have it in her to take out Andreeva, too?

(Yesterday’s poll results: 73% of you called for Elina Svitolina to defeat Qinwen Zheng. Zheng won 6-3, 7-6.)

And that’s game.