👋 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: Novak Djokovic has an Olympics date in three years, the WTA responds to Tsurenko’s lawsuit, the U.S. Open shares its mixed doubles entry list, plus more in today’s tennis news.
Let’s tennis!
Three Points
🎾 How much longer?!?: While much of the tennis world debates how much longer Novak Djokovic is going to last in professional tennis, he knows the bare minimum: three years. In a recent interview, the man who holds all the records says he has every intention of defending his gold medal when the Olympics take place in Los Angeles in 2028.
What he said: “The only thing that at this moment, professionally speaking, I have in my vision at this point,” Djokovic said. “And it’s interesting when we talk about these achievements and the Olympics that stand out and redemption, the only thing that I have in my head, which gives me motivation, is the Olympics of 2028 in Los Angeles...And playing for the national team and Grand Slams. But not even the Grand Slams, not as much as the Olympics.”
Noteworthy: Djokovic will be 41 at the start of the 2028 games.
🎾 Derelict in duty? What duty?: In a new court filing, the WTA has responded to Lesia Tsurenko’s lawsuit that claims the organization has reneged on previous assurances that it would protect her and other Ukrainian players against players, coaches, and others who support the Russian invasion of her country. The WTA’s response is clear: it’s not our responsibility.
What they said: “Sports associations, such as WTA, do not have an independent duty under the law to protect professional athletes from playing a sport against other athletes – or from playing in a stadium with fans – who have political opinions (no matter how objectionable) they disagree with or who are citizens of countries that have engaged in horrible acts,” the WTA’s lawyers wrote in a court filing, per Daniel Kaplan.
Further: “Nor do sports associations have a duty to protect athletes from opinions allegedly expressed by their management in a private conversation about whether a player should be affected by the opinions of other players or whether certain athletes would be allowed to compete in the Olympics.”
🎾 Big sign-ups: On Tuesday, the U.S. Open flaunted a long list of star players who have signed up for their reconfigured mixed doubles draw at this year’s tournament. They include: Madison Keys-Frances Tiafoe, Iga Swiatek-Casper Ruud, Naomi Osaka-Nick Kyrgios, Zheng Qinwen-Jack Draper, Aryna Sabalenka-Grigor Dimitrov, Paula Badosa-Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Taylor Townsend-Ben Shelton, among others.
What he said: “There is nothing I’ve been more excited about, energized about, than this event and what it will represent for the sport going forward: an opportunity to innovate and present the sport differently,” said Lew Sherr, who is stepping down as USTA CEO for a new position with the New York Mets. “It’s the only sport of any significance [with] men and women on the same field of play, at the same time, competing all out against one another.”
ICYMI: Earlier this year, U.S. Open organizers announced that the mixed doubles event would be completely reconfigured, including scheduling the entire event during fan week, handpicking half the teams, and selecting the other half based on their singles rankings. The format is also severely truncated: Best-of-three-set matches with short sets to four games, no-ad scoring, tiebreakers at four-all and a 10-point match tiebreak for the third set.
Intriguing: The reconfiguration is, indeed, already causing a stir with the number of stars on the entry list.
Yes, but: This doesn’t come off as a major any longer. It’s an invitational exhibition like the legends events at the majors. The ITF should have a look at this and see if the U.S. Open mixed doubles still qualifies as a major.
And, that’s game.
What They Said
Days like today, whatever happens this week, is why I’ve been carrying on; to get out here and put my game on the court and enjoy it...It has been a pretty long year so far, I’ve been playing the lower tournaments and, let’s be honest, this is why I’m still hanging around to get back on the grass and try and get some wins.
-Dan Evans after defeating Frances Tiafoe on Monday.
Watch This!
Zheng has since pulled out of Berlin and has been replaced by lucky loser Ashlyn Krueger.
🔥 Elena Rybakina vs. Qinwen Zheng (1st round WTA 500 - Berlin): Welp, this is awkward. The fifth seed going up against the number 11 player in the world (not to mention former Wimbledon champ) in the first round? On grass? Okay, well, sign us up for this one. Expect both players to crush the ball off both wings with the hope of collecting winners and a ton of forced errors. This match will likely come down to how well they both serve.
The record: Elena Rybakina leads the head-to-head record over Qinwen Zheng, 2-1. Rybakina won their only meeting on grass at Wimbledon in 2022.
On the line: Both players exited Berlin early last year, so neither one has too many points to defend. For both, this match is about getting out alive to advance in the tournament and get more reps on the grass ahead of Wimbledon.
On The Radar
More tennis matches we’re monitoring today:
Berlin - WTA 500 (Grass)
Naomi Osaka vs. Liudmila Samsonova (1st round)
Marketa Vondrousova vs. Madison Keys (1st round)
Diana Shnaider vs. Donna Vekic (1st round)
Amanda Anisimova vs. Bianca Andreescu (1st round)
Nottingham - WTA 250 (Grass)
Sonay Kartal vs. Leolia Jeanjean (1st round)
Lulu Sun vs. Katie Boulter (1st round)
Francesca Jones vs. Harriet Dart (1st round)
Beatriz Haddad Maia vs. McCartney Kessler (1st round)
Mingge Xu vs. Katie Volynets (1st round)
London - ATP 500 (Grass)
Jenson Brooksby vs. Jack Draper (1st round)
Corentin Moutet vs. Taylor Fritz (1st round)
Brandon Nakashima vs. Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard (1st round)
Arthur Rinderknech vs. Ben Shelton (1st round)
Gabriel Diallo vs. Billy Harris (1st round)
Halle - ATP 500 (Grass)
Andrey Rublev vs. Sebastian Ofner (1st round)
Joao Fonseca vs. Flavio Cobolli (1st round)
Jannik Sinner vs. Yannick Hanfmann (1st round)
Lorenzo Sonego vs. Jan-Lennard Struff (1st round)
Francisco Cerundolo vs. Alex Michelsen (1st round)
📺 Learn how to watch today’s action over at Tennis Watchers.
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