Good morning, Court Theorists! ☕️☀️
Today’s tennis mood: Settling in for today’s matches while trying to get over feeling gutted for Gael Monfils, who deserved a true celebration without a cloud over it.
Let’s tennis!
-Allen
🎾 On tap: We’re still working through the early rounds across all the tournaments in Paris, Chennai, and Hong Kong. But those schedules are filled with some battles that promise to be highly entertaining. That’s in no small part because many of the matches in Paris will have a direct impact on who snags the last spots in Turin. Catch the rundown below.
🎾 Indian Wells: On Sunday, the WTA Tour Finals kick off in Indian Wells, and yesterday the groups were revealed for singles and doubles. Here’s how that shook out. Which group stage match are you most looking forward to? Hit reply and let me know!
Group One Singles: Elena Rybakina, Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula, Linda Noskova
Group Two Singles: Aryna Sabalenka, Mirra Andreeva, Elina Svitolina, Karolina Muchova
Group One Doubles: Gabriela Dabrowski/Luisa Stefani, Guo Hanyu/Kristina Mladenovic, Jelena Ostapenko/Hsieh Su-wei,
Elise Mertens/Zhang ShuaiGroup Two Doubles: Taylor Townsend/Katerina Siniakova, Nicole Melichar-Martinez/Cristina Bucsa, Ellen Perez/Demi Schuurs, Jasmine Paolini/Sara Errani
🎾 Hey, ladies!: Yesterday, 90 minutes whizzed by while I talked all things tennis with Amelia Wilson. She publishes Tennisette, a new-ish free weekly newsletter aimed at women tennis players who value strategy and style. We’re cooking up some ideas, so you’ll be hearing about Tennisette around here a bit more. But! Why not sign up for her newsletter now? Want to read something first? Here’s one for everyone: The 7 Best Luxury Tennis Hotels in the U.S.
🎾 One to watch: Alex Michelsen vs. Carlos Alcaraz (2nd round - ATP 1000 - Paris): Watch this rematch in hopes that it’s as entertaining as their Tokyo battle.
The record: Carlos Alcaraz leads the head-to-head record over Alex Michelsen 1-0.
On the line: For Alcaraz, this match is about closing the ranking-points gap after losing much of 2026 to injury, and gaining more confidence heading into Turin. On Michelsen’s side of the court, this match represents an opportunity to push harder against the top players in the world after really bumping up his level in the second half of this year.
🎾 🏆 🎤 YOUR CALL
(Yesterday’s poll results: 57% of you called for Casper Ruud to defeat Rafael Jodar. Ruud won 6-3, 6-4.)
And that’s game.
