Good morning, Court Theorists! ☕️
Today’s tennis mood: Concerned + a bit affirming.
Let’s tennis!
-Allen
(New to Court Theory? Sign up for free!)
🎾 A mental slump: Coco Gauff has had some incredibly erratic results this year. A strange loss at United Cup to Jessica Bouzas Maneiro. A throttling from Elina Svitolina in the quarterfinals at the Australian Open. And now a puzzling straight-set loss to Elisabetta Cocciaretto in her first match in Doha. She’s aware of the serving problems, but that’s not everything.
What she said: “I just feel like I haven’t showed up with my best level the last few matches,” Gauff said after the match. “I’m just looking to find that again.” She added: “I just feel like some of the things I’ve been working on in practice aren’t translating to the match court, which is super frustrating…I’ve been having good practices, but just not playing well in the matches. I just need to find how it can translate.”
🎾 Not sorry for the bagels: During press after defeating Dayana Yastremska 6-0, 6-3 on Tuesday, Iga Swiatek was asked if she ever feels sorry for her opponents, now that she’s collected 36 6-0 sets in 1000 events. Her answer was thoughtful, but straightforward.
What she said: “I think when I was younger, I felt that way. But later on, you know, you just want to win it. It’s sports, so it doesn’t make sense to stop or play 80 percent. I’m here to perform my best. I also always felt it wouldn’t be respectful towards the opponent to give them something because we’re here to play our best. I always just try to focus on myself, and that’s it.”
🎾 One to watch: Qinwen Zheng vs. Elena Rybakina (3rd round - WTA 1000 - Doha): Watch this for some of the biggest serving in women’s tennis you’ll see all year. And, if that’s not enough, add the biggest ball-striking, too.
The record: Elena Rybakina leads the head-to-head record over Qinwen Zheng 2-1.
On the line: Ranking points aren’t really at risk in this match. For Zheng, this is about getting match play at the top level in her comeback from elbow surgery. On Rybakina’s side of the net, this tournament is to show she can maintain the level of play that won her the Australian Open.
🎾 🏆 🎤 YOUR CALL
(Yesterday’s poll results: 75% of you said you wanted Grigor Dimitrov to defeat Alex Michelsen in Dallas. Michelsen won 5-7, 6-4, 6-4.)
And that’s game.
