Good morning, Court Theorists! ☕️☀️
Today’s tennis mood: Popcorn with a bit of side eye.
Let’s tennis!
-Allen
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🎾 Flashback: ATP Chairman Andrea Gaudenzi has made it his mission to eliminate as many ATP 250 tournaments as possible, noting he still has a few more he’d like to trim from the schedule. Which makes it that much more curious that the Italian Tennis and Padel Federation will add a 250 to the calendar. Starting in 2028, the organization will host a men’s grass court tournament after purchasing the rights to the Brussels 250 indoor event. The Wimbledon warm-up event will likely be played in Northern Italy, but a location has not yet been determined.
🎾 Mental: If you ever needed evidence that tennis is a mental game, look no further than Miomir Kecmanovic. He played an outstanding match against top-seeded Alexander Zverev in Munich on Monday. Until the very last moment, in which he completely fell apart in the third-set tiebreak, winning just two points. It wasn’t physical. It was mental.
History: That’s a several-year ongoing theme for the player who punches above his current ranking of 58. Have a scroll through his career record. He lost 6-4 in the third to Flavio Cobolli two tournaments in a row, 7-6 in the third to Learner Tien in Delray, and 6-4 in the third to Ben Shelton in Dallas — and that’s just the last couple of months.
Takeaway: At 26 years old, it’s not clear if this is fixable. Too much baggage has likely built up. But it really does highlight how many great players there are on tour, who just can’t get out of their own way.
🎾 One to watch: Jelena Ostapenko vs. Mirra Andreeva (1st round - WTA 500 - Stuttgart): This is what you call an unfortunate first round. Watch this one because it’s the defending champion, who is unseeded, against a top 10 player in Mirra Andreeva — in the first round! Last year, Ostapenko took down three top 10 opponents (including Sabalenka and Swiatek) on her way to the title, while Andreeva won just one round (over her sister, who retired). These two are full of dramatics, so this should be quite a show.
The record: This is the first time Jelena Ostapenko and Mirra Andreeva will face each other.
On the line: As last year’s winner, Ostapenko has 500 points to defend. A loss today could drop her more than 20 spots in the rankings. For Andreeva, she’s looking to capitalize on her success in Linz last week and show she’s a serious contender for Roland-Garros. A first-round exit isn’t part of that plan.
🎾 🏆 🎤 YOUR CALL
(Yesterday’s poll results: 100% of you called for Lorenzo Musetti to defeat Martin Landaluce. Musetti won 7-5, 6-2.)
And that’s game.
