Good morning, Court Theorists! ☕️🥐
Today’s tennis mood: Befuddled and curious for what’s next.
Let’s tennis!
-Allen
🎾 One baffling loss: Even a night of sleep didn’t help make sense of Jannik Sinner’s exit from Roland-Garros. The ultra-dominant player of the year, who was up 6-3, 6-2, 5-1, somehow couldn’t find another game to complete the win over world number 56 Juan Manuel Cerundolo. Instead, he lost 18 points in a row and five consecutive games as he completely imploded. His explanation? It wasn’t the ongoing heat-induced fitness issues we’ve all witnessed. It was illness that he woke up with. And didn’t kick in until later. At 6-3, 6-2, 5-1.
What he said: “Woke up, didn’t feel very well, and tried to keep the points very short,” said Sinner. “Also, in the beginning, I was hitting very clean, very good, and then I kind of hit the wall.”
Intriguing: Is this just a deflection from the obvious thing we’re all seeing to avoid questions about his conditioning? Or is he lying to himself about his fitness?
Then: It was like any other loss, “It’s tough to accept because of the position where I’ve been in and everything considered, but now I have a lot of time to recover,” Sinner said of his winning streak ending. “I won’t play any tournament on grass before, most likely. Now I really need some time off, recover completely, also mentally, and then be ready to go again for Wimbledon.”
Noteworthy: It’s stunning that the two best men’s tennis players in the world can seemingly only be defeated by each other and their own bodies.
🎾 More upsets: With the Sinner shocker taking over the headlines, you may have missed some other significant upsets that are upending the draws.
Raphael Collignon dismissed Ben Shelton in straight sets 6-4, 7-5, 6-4.
Matteo Berrettini took down Arthur Rinderknech in front of a home crowd 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.
In a brilliant clay court battle, Francisco Cerundolo took out Luciano Darderi 7-6, 4-6, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.
Alejandro Tabilo received a walkover from Valentin Vacherot.
Diane Parry won in straight sets over Ann Li 6-3, 6-4.
Maja Chwalinska defeated Elise Mertens 6-4, 6-0.
🎾 The comeback: Serena Williams is reportedly returning to pro tennis in just 10 days time, according to reporting from the Served podcast by Andy Roddick and Jon Wertheim. Per their reporting, she is expected to play doubles with Victoria Mboko at Queen’s Club in London, pending a wild card.
🎾 Launch day: Today is the day. Rafa, the docuseries from Netflix, is out. It’s quite a move putting it out in the middle of Roland-Garros, instead of, say, on the final Sunday. But there’s little doubt that nostalgia will drive many fans to pick the documentary over live tennis.
🎾 One to watch: Novak Djokovic vs. Joao Fonseca (3rd round - Roland-Garros): Watch this one for one of the most interesting match-ups of the day, as well as for the impact it has on the overall draw, given how much of it is collapsing early in the tournament. Expect Fonseca to go big on every ball while Djokovic tries to make one more ball to draw the errors. This match will start in the hottest part of the day, and both players have question marks around fitness levels.
The record: This will be the first time Novak Djokovic and Joao Fonseca face off.
On the line: This match isn’t about ranking points or fame — it’s something bigger than that for both players. Djokovic has one thing on his mind: number 25. And with Jannik Sinner and other top seeds dropping, his chances have gone up. For Fonseca, he wants to play one of his childhood idols, while also proving that the buzz around him is deserved with a win.
🎾 🏆 🎤 YOUR CALL
(Yesterday’s poll results: 75% of you called for Matteo Berrettini to defeat Arthur Rinderknech. Berrettini won 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.)
And that’s game.
