What he said: "I was very connected with the team. They helped me through it all," Tabilo said after the match. "A lot of nerves at the end, but I feel like we played a very good game, very smart tactics and just outlasted him. I knew he was going to come out swinging, and I just had to be very solid."

Noteworthy: Tabilo’s comments underscore something we’ve been pointing out at Court Theory: Fonseca has a tendency to overcook the ball when he faces solid opponents. His power overwhelmed juniors, but that strategy alone doesn’t work against men who can absorb his pace. So far, he hasn’t adjusted. But his uneven results in 2025 and his rough start to 2026 should be a wake-up call.

Noteworthy: We call it the Happy Slam, but we often underestimate how much the tennis Down Under takes out of players right at the start of the year. And that must raise some serious questions for the ATP as it considers adding the Saudi 1000 into this part of the year.

What he said: “I have struggled a lot in practice. I have actually been quite frustrated with the balls in practice, which is not like me. I do get what Daniil says about the balls,” Alex de Minaur told Bolavip.com. “They are definitely not my favorite. I don’t think they are anyone’s favorite balls. They are very difficult to control.”

And what he said: “They are terrible. Really terrible. The ball is very bad. It is unbelievable,” Arthur Fils said. “When we are playing at this level, literally playing professionally, very good players, then watching the balls after two games getting bigger and very slow, that is not normal.” He added: “I don’t know who is in charge of it, maybe ATP or whatever, but they have to do better, because it is not normal to play with these balls at our level.”

Noteworthy: If you’ve got Alex de Minaur irritated, it’s time to check yo’self.

The record: Elena Rybakina leads the head-to-head over Victoria Mboko 2-1.

On the line: For Mboko, a win represents a chance to break into the top 10. 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, while taking the opportunity to close the gap in ranking points after Aryna Sabalenka sat this week out.

Jelena Ostapenko vs. Elisabetta Cocciaretto (Quarterfinals)

Iga Swiatek vs. Maria Sakkari (Quarterfinals)

Karolina Muchova vs. Anna Kalinskaya (Quarterfinals)

Ethan Quinn vs. Marin Cilic (2nd rd)

Denis Shapovalov vs. Aleksandar Kovacevic (2nd rd)

Adrian Mannarino vs. Ben Shelton (2nd rd)

Tommy Paul vs. Miomir Kecmanovic (2nd rd)

Jack Pinington Jones vs. Eliot Spizzirri (2nd rd)

Botic van de Zandschulp vs. Stefanos Tsitsipas (2nd rd)

Alex de Minaur vs. Stan Wawrinka (2nd rd)

Jan-Lennard Struff vs. Alexander Bublik (2nd rd)

Juan Manuel Cerundolo vs. Pedro Martinez (2nd rd)

Ignacio Ruse vs. Sebastian Baez (2nd rd)

Camilo Ugo Carabelli vs. Mariano Navone (2nd rd)

Recommendation: Go watch yesterday’s match between Victoria Mboko and Mirra Andreeva. If you can’t, definitely watch these highlights.

The same goes for Tommy Paul vs. Jenson Brooksby.

This is what it’s like to be Zeynep Sonmez.

Roger Federer’s Hall of Fame ceremony sold out in two minutes.

Marin Cilic reflects on his career after logging 600 wins in Dallas.

Get to know Jack Pinnington Jones, the Dallas qualifier who faces Eliot Spizzirri today.

Elena Rybakina chooses a Winter Olympics sport.