Good morning, Court Theorists! ☕️☀️
Today’s tennis mood: Chuckling at Jakub Mensik’s attempt to shake Arthur Gea and bracing myself for Tsitsipas vs. Medvedev.
Let’s tennis!
-Allen
🎾 On tap: The women are in the second round of the final WTA 1000 event in Wuhan, while the men are winding down Shanghai with a second day of fourth-round matches to set up the quarterfinals. In action today: Felix Auger-Aliassime, Rafael Jodar, Tommy Paul, and Casper Ruud, among others. More on that below.
🎾 Reignited: After winning her first title in two years — and a WTA 1000, no less! — former world number four Qinwen Zheng said she found her spark again.
What she said: “Finally after many losses, I find my fire again when I’m playing the [competitive matches],” Zheng said after winning in Beijing. “Like I always said, tennis is not just about hitting the balls, it’s also about how much you want to win. I am just so grateful that I found the inside fire back. Right now, I’m trying to reach the best version of myself.”
Yes, but: Zheng withdrew from Wuhan this week, citing fatigue. Reigniting that competitive fire is like exercising any other muscle. Except players can’t do it in the gym. It has to be done on the court while they’re also trying to win a match. That’s no easy exercise.
🎾 One to watch: Daniil Medvedev vs. Stefanos Tsitsipas (4th round - ATP 1000 - Shanghai): Watch this one because when they play, it gets spicy. Expect big hitting vs. brilliant counterpunching. But, more than that, expect psychological warfare.
The record: Daniil Medvedev leads the head-to-head record over Stefanos Tsitsipas 10-5.
On the line: Tsitsipas is feeling a little more like himself in Shanghai, winning three matches that include seeds Luciano Darderi and Taylor Fritz. He wants to keep that winning feeling going with the hope of getting enough points by year’s end to get seeded at majors next year. Meanwhile, Medvedev said one of his goals for this year was to make it into the ATP Tour Finals. After losing all of his points following his default in Beijing, he needs every point he can get.
🎾 🏆 🎤 YOUR CALL
And that’s game.
