👋 Welcome back to The Daily Theory, our morning rundown to help you stay on top of your favorite sport. I’m Allen McDuffee, your guide to all things tennis.
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Today’s tennis mood: Resignation and a dose of bewilderment.
Let’s tennis!
Three Points
🎾 See you in 2026: Emma Raducanu has pulled out of her final two events of the year, calling time on the 2025 season. Her decision follows a string of early exits during the Asian swing, which was marred by illness and injury — but also a questionable performance level.
Yes, but: Raducanu is still slated to play in at least one exhibition in December in Miami.
The big picture: It has been an almost unfair rollercoaster of a year for Raducanu. Yes, some of it was her own doing. But more of it — the stalker, her coach and fitness trainer resigning due to health and personal issues — were disrupting factors she had no control over.
Noteworthy: Unlike previous streaks of disappointing results, Raducanu will continue with her current coach. Francisco Roig, the former coach of Rafa Nadal, had joined Raducanu’s team on a trial basis and will continue into the 2026 season.
🎾 In the coaching box: Alex Michelsen is testing a new coaching arrangement with Kristof Vliegen, the retired Belgian player who reached a career-high ranking of 30 in 2006. “I’m here with Kristof Vliegen, new coach. As of now we’re doing a little trial period,” Michelsen told tennis.com. “So let’s see how it goes. And then I’m with my trainer Byron (Manning), I’ve been with him for a couple of years.”
Noteworthy: It’s a bit of an unexpected arrangement for the young American after gaining success with the coaching duo of Eric Diaz and Jay Leavitt. But a highly erratic year in which he lost many first-round matches warranted a change in his coaching team.
🎾 Again, the cash: Tennis fans are left agog after calculating the dollar-per-hour rate that Alexander Zverev made in his first-round loss at the Six Kings Slam on Wednesday. One problem: the thumping he got from Taylor Fritz didn’t even last an hour. So, calculated by the next largest unit, Zverev earned $25,423.73 per minute. It’s a bigger payday than he’s made in any of his major finals. It’s one-third of what he’s made on tour this year. It’s...well, you get the idea. And that’s exactly why players are never going to turn down the opportunity to play this exhibition (and that is exactly what Saudi Arabia is counting on as it attempts to rehabilitate its image through tennis).
And, that’s game.
On The Radar
Ningbo - WTA 500 (Hard)
Belinda Bencic vs. Jasmine Paolini (Quarterfinals)
Ekaterina Alexandrova vs. McCartney Kessler (Quarterfinals)
Lin Zhu vs. Diana Shnaider (Quarterfinals)
Ajla Tomljanovic vs. Dayana Yastremska or Elena Rybakina (Quarterfinals)
Osaka - WTA 250 (Hard)
Rebecca Sramkova vs. Leylah Fernandez (Quarterfinals)
Naomi Osaka vs. Jacqueline Cristian (Quarterfinals)
Viktorija Golubic vs. Sorana Cirstea (Quarterfinals)
Tereza Valentova vs. Olga Danilovic (Quarterfinals)
Almaty - ATP 250 (Hard)
James Duckworth vs. Flavio Cobolli (Quarterfinals)
Fabian Marozsan vs. Daniil Medvedev (Quarterfinals)
Shintaro Mochizuki vs. Alex Michelsen (Quarterfinals)
Corentin Moutet vs. Karen Khachanov or Jan-Lennard Struff (Quarterfinals)
Brussels - ATP 250 (Hard)
Nikoloz Basilashvili vs. Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard (2nd round)
Damir Dzumhur vs. Felix Auger-Aliassime (2nd round)
Lorenzo Musetti vs. Yannick Hanfmann (2nd round)
Botic van de Zandschulp vs. Eliot Spizzirri (2nd round)
Stockholm - ATP 250 (Hard)
Tomas Martin Etcheverry vs. Miomir Kecmanovic (2nd round)
Ugo Humbert vs. Matteo Berrettini (2nd round)
Holger Rune vs. Marton Fucsovics (2nd round)
Jacob Fearnley vs. Elias Ymer (2nd round)
Lorenzo Sonego vs. Aleksandar Kovacevic (2nd round)
📺 Learn how to watch today’s action over at Tennis Watchers.
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