Good morning, Court Theorists! ☕️☀️
Today’s tennis mood: Nostalgic but also getting the popcorn ready. 🍿
Let’s tennis!
-Allen
🎾 Week two: It’s the second week of Rome, and the results have been a bit more predictable than in Madrid. A good thing? A bad thing? Who can say! Today, there’s lots of doubles action, but still plenty of third- and fourth-round singles matches worthy of your attention. More on that below. Here are a few results from yesterday that you may have missed…
Elena Rybakina def. Alexandra Eala 6-4, 6-3
Naomi Osaka def. Diana Shnaider 6-1, 6-2
Anastasia Potapova def. Liudmila Samsonova 6-3, 6-2
Jessica Pegula def. Rebeka Masarova 6-0, 6-0
Nikola Bartunkova def. Madison Keys 6-3, 1-6, 6-4
Elina Svitolina def. Hailey Baptiste 6-1, 6-2
Rafael Jodar def. Matteo Arnaldi 6-1, 4-6. 6-3
Luciano Darderi def. Tommy Paul 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
Learner Tien def. Alexander Bublik 4-6, 6-3, 7-5
Lorenzo Musetti def. Francisco Cerundolo 7-6, 6-4
🎾 Tennis besties: For our partners at Grand Slam Tennis Tours and Topntoch Tennis Tours, I wrote a story about an unexpected friendship forged through tennis between Ashleigh Gerlach and Sadia Rahman. The two met at Laver Cup last year, and now they’re putting the final touches on their trip to Roland-Garros this month. Give it a read and then send it to your tennis bestie to let them know you’re thinking about them.
🎾 No clay: If it seemed like Holger Rune was returning to the pro tour too quickly following his Achilles tendon rupture, he now agrees. On Monday, the Dane announced he was pulling out of Hamburg next week and would skip the clay season entirely.
What he said: “Tough decision not to play the clay season, but the right one,” Rune posted on social media. “Can’t wait to see you all on the grass. Thank you to everyone for your love and support throughout my rehab. See you in not too long.”
🎾 One to watch: Naomi Osaka vs. Iga Swiatek (4th round - Rome - WTA 1000): Watch this one for the competitive drama. Watch as each player tries to bully the other one around in their own unique way. Who wins this one? Given their current form, this one isn’t so cut and dry.
The record: Iga Swiatek leads the head-to-head record over Naomi Osaka 2-1. Their most recent meeting was a thrilling three-setter at Roland-Garros 2024, which Swiatek narrowly escaped, 7-5 in the third.
On the line: For Swiatek, this is entirely about confidence going into Roland-Garros after a rough start to the clay season. On Osaka’s end of the court, given her recent statements, she just needs to play a good match to show she belongs at the top of the game.
🎾 🏆 🎤 YOUR CALL
And that’s game.
