Good morning, Court Theorists! ☕️😎
Today’s tennis mood: A bit puzzled but mostly excited.
Let’s tennis!
-Allen
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🎾 Day One, Take Two: Technically, yesterday was opening day at the Miami Open. But with just a handful of women’s main draw matches, it was less than a full-throated launch of the tournament. Today, however, is men’s and women’s first-round action, with lots of big names and fan favorites.
In action: Venus Williams, Grigor Dimitrov, Matteo Berrettini, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Taylor Townsend, and more. Check out the matches we’re monitoring below.
Missed opportunity: Today at the Miami Open is Brazilian Heritage Day, but there are <checks notes> no Brazilian players on the schedule. There’s one player in particular fans would want to celebrate the day watching. What’s his name again? It’s on the tip of my tongue.
🎾 See you next year? In her pre-tournament press obligations in Miami, Aryna Sabalenka said she may never compete at the Dubai Tennis Championships again after she and Iga Swiatek were criticized by the tournament director following their withdrawals from the event last month.
What she said: “It’s ridiculous,” Sabalenka said. “I don’t think he showed himself in the best way possible. For me it’s actually so sad to see that the tournament directors and the tournaments are not protecting us as a player. They just care about their sellings, about their tournament and that’s it. His comment was ridiculous. I’m not sure if I ever want to go there after his comment. For me it’s too much.”
The context: “It is a tough decision because you feel like you’re disappointing the tournaments,” Sabalenka said. “You’re disappointing people as well, because they were expecting me to play there and then I didn’t; I pulled out. So it’s a tough decision, and especially for me: I’m the one really struggling to withdraw from the tournaments. I feel really guilty.”
🎾 One to watch: Jennifer Brady vs. Sloane Stephens (1st round - WTA 1000 - Miami): Watch this one for the throwback match that never happened. That’s right. Somehow Brady and Stephens, respectively 30 and 32 years old, have never faced off on the pro tour. With both of their comeback stories looming large in this match-up, we here at Court Theory HQ aren’t missing it.
The record: This will be the first time Jennifer Brady and Sloane Stephens face off.
On the line: Forget the ranking points. For both players, this match is all about getting on the board with a WTA main tour win in 2026, with the hope that it can snowball into something bigger.
🎾 🏆 🎤 YOUR CALL
And that’s game.
