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That Korda Shocker, More Tsitsipas Whining, Mboko vs. Andreeva & More

Plus, Ons to return as a mother.

by Allen McDuffee

Mar 23, 2026

FIRST SERVE

THE DAILY THEORY

That Korda Shocker, More Tsitsipas Whining, Mboko vs. Andreeva & More

Good morning, Court Theorists! ☕️🎾

Today’s tennis mood: Still blown away and wanting more.

Let’s tennis!
-Allen

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🎾 Week two: It wasn’t always pretty, but somehow we got through week one at the Miami Open, and the draws are shaping up nicely. Here are a few details you may have missed on Sunday…

  • Hailey Baptiste pulled off a nice win for herself over Elina Svitolina 6-3, 7-5, making it just her second top 10 win in her career.

  • Valentin Vacherot and Matteo Berrettini put on a real show with some of the most beautiful ball striking seen this tournament.

  • Tommy Paul taking down Raphael Collignon 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 was some of the best competitive drama of the tournament.

  • Qinwen Zheng says she’s finding her competitive sharpness again after defeating Madison Keys, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4.

  • And Jelena Ostapenko took it out of Jasmine Paolini in the way that she does, 5-7, 6-2, 7-5.

🎾 Excusipas: Stefanos Tsitsipas needed some kind of alibi for getting absolutely throttled by Arthur Fils on Sunday night, in which the Greek struggled to win a single game. He chose the lighting.

  • What he said: “You should be ashamed of this,” Tsitsipas barked at Greg Allensworth, as though the chair umpire is responsible for the lighting at the Miami Open. “Have you ever seen me miss every shot after the serve like I’m doing today?” He added: “It doesn’t happen. I cannot see the ball. I don’t know how he sees the ball.”

  • And what he said: “That’s one of the best matches I’ve ever played,” Fils said after the match. “I have played some great matches before, but this level was insane. I don’t know what to say, but very happy with the performance.”

  • In the end: At 27 years old, Stefanos Tsitsipas is still unable to accept responsibility for his tennis and may remain outside the top 50 when the next rankings come out a week from today.

🎾 One massive win: That belongs to Sebastian Korda, who took out world number one Carlos Alcaraz on Sunday in a truly stunning match, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4. Particularly impressive was Korda’s resolve after serving for the match up 5-4 in the second set. The nerves got the best of him, and Alcaraz broke him at love, reeling off the next two games easily to take the set.

  • And then: At that point, it was reasonable to assume Alcaraz would run away with the match, as we’ve seen him do so many times before. But all credit to Korda for holding firm and taking his chances in the all-important 7th game to break Alcaraz. He took care of his serve from there on out and won on his second match point.

  • What he said: “I took the scenic route, that’s for sure,” Korda said after the match. “There was a little more stress than I would want, but I’m happy with how I played, happy with how I stayed with it. I kept believing. I got myself in some nasty situations, but I kept going and played really well in the end.”

  • And what he said: “He just made three mistakes in a row that he didn’t make it in the whole match. I just made the most of it,” Alcaraz said in his post-match press conference. “But on 5-4 in the third set, I think he just knew what he has to do. He just played with a lot of first serves, which it’s tough when he plays with a big first serve. It’s kind of he was in that moment before. He just dealt with that much, much better.”

  • Next: Korda will face Martin Landaluce in the 4th round on Tuesday.

🎾 One to watch: Mirra Andreeva vs. Victoria Mboko (4th round - WTA 1000 - Miami): Watch this one for the future rivalry that is happening right now before our very eyes. Add on top of that the friendship they’ve built, which includes practice and doubles partners (they took down the 8th seeds yesterday in the opening round). Expect tons of fun points, as Andreeva looks to extend the rally and force Mboko to go for bigger and bigger shots to extract errors. Will that happen? Not according to Mboko’s recent play. This match may be decided by Mboko’s serve and Andreeva’s emotions.

  • The record: The head-to-head record between Mirra Andreeva and Victoria Mboko is tied at one apiece. Mboko won the most recent meeting in Doha, a three-setter that was decided in a thrilling tiebreak.

  • On the line: Both players have exceeded last year’s Miami Open performances, so any ranking points from here on out will help them climb. But this match is about getting an edge up in the rivalry before they head to the clay season.

🎾 🏆 🎤 YOUR CALL

Who do you want to win today?
  • Victoria Mboko
  • Mirra Andreeva

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And that’s game.

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