Good morning, Court Theorists! ☕️🌱

Today’s tennis mood: Celebratory but also contemplative.

Let’s tennis!
-Allen

🎾 On tap: We’ve got (mostly) second-round action today, with many of the top players in the world taking court across England and Germany, including Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula, Aryna Sabalenka, and Ben Shelton. More on that below. But today is also a heavy doubles day with some surprising match-ups, so be sure to have a look at that, too.

🎾 Say hello!…to our new partner, Babolat! We’ve got some exciting things cooked up for the rest of the grass season. So, keep your eyes peeled here and be sure to follow us on Instagram (@babolatusa and @courttheory) so you can take part in the fun! And be sure to check out the Babolat Wimbledon collection. It’s stunning! And I neeeeeeddd that duffle.

🎾 A Serena assessment: There’s no way around it. It’s a rough start to the Serena Williams comeback. After losing in the first round of Berlin with Karolina Muchova on Tuesday, it’s safe to say that things looked clunky. I think this underscores how much Serena and Venus need to play together. Neither one is back for the long haul. And Serena is playing for specific reasons with high expectations (even if she’s trying to play it cool). Given the timeframe, she only gets close to those expectations with somebody who truly knows her. A new partner won’t have time to learn all the idiosyncrasies of what it’s like playing with the greatest. There’s exactly one player who’s held that job down.

🎾 One to watch: Learner Tien vs. Felix Auger-Aliassime (2nd round - ATP 500 - Halle): Watch this one for the contrasting styles on a surface that isn’t exactly natural to either one of them. It’s only the second year on grass at the professional level for Tien, so watch him learn how to play on the surface in real-time.

(Yesterday’s poll results: 80% of you wanted Jenson Brooksby to defeat Martin Damm. Brooksby won 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.)

And that’s game.