Good morning, Court Theorists! ☕️☀️
Today’s tennis mood: Still buzzing from Struff’s performance and still puzzling over Shelton’s.
Let’s tennis!
-Allen
🎾 On tap: We’re reaching the end of this week’s tournaments with the women in the semifinals in Tokyo and Guangzhou and the men in the quarterfinals in Vienna and Basel. In action: Leylah Fernandez, Diana Shnaider, Carlos Alcaraz, Arthur Fils, Taylor Fritz, and Holger Rune, among others. Catch the rundown below.
🎾 One stunning upset: That’s Jan-Lennard Struff, who defeated Novak Djokovic 6-7, 7-5, 7-6 — something he had never done in eight tries — to make the quarterfinals of Basel. It was some of the highest-quality tennis this indoor season thus far and deserves a watch, if you missed it.
What he said: “I knew I needed to go for it. There was only one way to play it. So, I was very, very happy,” Struff said after the match. “The last serve went in the corner like many balls today. I knew I had to play my best tennis to have a chance. Last eight times he beat me very, very easily. So, very, very happy and pleased with the performance.”
And what he said: “It hurts that I lost, you know, he just played amazing tennis,” Djokovic said. “I don’t remember playing against someone who was this aggressive and this precise. He went with two first serves, and it was just one of those matches.”
By the numbers: Struff hit 27 aces with just two double faults, and won 83% of his first serve points and 58% of his second serve points. He also smacked a whopping 66 winners with just 38 unforced errors.
🎾 And one puzzling upset: That’s Jerome Kym over top-seeded Ben Shelton in Basel. Yes, Kym played a great match and benefited from a home-crowd boost. But that doesn’t explain Shelton’s 38 unforced errors, how he got out-served, or why he couldn’t come up with a solution to win against a player ranked more than 200 spots below him. Given that he’s ranked fourth in the world, he needs to solve for these too-frequent erratic performances.
🎾 Locked: After a couple of wins this week, the year-end number ones are locked in. Elena Rybakina and Alexander Zverev — both first-timers in the top slot — gained enough ranking points to secure their positions to end 2026 as the number one players in the world no matter what happens in these last weeks of the year.
Unfortunately: While Zverev had an on-court celebration in Vienna, Rybakina withdrew from Tokyo with a bit of an injury, saying, “Unfortunately, I’ve been experiencing inflammation and pain in my neck, which has been affecting my ability to play at my best.” She added: “It’s a very difficult decision, as I love playing here and always appreciate the incredible support from the fans. I hope to be back again next year. Thank you all for your understanding and support.”
🎾 One to watch: Taylor Fritz vs. Arthur Fils (Quarterfinals - ATP 500 - Basel): Watch this one out of sheer curiosity because somehow these two have only played each other once.
The record: Arthur Fils leads the head-to-head record over Taylor Fritz 1-0.
On the line: Defending points isn’t an issue for this match. This is all about a chance to qualify for the ATP Tour Finals. Both players are in range, but neither has guaranteed their spot.
🎾 🏆 🎤 YOUR CALL
(Yesterday’s poll results: 83% of you called for Alex Eala to defeat Diana Shnaider. Shnaider won 2-6, 7-6, 6-4.)
And that’s game.
