Good morning, Court Theorists! ☕️🎾
Today’s tennis mood: Curiosity running on all fronts today!
Let’s tennis!
-Allen
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🎾 Leaving Saudi? The WTA Tour Finals will not be held in Saudi Arabia once the current three-year contract is up at the end of this year, if a report from Ben Rothenberg at Bounces is correct. Instead, the likely forerunner, according to the report, is Charlotte, North Carolina. Rothenberg’s piece took off on social media, but there are some questions that cause reason to be cautious.
Lack of reporting: After Rothenberg dropped his story, not a single other credible media outlet published a piece following his lead with their own sourcing. That doesn’t mean Rothenberg is wrong. But if The Athletic, The Guardian, ESPN, Tennis.com, etc., with all of their extensive sourcing, aren’t touching the story yet, that’s an indication that maybe the story isn’t exactly correct, either.
The money: Few hosts are going to cough up the $5+ million for the winner, which is what Elena Rybakina won at last year’s tournament as the title winner. Is the WTA willing to go backwards on the prize money? It would be a bad look, which does give support to the possibility of a Navarro-backed tournament in Charlotte.
🎾 The Brady Report: Jennifer Brady took another tough loss on Monday at the Charleston Open, falling to qualifier Viktorija Tomova, 6-4, 6-3. That puts her at 0-4 on her return to tennis since the end of February. To be sure, she’s hitting the ball well. But she’s not match-sharp at all. That’s understandable given how few she has played. Hopefully, there’s a plan in place to get her to drop down and play some lower-level events, get those matches under her belt, and gain some confidence. Starting off with two 1000s and a 500 — all wild cards — is a rough place to begin.
🎾 One to watch: Alex Michelsen vs. Coleman Wong (1st round - ATP 250 - Houston): Watch this one for two of the best problem-solvers on tour facing each other to kick off their clay seasons. Neither one is exactly a clay dog, which adds a bit of extra intrigue.
The record: This will be the first time Alex Michelsen and Coleman Wong face each other.
On the line: Both of these players are trying to get more time in Houston before heading out to the European clay leading to Roland-Garros. Only one makes it out.
And that’s game.
