👋 Welcome back to The Daily Theory, our morning rundown to help you stay on top of your favorite sport. I’m Allen McDuffee, your guide to all things tennis.

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On tap today: Pope Leo is firmly on tennis’s side, Dinara Safina has already departed Diana Shnaider’s camp, Fabio Fognini’s Rome run is done, Coco Gauff takes on Victoria Mboko, plus more tennis news today.

Let’s tennis!

Four Points

🎾 We always knew God was on tennis’s side: On Thursday, as the world’s best tennis players fought on the dirt of Rome, just two miles from the Foro Italico, Pope Leo XIV was unveiled to the world. On screens around the grounds, an image of Pope Leo appeared with warm cheers from spectators. But it’s not just timing and proximity that matter here. Pope Leo XIV is a tennis fan and player. In a recent interview, he said, “I consider myself quite the amateur tennis player. Since leaving Peru I have had few occasions to practice, so I am looking forward to getting back on the court. Not that this new job has left me much free time for it so far.” We here at Court Theory HQ fear that his newest job might leave even less.

🎾 A.C. (After Cahill): Jannik Sinner’s appearance in Rome marks his return to tennis. But it also restarts the clock to the end of his partnership with Darren Cahill, who said he is retiring at the end of this year. Sinner’s other coach, Simone Vagnozzi, said he would spend the next months trying to convince Cahill to stay, but also continue to look for a new partner in coaching the number one player in the world.

  • What he said: “I would be able to do it on my own,” Vagnozzi said. “But with players of this level it’s important to have another viewpoint. And it’s important to sometimes split up the weeks you spend with the player. Otherwise it’s a 365-day/year job and that’s a bit much.” He added: “But I’m hoping that Darren stays on for another five years, because we have such a great relationship. He might be the best coach ever in terms of results and other factors...But most of all, he’s a special person.”

🎾 In other coaching news: Just last month, former world number one Dinara Safina joined Diana Shnaider’s team. But that partnership has already come to an end without explanation.

  • What she said: “She returned back home to Barcelona. She needed that,” Shnaider said. “The experience, of course, was great...She’s a former world No. 1, so she gave me a lot of those tips on how to stay focused in a match and not to let those negative emotions ruin your game and mental skills. For sure, those are things I learned and I’ll try to use them as much as I can so I can get better each day.”

🎾 Coming to an end: Fabio Fognini has played his final match in Rome after losing to Jacob Fearnley on Thursday. The 38-year-old Italian is winding down his career that began more than 20 years ago.

  • What he said: “I love them,” Fognini said of the Italian fans. “I would like to be remembered for [being] a guy who showed passion, sometimes too much passion, on the court. That’s the way I was, I was feeling my work, feeling the tennis, feeling it in my veins.”

And, that’s game.

What They Said

I was like, I wonder if I can get on a flight, like, at midnight or something, and then beat the time zone (jet lag), and then come back, like, with a week for French Open, which is, like, a really terrible way of thinking. And I know if [coach] Patrick [Mouratoglou] reads this, he’s gonna be pissed, but, like, yeah. I think for me, obviously, I’m really glad that I was able to, I guess, switch my train of thought, before that happened.

-Naomi Osaka on her mindset during her near loss against Viktoria Golubic on Thursday.

Watch This!

🔥 Coco Gauff vs. Victoria Mboko (2nd round WTA 1000 - Rome): Watch this one for the freshness factor. Mboko, the Canadian teenager, has had an impressive 2025 thus far, jumping up 200 spots in the rankings since the start of the year and rapidly approaching the top 100. Although much of her success has come on the hard courts, she went through two rounds of qualifying (and two seeds!) to make it to the main draw, where she’s already won a round. Meanwhile, this will be Gauff’s first match in Rome and against an opponent she doesn’t know, which can mean tricky business. Coco should win this one, but let’s see how she handles the unknown.

  • The record: This will be the first time Coco Gauff and Victoria Mboko face each other.
  • On the line: All the pressure is on Coco Gauff to handle her opponent. That means Mboko can play freely — and when she does, watch out. After a rough start to the season, Gauff needs more wins going into Roland-Garros for her confidence. An early exit won’t help. Mboko has never faced a top 10 opponent. In fact, she’s played a top 50 opponent only once before. This is an excellent opportunity to learn exactly where her level is.
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On The Radar

More tennis matches we’re monitoring today:

Rome - WTA 1000 (Clay)

  • Magdalena Frech vs. Victoria Azarenka (2nd round)
  • Elena Rybakina vs. Eva Lys (2nd round)
  • Emiliana Arango vs. Mirra Andreeva (2nd round)
  • Ekaterina Alexandrova vs. Emma Raducanu (2nd round)
  • Bianca Andreescu vs. Donna Vekic (2nd round)
  • Maria Sakkari vs. Magda Linette (2nd round)
  • Linda Noskova vs. Sonay Kartal (2nd round)
  • Marta Kostyuk vs. Daria Kasatkina (2nd round)
  • Katie Volynets vs. Clara Tauson (2nd round)

Rome - ATP 1000 (Clay)

  • Lorenzo Musetti vs. Otto Virtanen (2nd round)
  • Arthur Fils vs. Tallon Griekspoor (2nd round)
  • Grigor Dimitrov vs. Francesco Passaro (2nd round)
  • Jack Draper vs. Luciano Darderi (2nd round)
  • Alexandre Muller vs. Stefanos Tsitsipas (2nd round)
  • Francisco Comesana vs. Holger Rune (2nd round)
  • Jordan Thompson vs. Brandon Nakashima (2nd round)
  • Ugo Humbert vs. Corentin Moutet (2nd round)
  • Alex Michelsen vs. Laslo Djere (2nd round)

📺 Learn how to watch today’s action over at Tennis Watchers.

Read, Watch, Listen

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For real-time match commentary and conversation, follow Court Theory on Bluesky.