👋 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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Today’s tennis mood: Luxury with tea.

Let’s tennis!

Three Points

🎾 Six Kings? Try Six Million: The Six Kings Slam kicks off in Riyadh today. And with a group of players who have struggled in recent weeks with their health, fans are wondering why they would go and play exhibitions. The players have a simple (and somewhat defensive) answer: Cash.

  • What he said: “I’d love for them to show me a tournament where you can go play three matches — well, for the top two seeds, two matches — and potentially make $6 million,” Fritz told the AP with his arms crossed during a video interview. “I’d love to hear that from them.”
  • And what he said: “The money is nothing we’re trying to hide. We know how much is at stake here, and it would be a lie if I told you it wasn't a motivation,” said Jannik Sinner. “Every player here will try to win as many matches as possible. It's like any other exhibition — except here there is a bit more motivation.”
  • The numbers: Every player is guaranteed $1.5 million just for showing up. The winner of the three-day event takes home an additional $4.5 million.
  • The players: Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Alexander Zverev, Novak Djokovic, Taylor Fritz, and Stefanos Tsitsipas

🎾 A bit salty: Feeling snubbed, Nick Kyrgios is complaining that Andy Murray didn’t make time to appear on his podcast, saying on The Unscripted Show that Sir Andy “acted too important.” Kyrgios acknowledged that the nature of their relationship has changed significantly since the Australian first appeared on the pro tour. “I wouldn’t even know if he’s a friend anymore,” Kyrgios said on the podcast. “I guess he’s just like a colleague. We used to be closer. He was one of the people that was very supportive of me through there. But now we kind of don’t talk as much.”

  • Still: “He saw it [the self-harm] and he said, ‘What’s that on your arm?’ It was pretty bad at that stage. Andy obviously was trying to give me advice on it. But I was just so stuck in my ways at that time that I didn’t listen. Obviously, I’m very thankful. I thank him a lot.”
  • Yes, but: What Kyrgios seems to be unwilling to recognize is that it’s bad business to be involved with him these days. Too many incidents of misogyny and abuse have stacked up to ignore, even for those who are expert at it.

🎾 Agassi is a Tien stan: Count Andre Agassi firmly in the Learner Tien corner. On Tuesday, the former world number one told the AFP that Tien is so good, in fact, he’s not sure how he would help the young American improve his game.

  • What he said: “He has learned the game phenomenally well. He is incredibly gifted, not just with his game, but with his mind,” said Agassi, whose former rival Michael Chang is coaching the American teen. “He has to overcome certain physical limitations versus other guys, as far as size and strength (goes), but he’s still so young.” Agassi added: “When I really look at him from a tennis player execution standpoint, he’s one of the few guys I say to myself, (I don’t know) how would I help him get better — he does everything.”