👋 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.
On tap today, we’ve got: Djokovic shows us, Coco gets real, Tommy Paul fades, Goran Ivanisevic quits, Madison Keys to take on Elina Svitolina, plus a whole bunch more from the Australian Open.
Let’s tennis!
Four Points
🎾 An ace down the tee: In their first match since that blockbuster of a match at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Novak Djokovic defeated Carlos Alcaraz in four sets, putting to rest the question as to whether or not, at 38, he’s still up to par against the younger stars of the game. In a little more than three-and-a-half hours, Djokovic outsmarted, outlasted, and generally outplayed the 21-year-old. “Every set was super close, the crowd was into it, so much energy on the court, it was amazing,”Djokovic said. “It felt like it was finals of a slam. I wish it was.”Up next: Alexander Zverev and some hamstring rehab.
🎾 Coco’s perspective: Some of Coco Gauff’s fans (or detractors) may have spent the waking hours following her quarterfinal loss to Spain’s Paula Badosa emoting over her future. Get a grip, says Coco: “Paula was playing great. Maybe some moments in the first set could have gone my way, could have been a different outcome in the first set,” Gauff said. “I think it’s just a lot more work to do, but I’m obviously disappointed, but I’m not completely crushed. I’m looking forward to a lot.”
🎾 Where’s the belief?!?: American Tommy Paul let what should have been his match against Alexander Zverev inexplicably slip through his fingers, which astonishingly included winning only one point across the first two set tiebreaks. Nobody was more shocked than Zverev: “To be honest, I should have been down two sets to love, he served [for] both of those sets. He played better than me,” Zverev said. “I was not playing great and I thought he was. I somehow won the first set, somehow won the second set, [then] I’m up two sets to love all of a sudden and I only need one more set.”
🎾 Ivanisevic, out: Goran Ivanisevic has reportedly quit Elena Rybakina’s team after the world number seven welcomed Stefano Vukov back into her camp. According to The Athletic, Ivanisevic tried to quit earlier but relented after an emotional plea from Rybakina. Sources said Ivanisevic found it difficult to coach Rybakina when she would take calls from Vukov before and after matches. The move leaves Rybakina without a full-time coach since Vukov is provisionally suspended from the WTA Tour ostensibly for the mistreatment of Rybakina.
And, that’s game.
What They Said
I guess you just have to realize that most of the internet coaches never coached anyone at my level or never played. So it’s one of those things...You’ll hear … people saying, Oh, she should have made this or he should have made that. Even when I’m watching, I do that...Obviously, when you’re out there, it’s different.
-Coco Gauff on how she handles online critics.
Watch This!
🔥 Madison Keys vs. Elina Svitolina (Quarterfinals — Australian Open): These aren’t the highest seeds playing today, but it might be the highest-quality match we’ll see. Two veterans of the tour, who know each other well, and who are making major comebacks? Yes, please.
Expect big groundies from Keys but with more control after working to add arc and spin on her shots over the last year. On the other side of the net is Svitolina, who returned from having her child with less of a counterpunching mindset and more pace on the ball. These adjustments should set up some incredible points. The decider could come down to how well each of them serves today.
- The record: Madison Keys leads the head-to-head record over Elina Svitolina 3-2, all on hard courts. But that might be of little comfort to Keys, given their most recent meeting was three years ago. These are two different players with much different outlooks than the last time they played.
- On the line: Madison Keys has made no secret that she’s doing everything possible to get her back into the top 10 and contending for major titles: change of rackets and string, more targeted training, putting her (now) husband in a coaching role, etc. And now she’s in position. For Elina Svitolina, she wants to show she’s only gotten better since motherhood. And she might be right. In her first tournament since the U.S. Open, she has slugged her way to the quarterfinals in the first major of the year.
Keeping an Eye on...
- Emma Navarro vs. Iga Swiatek (Quarterfinals — Australian Open)
- Ben Shelton vs. Lorenzo Sonego (Quarterfinals — Australian Open)
- Jannik Sinner vs. Alex de Minaur (Quarterfinals — Australian Open)
Learn how to watch today’s action over at Tennis Watchers.
Read, Watch, Listen
- The Guardian’s Tumaini Carayol on what Paula Badosa's win over Coco Gauff means to the Spaniard.
- The folks at Tennis take a look at the Australian Open stringing room.
- Aryna Sabalenka said she found her “way out” against Pavlyuchenkova.
- Novak Djokovic wondered why his kids weren’t in bed, and they wondered what was taking so long.
