👋 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: Tennis Channel finds a new leader, Novak Djokovic pulls out of the Italian Open, Taylor Fritz is too clean for clay, Mirra Andreeva takes on Coco Gauff, plus more tennis news today.

Let’s tennis!

Three Points

🎾 Big changes: Tennis Channel has brought on Jeff Blackburn, a former Amazon executive, as the company’s new chairman and CEO. He replaces Ken Solomon, the longtime leader of Tennis Channel, who was reportedly let go last year over concerns that he was overly occupied with a media company launched by Dr. Phil.

  • What he said: “From my point of view, this is the job I wanted,” Blackburn told The Athletic. “I didn’t want other roles. This is exactly the role that I want. Something in sports with a fantastic organization already in place that built a great business over the last 22 years. He added: “I think it is a jewel. I think it is an absolutely essential thing in the whole tennis ecosystem.”
  • Big plus: Blackburn is not just a tech executive — he’s a lifelong tennis player and fan who likely sees holes in the industry and the knowhow to fill them.
  • One nugget: Blackburn said Amazon nearly bought Tennis Channel a decade ago. Instead, Sinclair snagged it.

🎾 Djokovic out: On Tuesday, Novak Djokovic pulled out of next week’s Italian Open. As of now, no reason has been supplied. The decision comes in the middle of a three-match losing streak going into Roland-Garros.

  • Recently: After losing to Matteo Arnaldi 6-3, 6-4 in Madrid, Djokovic said: “It’s a completely different feeling from what I had in 20-plus years of professional tennis. It’s a challenge for me mentally to really face these kinds of sensations on the court, going out early now regularly in tournaments.”
  • The schedule: In 2025, Djokovic is playing tournaments he’s skipped in recent years — including Madrid. And now, he’s skipping a tournament he has routinely played and has won six times.
  • One question: Will Djokovic take a last-minute wild card into Geneva or Hamburg right before Roland-Garros?

🎾 Too clean on the dirt: For a top 5 player, Taylor Fritz hasn’t altered his game enough to be seriously competitive on clay. In his 7-5, 6-4 loss on Tuesday to Casper Ruud it became painfully clear that there’s just not enough action on the ball to hurt a good clay courter. Nothing gets up in the shoulder-height range to get weak replies. His ball is too straight and low, too short in the court, and too in the strike zone of his opponents. In other words, his ball is too clean for clay. Is this something he can change? The better question might be: Is it something he’s willing to change?

And, that’s game.

What They Said

Mohamed, remember when tennis was easy? Like five years ago it was super easy to play tennis. A bunch of random people in the top 50, barely moving. Now this guy is not even top 5, not even top 10. What the f*ck is that?

-Alexander Bublik to chair umpire Mohamed Lahyani during his fourth-round match against Jakub Mensik.

Watch This!

🔥 Mirra Andreeva vs. Coco Gauff (Quarterfinals WTA 1000 - Madrid): This is a battle you won’t want to miss. It’s a temperature check on Gauff, who is building steam in Madrid after a less-than-stellar start to the year. Expect Andreeva to force Gauff to play more balls to test her shot tolerance and give her many opportunities to miss. Gauff will oblige by using her legs to do the heavy lifting today, but her success — or failure — will likely come at the hands of her serve.

  • The record: Coco Gauff leads the head-to-head record over Mirra Andreeva 2-0. Both meetings came in 2023, well before Andreeva hit her stride.
  • On the line: Mirra Andreeva likes to project an attitude of feeling no pressure. This time she’s right. All the pressure is on Coco Gauff to keep the ball rolling in Madrid after a rocky few months. Still, Andreeva has a chance to break into the top 5 right below Gauff with a win — there’s little doubt she’s well aware of that opportunity.
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For real-time match commentary and conversation, follow Court Theory on Bluesky.

On The Radar

More tennis matches we’re monitoring today:

Madrid - WTA 1000 (Clay)

  • Madison Keys vs. Iga Swiatek (Quarterfinals)
  • Jack Draper vs. Tommy Paul (4th round)
  • Aryna Sabalenka vs. Marta Kostyuk (Quarterfinals)
  • Alex de Minaur vs. Lorenzo Musetti (4th round)
  • Frances Tiafoe vs. Matteo Arnaldi (4th round)
  • Moyuka Uchijima vs. Elina Svitolina (Quaterfinals)
  • Grigor Dimitrov vs. Gabriel Diallo (4th 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.