👋 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: the Djokovic-Murray partnership is under the microscope, the women’s singles final, a disappointed Ben Shelton, plus more Australian Open news.
Let’s tennis!
Four Points
🎾 Booed in Australia, again: Novak Djokovic was booed after retiring from his semifinal match against Alexander Zverev. “People have come and paid for the tickets expecting a great match and a big fight, which they didn’t get. From that perspective, I can understand. I am doing my best to understand them, but I am not sure whether they understand me or if they even want to,” said Djokovic following his retirement. Booing players has gotten a bit out of control at majors in recent years, most notably in France where your big crime might be nothing more than not being...French. Australia is not far behind. Perhaps that’s just reserved for Djokovic.
🎾 Under review: The Andy Murray-Novak Djokovic partnership isn’t a guaranteed thing, apparently. Per Murray, the two are set for a post-AO evaluation: “Me and Novak agreed that after the tournament we would speak. We’ll do that.” Reaching the semifinals before having to retire with an injury isn’t a bad first outing. But for a player who has incredibly high standards, will that be considered enough?
🎾 Hits hard: Ben Shelton knew that if any opportunity came his way in his semifinal match against Jannik Sinner, he had to take advantage of it. But he didn’t. “Honestly, really disappointed,” said Shelton after the match. “You know going into the match that playing Jannik is a tough ask. For me, I’ve made my living on tour so far serving out sets. Having two set points on my serve, at 6-5, I feel like uncharacteristic for me not to come through and win that.” He added: “Obviously you’re playing the number one player in the world, the chances, the windows are always small. Sometimes you miss your window, and the guy steps up his level, starts making a lot more first serves, playing better. The break chances don’t come as often.”
🎾 Taylor wants another major: Taylor Townsend and Katerina Siniakova won their semifinal doubles match, giving the pair a chance to win a second major together in just half a year. “It’s a first for me, and that’s a pretty cool experience to be able to be on tour for 12 years and still have firsts,” Townsend said, adding, “One of the things I can say with full confidence is we’re playing better as a team over the last couple of weeks than we were doing a couple of months ago.” In other words: watch out, Hsieh Su-wei and Jelena Ostapenko!
And, that’s game.
Watch This!
🔥 Aryna Sabalenka vs. Madison Keys (Finals — Australian Open): This will be first-strike tennis at its finest. Expect huge serving and big groundies from both. There are some significant differences, though. The Sabalenka return of serve is a weapon not just because of what she can do with the ball but also because of her consistency in doing it. Sabalenka also has the ability to finish off points at the net, which Keys can struggle with if she’s not feeling confident.
Even without Keys wrapping her thigh, Sabalenka is a considerably better mover. To compensate, Keys may well have to go for lines a little more so she can dominate from the center of the court, which will result in more unforced errors. She’ll have to check that against her winner/forced error count.
In short, on paper, Sabalenka is the heavy favorite. But the momentum of not just winning but also a snowballing effect of confidence is on the side of Madison Keys. Mentally, she seems ready for something big.
- The record: Sabalenka decisively leads this head-to-head 4-1. Keys had her sole win in 2021 on the grass of Berlin. Although, at the 2023 U.S. Open, Keys had Sabalenka on the ropes, taking the first set 6-0 before losing in a pair of tiebreaks.
- On the line: Sabalenka sees the Australian Open as her tournament, and it’s hard to argue with her, given her two consecutive titles and a chance for a third. She wants to make that a reality as well as consolidate her spot on top of the WTA rankings. For Madison Keys, winning this match would represent a reward for all the changes she’s made in the last 12 months, proving to the world she belongs back in the top 10 — and, more importantly, that she ain’t done yet.
Keeping an Eye on...
- Bolelli/Vavassori vs. Heliovaara/Patten (Men’s doubles final — Australian Open)
- Henry Bernet vs. Benjamin Willwerth (Boys’ final — Australian Open)
- Wakana Sonobe vs. Kristina Penickova (Girls’ final — Australian Open)
Learn how to watch today’s action over at Tennis Watchers.
Read, Watch, Listen
- Australians won the mixed doubles title. Of course, that was a lot easier to pull off with an all-Aussie final.
- Emma Raducanu is looking for a new coach again after her current one needs to tend to an undisclosed health issue.
- Arina Rodionova announced her divorce and set up an OnlyFans account just before she takes court for qualifying in Singapore.
- Thanasi Kokkinakis was warned not to play in Russia due to sanctions against the country. He played anyway.
