👋 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.
Let’s tennis!
Three Points
🎾 Venus is headed to the desert: On Wednesday, Indian Wells tournament organizers announced wild cards for the event next month. Among them was Venus Williams, the 44-year-old who told us she would never inform us of her retirement so it’s always a bit of a question as to whether or not we’ll see her again. Cue all the typical comments about how she should get off the tour and stop taking wild cards. Others include Petra Kvitova, Joao Fonseca, and Learner Tien.
🎾 Another data point on Rybakina-Vukov: On the newest episode of her podcast, Rennae Stubbs said Stefano Vukov attempted to silence his critics with legal action after she made it clear to the WTA that Vukov was a problematic coach on tour. “He came after me and wanted to sue me, okay, for saying things about him that were true, that have been now investigated for years are now true,” the six-time Grand Slam doubles champion said. “I have seen him yelling at her, I could have been one of those witnesses. And I probably was one of those witnesses because they interviewed me years ago about him because I made comments on this podcast years ago about him.”
🎾 Tennis is still growing: For the fifth straight year, tennis participation has grown, according to the USTA. It puts the organization’s goal of reaching 35 million participants by 2035 within reach. Along with the findings, the USTA also announced more than $10 million in grants and other funding to refurbish and build tennis courts across the country — a 10x increase over last year’s commitment.
And, that’s game.
What They Said
I’d say that for the last couple of years, I’m not doing well in the Middle East. I believe we need to change something in the preparation ... because every time I don’t feel well playing here...Even health-wise I’m struggling. Australia always taking a lot of energy out of me...I believe that I’m not that hungry on court. I’m kind of like all over the place in my thoughts and not consistent. The decisions I’m making on the court are a bit wrong and emotionally I’m not on my best.
-Aryna Sabalenka on her the Middle East swing following her loss to Clara Tauson.
Watch This!
🔥 Matteo Berrettini vs. Jack Draper (Quarterfinals ATP 500 - Doha): This is a ball-strikers dream match-up. Both Berrettini and Draper have some of the best striking capabilities on tour from all parts of the court. Both of them know that, too, so expect them to look for an increasing number of opportunities to close off points at the net as the match wears on.
- The record: Jack Draper leads the head-to-head record over Matteo Berrettini 1-0. That match came last year in the final of Stuttgart last year on grass in a three-set thriller.
- On the line: Both players feel like they have something to prove at the moment. For Draper, it’s his fitness level while maintaining his playing level. Meanwhile, Berrettini wants to show that the level he exhibited in beating Djokovic wasn’t a fluke and that he belongs at the top of the game instead of his current ranking of 35.
On The Radar
- Mirra Andreeva vs. Iga Swiatek (Quarterfinals WTA 1000 - Dubai)
- Clara Tauson vs. Linda Noskova (Quarterfinals WTA 1000 - Dubai)
- Elena Rybakina vs. Sofia Kenin (Quarterfinals WTA 1000 - Dubai)
- Andrey Rublev vs. Alex de Minaur (Quarterfinals ATP 500 - Doha)
- Felix Auger-Aliassime vs. Daniil Medvedev (Quarterfinals ATP 500 - Doha)
- Francisco Cerundolo vs. Luciano Darderi (3rd round ATP 500 - Rio)
- Alexandre Muller vs. Tomas Martin Etcheverry (3rd round ATP 500 - Rio)
Learn how to watch today’s action over at Tennis Watchers.
Read, Watch, Listen
- Steve Tignor revisits Arthur Ashe’s Wimbledon victory 50 years later.
- For The Guardian, Emma John penned an important piece about the many ways the Emma Raducanu stalker case exemplifies how women on the tour (and beyond) have to deal with harassment, abuse, and misogyny — and how horrifically it’s contextualized.
- Daniil Medvedev revealed he has different rackets — not just different string set ups — in his bag for different situations.
- Camilo Ugo Carabelli is trying to make his way into the quarterfinals of Rio as a lucky loser ranked just inside the top 100 — and if it goes three sets, the money is on him no matter who is across the net.
- Laver Cup has announced some of its participants for San Francisco this year ahead of Friday’s ticket sales.
- Maybe we can get over the U.S. Open mixed doubles fiasco if Mirra Andreeva gets to play with Andy Murray. Maybe.
