👋 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: Resilience tempered with a bit of disappointment.

Let’s tennis!

Four Points

🎾 Taking your chance: If you haven’t been following the story of Valentin Vacherot, let’s get you caught up. The 26-year-old from Monaco, currently ranked 204 in the world, is into the semifinals of Shanghai after defeating Holger Rune on Thursday, 2-6, 7-6, 6-4. Before that, he took out Tallon Griekspoor, Tomas Machac, Alexander Bublik, and Laslo Djere.

  • Yes, but: But before all of that, he came through two rounds of qualifying, which he got into as an alternate. “I didn’t come as a qualifier, I came as an alternate. I wasn’t even sure I was going to play qualifying,” said Vacherot. “This is just unbelievable. The last win meant already so much to me. This one means even more.”
  • What they said: “But today I was shocked by how [Rune] was defending. Points that I would win against 90 per cent of the guys, for him it was just a random ball. I felt like I was coming in and would have an easy volley. So the first set was pretty physical. My lungs were screaming a little bit, but that helped me a lot for the second set, because I just went off to change and it helped me to play a little bit more free.”
  • Next: Vacherot will play Novak Djokovic in the semifinals of Shanghai.
  • The numbers: Regardless of the outcome against Djokovic, Vacherot will reach a career-high ranking inside the top 100 when the new rankings are released next week.
  • Fun fact: Vacherot is the cousin of Arthur Rinderknech, who is also having quite a tournament in Shanghai and faces Felix Auger-Aliassime in the quarterfinals on Friday.

🎾 Another wrap on 2025: Frances Tiafoe has pulled out of all the tournaments on his schedule for the remainder of the year, effectively ending his 2025 season. Tiafoe has given no reason thus far for the withdrawals from the tournaments in Brussels, Vienna, Paris, and Metz, but things have not been right for some time for the 27-year-old American.

  • A rough record: In his first six tournaments of the year, Tiafoe was unable to string two wins together. The season seemed to be turning around when he reached the final of the 250 event in Houston, but then he went back on the struggle bus for the European clay season until he reached the quarterfinals of Roland-Garros. From there, it was almost all downhill.
  • The numbers: After his quarterfinal run in Paris, Tiafoe reached a season high of No. 11 in the world. Now, he’s No. 28 and will be lucky to remain in the top 32, a critical cutoff for seeding at the Australian Open.
  • Recently: Over the last few months, I’ve noted that Tiafoe has looked lost and suggested he might benefit from adding another member to his team with more energy than David Witt’s calm demeanor offers.

🎾 The Big Five-Oh: After defeating Nuno Borges in Shanghai on Wednesday, Alex de Minaur hit a personal record of collecting 50 wins in a single season. That makes him the third man on the ATP Tour to do so this year, following Carlos Alcaraz and Taylor Fritz. “For me, it just shows consistency and that is what I am most proud of,” de Minaur said of his accomplishment. “Showing up every single week, and it is an amazing number.”

  • What he said: The achievement comes at a time when so many other players are retiring from matches and/or underperforming in difficult conditions — something de Minaur said he was mentally prepared for. “I told myself at the start of the week it was all going to be a big mental effort to go out there and compete,” said de Minaur. “I am happy to be in the quarterfinals and give myself another opportunity.”
  • Next: Alex de Minaur faces Daniil Medvedev in the quarterfinals of Shanghai on Friday. A win would move him up a spot in the rankings to No. 6.

🎾 Queen of Threes: Jessica Pegula defeated Katerina Siniakova in Wuhan on Thursday in yet another three-set battle, 7-5, 3-6, 6-3.

  • What she said: “I can’t remember the last time I played two sets,” Pegula said. “But I’ve been competing really hard, and I’ve been playing a lot of really good players. It was different conditions today with the roof closed, and I think it took us a little while to get adjusted.”
  • For the record: Her last two-set match was in the first round of Beijing when she defeated Ajla Tomljanovic, putting her on a six-match three-set streak.
  • Next: Pegula faces Katerina Siniakova in the quarterfinals of Wuhan.