👋 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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On tap today: More Wimbledon chaos, Alexander Zverev says he’s very lonely, Holger Rune’s garage sale runs out of rackets, Emma Raducanu takes on Marketa Vondrousova, plus more in today’s tennis news.

Let’s tennis!

Three Points

🎾 More wild grass: Day Two of Wimbledon didn’t ease up on the chaos front. Thirteen seeds — including more than a few top 10 players — dropped on the second day of play. That means a total of 23 seeds have fallen in the first round. Say a prayer for round two.

  • Women’s upsets: Dayana Yastremska def. Coco Gauff 7-6, 6-1; Elisabetta Cocciaretto def. Jessica Pegula 6-2, 6-3; Katerina Siniakova def. Qinwen Zheng 7-5, 4-6, 6-1; Victoria Mboko def. Magdalena Frech 6-3, 6-2; Elsa Jacquemot def. Magda Linette 6-7, 6-1, 6-4; Xinyu Wang def. Karolina Muchova 7-5, 6-2; Veronika Erjavec def. Marta Kostyuk 3-6, 6-3, 6-4;
  • Men’s upsets: Arthur Rinderknech def. Alexander Zverev 7-6, 6-7, 6-3, 6-7, 6-4; Nikolaz Basilashvili def. Lorenzo Musetti 6-2, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1; Gael Monfils def. Ugo Humbert 6-4, 3-6, 6-7, 7-5, 6-2; Miomir Kecmanovic def. Alex Michelsen 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6; Jaume Munar def. Alexander Bublik 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6, 6-2; Mariano Navone def. Denis Shapovalov 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-4

🎾 Lonesome loser: After Alexander Zverev joined the long list of seeds dropping in the first round by losing to Arthur Rinderknech of France, he let out a series of thoughts about his general mental state.

  • What he said: “I'm trying to find ways, trying to find ways to kind of get out of this hole. I keep kind of finding myself back in it in a way,” he said. “I feel, generally speaking, quite alone in life at the moment, which is a feeling that is not very nice.”
  • And...: “I’ve been through a lot of difficulties in the media. I’ve been through a lot of difficulties in life, generally. I’ve never felt this empty before. Just lacking joy, just lacking joy in everything that I do. It’s not necessarily about tennis. Just lacking joy outside of tennis, as well.”
  • Yes, but: The difficulties he’s referring to, of course, are all related to the domestic abuse accusations against him. He assumed that because the matter was settled legally, it would mean the cloud of it would go away. In fact, matters were only made worse. Spectators, even in his home country of Germany, regularly heckle him in matches. It’s a feeling he should probably get used to, because it won’t likely end by the time the 28-year-old retires.

🎾 Sorry, folks: Last week, we called out an online garage sale of sports that Holger Rune had put together, in which he’s selling some used gear. Some of that gear has rubbed his sponsor, Babolat, the wrong way.

  • What they said: “We are in talks with his agent. Obviously, it is not our intention to promote broken rackets. We must be consistent with our values, so we are working on this issue with his representatives,” Marion Cornu, Tennis Business Leader at Babolat, told Clay.
  • The latest: On Tuesday, the rackets had been removed from the shop, but reps from the Team Rune insist Babolat never contacted them.

And, that’s game.

What They Said

I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think I have a chance. I think I always have a chance. I think I earned my right to really feel like I can go all the way to the title. I always felt like grass, particularly in the second part of my career, was really the surface where I played my best tennis. So why not do it again?

-Novak Djokovic on his chances of winning Wimbledon.

Watch This!

🔥 Emma Raducanu vs. Marketa Vondrousova (2nd round - Wimbledon): Watch this one for the electric atmosphere on Center Court. A Brit who loves grass with the backing of the home crowd taking on the champ from just two years ago? Come on! Given the circumstances, it’s hard to say who has the edge on this one. But if the rain in the area forces the roof to be closed, Vondrousova’s serve could be the deciding factor.

  • The record: Marketa Vondrousova leads the head-to-head record over Emma Raducanu. Raducanu won their only meeting on grass at Wimbledon in 2021.
  • On the line: This match isn’t about ranking points. These two are gaining momentum on their respective journeys back to the top of tennis. This match represents their opportunity to continue that momentum. A loss for either will be nothing short of disappointing.

On The Radar

More tennis matches we’re monitoring today:

Wimbledon - WTA (Grass)

  • Olga Danilovic vs. Madison Keys (2nd round)
  • Viktoriya Tomova vs. Sonay Kartal (2nd round)
  • Aliaksandra Sasnovich vs. Elina Svitolina (2nd round)
  • Leylah Fernandez vs. Laura Siegemund (2nd round)
  • Eva Lys vs. Linda Noskova (2nd round)
  • Ashlyn Krueger vs. Anastasia Pablyuchenkova (2nd round)
  • Elise Mertens vs. Ann Li (2nd round)
  • Diana Shnaider vs. Diane Parry (2nd round)

Wimbledon - ATP (Grass)

  • Cameron Norrie def. Frances Tiafoe (2nd round)
  • Taylor Fritz vs. Gabriel Diallo (2nd round)
  • Nuno Borges vs. Billy Harris (2nd round)
  • Arthur Fery vs. Luciano Darderi (2nd round)
  • Andrey Rublev vs. Lloyd Harris (2nd round)
  • Botic van de Zandschulp vs. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (2nd round)
  • Joao Fonseca vs. Jenson Brooksby (2nd round)
  • Kamil Majchrzak vs. Ethan Quinn (2nd round)
  • Nicolas Jarry vs. Learner Tien (2nd round)
  • Cristian Garin vs. Arthur Rinderknech (2nd round)
  • Felix Auger-Aliassime vs. Jan-Lennard Struff (2nd round)

📺 Learn how to watch today’s action over at Tennis Watchers.

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