👋 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.

New to Court Theory? Sign up for free!

Let’s tennis!

Three Points

🎾 One final push: Here we are in the final week of preparation before Wimbledon, with events in Bad Homburg, Eastbourne, and Mallorca. Most players would prefer a week off before a major, but with just three weeks between the end of Roland-Garros and the start of Wimbledon, ain’t nobody got time for that. Here’s what the top players have on deck this week, including some who are just now playing their first grass events.

  • Top ten WTA players in action: Jessica Pegula, Jasmine Paolini, Mirra Andreeva, Iga Swiatek, and Emma Navarro — all in Bad Homburg.
  • Top ten ATP players in action: Ben Shelton (Mallorca); Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul (Eastbourne).

🎾 Meanwhile, at Roehampton: Wimbledon qualifying kicks off today on the grounds of Roehampton, where 128 men and 128 women will give it their best to land one of the 16 spots in each of the main draws. Men’s action begins today, and women’s matches start tomorrow. In the U.S., all of it can be watched on ESPN+.

🎾 Watch my handshake: There was a spicy moment at the net between Maria Sakkari and (you’ll never believe this) Yulia Putintseva. After Sakkari won their first-round match on Sunday at the Bad Homburg Open, she confronted Putintseva over her signature no-look handshake. That led Putintseva to respond with a mocking bow, to which Sakkari said: “Just be like a human being.”

  • And then things went off the rails. “Go fuck yourself,” Putintseva replied. “Fucking hell, I’m what?” Sakkari shot back, adding: “Nobody likes you. When you shake hands, look at the other person in the eye.”
  • Next: When asked about the incident during the on-court interview, Sakkari said: “Let me leave it here and say that I have a respect (for) her as a player but that’s it.”
  • And after that: Putintseva took to social media to show instances in which Sakkari didn’t make eye contact while shaking hands at the net.