👋 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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Let’s tennis!

Three Points

🎾 Men’s semifinals day: After an eventful day of women’s semifinals, it’s the men’s turn.

  • Taylor Fritz vs. Carlos Alcaraz: Right now, Alcaraz is the best player on grass, so Fritz has his work cut out for him, especially since he’s not taken a set off the defending champ in their two meetings. If Fritz is going to have a shot, he’ll need his best serving day as well as knowing when to go for winners from the baseline. Grinding from the baseline — even at a high pace — won’t be good enough to take Alcaraz down.
  • Jannik Sinner vs. Novak Djokovic: This match centers on one massive question: Is Novak Djokovic healthy to play? He took quite a spill at the end of his quarterfinal match and reportedly delayed yesterday’s practice session twice before sending his hitting partners home without practicing at all. He won’t be able to slow down Sinner’s pace on grass. So if he can’t keep up, it’s game over, and Sinner slides right into the final.

🎾 Two stunning matches: The pair of women’s semifinals on Thursday left us here at Court Theory HQ with our jaws dropped, each for their own reasons. Amanda Anisimova hung tough and took control of points in a way that Aryna Sabalenka rarely faces. And Iga Swiatek dominated in ways that we’re used to seeing on clay, but not on grass. It’s landed her in her first Wimbledon final; her previous best was making the quarterfinals once before.

  • Amanda Anisimova def. Aryna Sabalenka 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 [Highlights]
  • Iga Swiatek def. Belinda Bencic 6-2, 6-0 [Highlights]

🎾 On the hunt for a new coach: Emma Raducanu is searching for a new person to helm her team again, according to her interim coach Mark Petchey. His dual commitments between coaching and television commentating were expected to clash, forcing her to find a new coach at some point in the near future. That moment is now-ish.

  • What he said: “She’s practicing this week in London, and her next tournament is Washington, and she’ll stay in the States the whole time,” Petchey said on the Nothing Ventured podcast. “Our situation is a little fluid at the moment. I am going to help her this week as much as I can. I have some other commitments I can’t get out of...We are very aware she needs a second coach to come on board and maybe just one coach, not me, as well. All I am trying to do is facilitate the best possible environment for Emma to produce the tennis she can.”
  • Why it matters: Petchey has been a calming and stabilizing force for Raducanu, helping her rise 20 spots in the rankings in just a few months.