👋 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: A first for Qinwen Zheng, Alexander Zverev blames everybody but himself, Nick Kyrgios is returning sooner than we thought, Carlos Alcaraz has a different mindset, Casper Ruud takes on Jannik Sinner, plus more in today’s tennis news.

Let’s tennis!

Three Points

🎾 A first: After six straight losses to Aryna Sabalenka, Qinwen Zheng picked up her first-ever win over the world number one in the quarterfinals of Rome on Wednesday. In a convincing straight-setter, Zheng hit a stunning 22 winners, while making Sabalenka implode with nearly 30 unforced errors.

  • What she said: “All this time I’m trying to beat her on court,” Zheng said in a news conference after the match. “Sometimes I’m really close, but it’s just I never make it before. This is the first time we play on clay. I guess when I play on clay, I’m more comfortable because I got great experience on clay.”
  • And what she said: “Shut the f*** up,” Sabalenka hurled at the crowd, earning her a code violation.
  • Next: Zheng faces Coco Gauff in the semifinals on Thursday.

🎾 Salty loss: In his final tournament before heading into Roland-Garros, Alexander Zverev once again fell well short of his seeding — this time in straight sets to Lorenzo Musetti. Per usual, the world number two side-stepped responsibility for his play in the post-match press conference and offered a long list of excuses for the loss, including taking a shot at his opponent. Other bits were plain, flat out wacky.

  • On Musetti’s play: “He depends a lot on defense. He depends a lot on the mistakes from other opponents.” That’s a pretty wild accusation from somebody who routinely plays gutless tennis, especially given the fact that Musetti hit 20 winners in two sets against him.
  • Delusions: “Of course, for me, for my game style, today was not easy because at the end of the day I’m still somebody that tries to play aggressive. I’m still somebody that tries to serve very fast. That’s how it is. It’s difficult to get free points today.” Yes, Zverev did come to the net with more frequency than usual (which came across more as desperation than strategy). But, for most of the match, Zverev was so much on defense near the backdrop that Musetti dropshotted him to death — sometimes with balls that landed at the service line.
  • Balls: “Balls were a joke today. Generally speaking this is a subject we’ve had over the last three, four years now. Players are talking about it all the time.” He’s not wrong about the complaints. But he didn’t seem to complain when he won his first two matches.

🎾 Kyrgios returns: Last week, Nick Kyrgios announced he was returning for the grass season — something most took with a grain of salt, given his on-and-off again relationship with tennis. However, on Thursday, he upped the date of his return to Roland-Garros, a tournament he hasn’t played since 2017. Kyrgios will enter the doubles event with fellow Aussie Jordan Thompson after his partner Max Purcell is on hold after accepting an 18-month doping suspension.

  • What he said: “The French Open was never really in the cards, but after the stuff with Max Purcell, Jordan was looking for a partner and he asked me if I wanted to play,” Kyrgios told The Canberra Times. “We played at the French Open before, so it’ll be good to get out there and play with another fellow Aussie and have a bit of fun.” He added: “Me and [coach] James [Frawley] have been on the court pretty much every single day. I’m hitting the ball well, it’s just a matter of playing matches...With this part of my career I’m excited to travel the world and do some fun things whilst I’m out there.”

And, that’s game.

What They Said

I tried not to think that it was a really important match. I was just trying to go there and play, trying to enjoy playing that match, not thinking about the results at all...I just tried to do the shots in the game that I like playing, that I like to do. Try to smile, have joy on the court. That for me was the most important thing that I was trying to think during the whole match.

-Carlos Alcaraz on his mindset shift against Jack Draper.

Watch This!

🔥 Jannik Sinner vs. Casper Ruud (Quarterfinals ATP 1000 - Rome): This is a temperature check match for both players, who are top contenders for Roland-Garros. Sinner has faced a couple of tough clay court players thus far, but Ruud is a step above those earlier rounds. At the same time, Ruud is facing a top five opponent for only the second time this year (the first time was last week against Fritz on perhaps his least favorite surface). Who wins this one? Hard to say, but Ruud might have a slight advantage due to his recent form and Sinner’s lack of play.

  • The record: Jannik Sinner leads the head-to-head record over Casper Ruud, 3-0. However, all of those matches came on indoor hard courts — a surface far from Ruud’s favorite.
  • On the line: All the pressure is on Sinner, who is looking to get more matches under his belt after his doping suspension. He’s also aiming to change the topic from his suspension to returning to his winning ways. The best way to do that is to at least make the final in Rome, if not win it.
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On The Radar

More tennis matches we’re monitoring today:

Rome - WTA 1000 (Clay)

  • Jasmine Paolini vs. Peyton Stearns (Semifinals)
  • Qinwen Zheng vs. Coco Gauff (Semifinals)

Rome - ATP 1000 (Clay)

  • Hubert Hurkacz vs. Tommy Paul (Quarterfinals)

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

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For real-time match commentary and conversation, follow Court Theory on Bluesky.