👋 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.

On tap today, we’ve got: the essence of Fred Stolle’s greatness, Osaka needs more time, Reilly Opelka making more excuses, Naomi Osaka faces “a bump in the road,” and more in today’s tennis news.

Let’s tennis!

Three Points

🎾 In memoriam: On Wednesday, our sport lost one of its greats, Fred Stolle. The 86-year-old Australian who took up the United States as his home was great for many reasons. But for those of us who missed his playing career, his greatness came in the form of generosity of spirit. What he saw as a kind of duty to give to players and fans made an immeasurable difference in our sport. And, if you read the obituary by Richard Evans in The Guardian, you’ll understand exactly why that was such a triumph.

🎾 A little more time for Osaka: Naomi Osaka’s first-round loss to Camila Osorio in straight sets may be more of a sting to her fans than the former world number one, who called it “a bump in the road.” It was Osaka’s first match since retiring at the Australian Open — a factor she said played a role in the outcome of the match.

  • What she said: “[I]t feels really weird, because I do think I did well in Australia. It feels like a little bit of a stopping/starting again. So I think it would have been really helpful to play more matches coming into this tournament, but obviously I couldn’t,” said Osaka. “The same thing kind of goes with my tennis today. Like, there were certain things that felt extremely off, because I could only start practice serving after a certain amount of time and stuff like that. So I think given the situation, it wasn’t that terrible, but, like, I would have liked to win and continue playing the tournament.”

🎾 Lame excuses: Indian Wells wild card Reilly Opelka bowed out in the first round on Wednesday to Roman Safiullin. Despite leading in the first set 5-2, the American lost in straight sets 7-5, 6-4. At 1-1 in the second set, Opelka began complaining of low visibility and refused to play. After the chair umpire told him to continue, he claimed needing medical treatment: “Call me the physio then; I had four surgeries on my wrist.” For that false claim, he was given an unsportsmanlike conduct warning. As this drama played out, the lights came on, and Opelka served out the game. Shortly after, a physio came out. But Opelka decided he no longer needed treatment.

  • If you’re keeping track at home: This is the umpteenth run-in Opelka has had with officials since returning to competition last year, including one last month in Dallas that really takes the cake.
  • Lately: Opelka has gone on a strange anti-doubles crusade in recent weeks, calling for the “failed singles players” to be eliminated from pro tennis. Maybe Opelka should concentrate on getting his own affairs in order. What he’s putting on display right now doesn’t exactly scream “successful tennis player.”