👋 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.
Let’s tennis!
Three Points
🎾 More change, more problems: The ATP has announced changes for the 2026 calendar. Changes the ATP points out include: Estoril rejoins the calendar as an ATP 250 event in July, Marseille ATP 250 moves from February to October, Stockholm ATP 250 moves from October to November, and Metz ATP 250 has been removed from the calendar. On the whole, it seems like real consideration has been paid to player concerns while still moving forward toward to a unified ‘super tour. Still, 24 weeks will be spent on majors and 1000 tournaments alone. What kind of pressure will that put on top players when it comes to smaller tournaments, Davis Cup, and other team events? We’ll have to wait and see.
🎾 CAS strikes again: The Court of Arbitration for Sport reduced the suspension of Swedish player Dragos Madaras from four years and six months to two years after he refused to cooperate in an anti-corruption investigation. The CAS acknowledged the wrongdoing but didn’t feel the punishment fit the crime — something worth noting as Jannik Sinner faces his own case is set to be evaluated this spring.
🎾 Don’t call it a comeback: Petra Kvitova, one of the WTA Tour’s most beloved players of all time, announced on Monday that she’s returning to the tour — and pronto! Kvitova said she will be playing in Austin later this month and plans to play in the Sunshine Double, as well. In a video posted on Instagram, the new mom said “I can’t wait to see all my fans, all around the world,” adding, “Thank you very much for supporting me. It will be a nice journey, and I can’t wait.” Before leaving the tour, Kvitova finished 2023 at number 14 in the WTA rankings after winning titles that year in Miami and Berlin.
