The
Ultimate Tennis Showdown Finals will kick off in a week, running from December
6 to December 8, in one of the most prominent exhibition tournaments of recent
years. Created by Patrick Mouratoglou, the event will feature players like
Denis Shapovalov,
Holger Rune, and
Andrey Rublev as its main stars.
The UTS
unfolds through multiple events in major cities throughout the year, involving
some of the best ATP players. Results from the season have determined the eight
players qualified for the final event of the year, with the competitors divided
into two groups.
The first
edition of the year was held in Oslo at the beginning of February, with Rublev
emerging as the champion after defeating
Alex de Minaur in the final. This
time, both players are the highest-ranked participants and will lead their
respective groups. Later, in August, just before the US Open,
Gael Monfils
claimed the title by defeating
Alexander Bublik in the final, with both
securing qualification for the year-end event. Finally, in October,
Ugo Humbert
became the last player to win a championship, defeating Dominic Thiem in the
final.
Today, the
two groups for the tournament and the match schedule were revealed. After the
Round Robin matches on Friday and Saturday, the top two players from each group
will advance to Sunday’s semifinals and the grand final in London.
Andrey
Rublev leads Group A, joined by Ugo Humbert, Gael Monfils, and Thanasi
Kokkinakis. Meanwhile, Group B is headed by Alex de Minaur, accompanied by
Alexander Bublik, Holger Rune, and Denis Shapovalov.
Group A
Andrey
‘Rublo’ Rublev (1)
Ugo ‘The
Commander’ Humbert (4)
Gael ‘La
Monf’ Monfils
Thanasi
‘Kokki’ Kokkinakis (WC)
Group B
Alex ‘The
Demon’ De Minaur (2)
Alexander
‘The Bublik Enemy’ Bublik (3)
Holger ‘The
Viking’ Rune (WC)
Denis
‘Shapo’ Shapovalov (WC)
Order of
Play
December
6th:
- 5pm – Humbert (4) v Kokkinakis
GROUP A
- 6pm – Bublik (3) v Shapovalov
GROUP B
- 7pm -All Star Game, all eight
players
- 8pm – De Minaur (2) v Rune
GROUP B
- 9pm
– Rublev (1) v Monfils GROUP A
December 7th (afternoon):
- 1pm
– De Minaur (2) v Shapovalov GROUP B
- 2pm
– Monfils v Kokkinakis GROUP A
- 3pm
– Bublik (3) v Rune GROUP B
- 4pm
– Rublev (1) v Humbert (4) GROUP A
December 8th (evening):
- 6pm
– De Minaur (2) v Shapo GROUP B
- 7pm
– Humbert (4) v Monfils GROUP A
- 8pm
– Rublev (1) v Kokkinakis GROUP A
- 9pm
– Rune vs Shapovalov GROUP B