Ultimate Tennis Showdown Round-Up and Saturday schedule: Rublev and Ruud shine on first day
ATPFriday, 04 April 2025 at 20:06
The opening day of the Ultimate Tennis Showdown featured the quarterfinals, where four players earned wins and will return to court on Saturday—followed by the final later the same day. This is the first time the tournament is held on clay courts, this time in Nîmes, France.
Friday drew a record 8,000 fans, who came to watch stars such as Andrey Rublev, Ben Shelton, and French favourites Gaël Monfils and Ugo Humbert. The small exhibition event is held over two days this time, leading up to the Monte Carlo Masters, which starts on Monday, 7 April.
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Rublev powers past Shelton
Score: 18–11, 20–7, 11–14, 19–7
Rublev (No. 9) came out on top in a tightly contested match against Ben Shelton (No. 14). The Russian—winner of titles like Monte Carlo and Madrid—looked right at home on the clay surface, making him the clear favourite over the American, who is typically more comfortable on hard courts.
Still, Shelton has been adapting well to clay, having won the ATP 250 Men’s Clay Court Championship a year ago.
Match Info:
Andrey Rublev - Ben Shelton
Start time (your time): Fri, 4 Apr, 7:30 PM
Court: Les Arènes de Nîmes
Tournament: UTS Nîmes, 2025
Round: Quarterfinal
Head-to-Head
| Rublev | Shelton | |
|---|---|---|
| H2H Record | ||
| Total Wins | 0 | 1 |
| Win Streak | 0 | 1 |
| Ranking | ||
| Official Ranking | 9 | 14 |
| Race Ranking | 21 | 7 |
| Live Ranking | ||
| Live Ranking | 9 | 14 |
| Live Race Ranking | 21 | 8 |
| Bios | ||
| Age | 27 (20 Oct 1997) | 22 (9 Oct 2002) |
| Birthplace | Moscow, Russia | Atlanta, Georgia, US |
| Residence | Moscow, Russia | Gainesville, Florida, US |
| Height | 6'2" (188cm) | - |
| Weight | 154lbs (70kg) | - |
| Plays | Right-handed (two-handed backhand) | Left-handed (two-handed backhand) |
| Turned Pro | 2014 | - |
| Coach | Marat Safin (Apr 2025-),, Alberto Martín | Bryan Shelton, Dean Goldfine (traveling coach) |
| YTD W/L | 8-7 (53%) | 9-6 (60%) |
| YTD Titles | 1 | - |
| Career Titles | 17 | 2 |
| Prize Money | US$28,278,104 - 18th all-time in earnings | US $6,231,742 |
| Past Meetings | ||
|
B Shelton d A Rublev ATP Basel - Quarterfinal7-5 | 6-7 | 6-4 25 Oct 2024 |
||
De Minaur silences French crowd, sweeps Humbert
Score: 15–14, 13–12, 17–9
Alex De Minaur (No. 01) had a smoother path, beating home player Ugo Humbert (No. 2) in straight sets. In UTS, sets are played on time, not points. De Minaur also faced a loud French crowd and delivered an impressive 97% first serve rate (in UTS, there's only one serve—miss it, and you lose the point).
Match Info:
Alex de Minaur - Ugo Humbert
Start time (your time): Fri, 4 Apr, 8:30 PM
Court: Les Arènes de Nîmes
Tournament: UTS Nîmes, 2025
Round: Quarterfinal
Head-to-Head
| de Minaur | Humbert | |
|---|---|---|
| H2H Record | ||
| Total Wins | 5 | 2 |
| Win Streak | 2 | 0 |
| Ranking | ||
| Official Ranking | 10 | 20 |
| Race Ranking | 8 | 29 |
| Live Ranking | ||
| Live Ranking | 10 | 20 |
| Live Race Ranking | 9 | 30 (-1) |
| Bios | ||
| Age | 26 (17 Feb 1999) | 26 (26 Jun 1998) |
| Birthplace | Sydney, New South Wales, Australia | Metz, France |
| Residence | Sydney, New South Wales, Australia,Alicante, Valencia, Spain | - |
| Height | 6'0" (183cm) | 6'2" (188cm) |
| Weight | 152lbs (69kg) | 159lbs (72kg) |
| Plays | Right-handed (two-handed backhand) | Left-handed (two-handed backhand) |
| Turned Pro | 2015 | 2016 |
| Coach | Adolfo Gutierrez, Peter Luczak | Fabrice Martin (2024–),, Jérémy Chardy (2022–2024) |
| YTD W/L | 16-6 (73%) | 9-4 (69%) |
| YTD Titles | - | 1 |
| Career Titles | 9 | 7 |
| Prize Money | US $16,435,900 | US $8,769,132 |
| Past Meetings | ||
|
A de Minaur d U Humbert ATP S-Hertogenbosch - Semifinal7-6 | 6-3 15 Jun 2024 |
||
|
A de Minaur d U Humbert Davis Cup -7-6 | 6-3 14 Sep 2023 |
||
|
U Humbert d A de Minaur ATP Atlanta - Quarterfinal7-6 | 6-3 29 Jul 2023 |
||
|
A de Minaur d U Humbert ATP Lyon - Round of 161-6 | 6-3 | 6-2 17 May 2022 |
||
|
A de Minaur d U Humbert ATP Barcelona - Round of 326-3 | 4-6 | 6-3 20 Apr 2022 |
||
|
A de Minaur d U Humbert ATP Cup -3-6 | 7-6 | 6-1 6 Jan 2022 |
||
|
U Humbert d A de Minaur ATP Antwerp - Final6-1 | 7-6 25 Oct 2020 |
||
Ruud dominates Popyrin
Score: 17–13, 20–6, 16–10
Casper Ruud is another player who is always dangerous on clay. A two-time finalist at Roland Garros, he has won 11 titles on the surface, including the ATP 500 Barcelona Open in 2024. The Norwegian had no issues dispatching Australian Alexei Popyrin in straight sets and has already shown he is eager to make an impact during the clay-court season. When Ruud finds his rhythm, he is capable of beating anyone on this surface. With Rafael Nadal absent and Novak Djokovic looking uncertain this year, Ruud no doubt feels capable of achieving something significant in this part of the season.
Match Info:
Casper Ruud - Alexei Popyrin
Start time (your time): Fri, 4 Apr, 9:30 PM
Court: Les Arènes de Nîmes
Tournament: UTS Nîmes, 2025
Round: Quarterfinal
Head-to-Head
| Ruud | Popyrin | |
|---|---|---|
| H2H Record | ||
| Total Wins | 0 | 0 |
| Win Streak | 0 | 0 |
| Ranking | ||
| Official Ranking | 6 | 28 |
| Race Ranking | 25 | 144 |
| Live Ranking | ||
| Live Ranking | 7 (-1) | 27 (+1) |
| Live Race Ranking | 26 (-1) | 148 |
| Bios | ||
| Age | 26 (22 Dec 1998) | 25 (5 Aug 1999) |
| Birthplace | Oslo, Norway | Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
| Residence | Snarøya, Norway | Australia |
| Height | 6'0" (183cm) | 6'5" (196cm) |
| Weight | 170lbs (77kg) | 170lbs (77kg) |
| Plays | Right-handed (two-handed backhand) | Right-handed (two-handed backhand) |
| Turned Pro | 2015 | 2017 |
| Coach | Christian Ruud, Pedro Clar Rosselló | Neville Godwin,, Xavier Malisse |
| YTD W/L | 9-4 (69%) | 2-6 (25%) |
| YTD Titles | - | - |
| Career Titles | 12 | 3 |
| Prize Money | US $22,805,249 - - 26th all-time in earnings | US$7,028,742 |
| Past Meetings | ||
|
First meeting |
||
Machac beats crowd favourite Monfils
Score: 16–10, 8–19, 19–7, 18–10
Tomas Machac bounced back from his unfortunate Miami Open retirement—where he withdrew before facing Jakub Mensik in the round of 16.
Now back on court in Nîmes for his first clay match of the year, the Czech took on Gaël Monfils, a fan favourite and regular at UTS events. Despite the loud French support, Machac came through with an impressive performance in the marquee match of the evening.
Match Info:
Tomas Machac - Gael Monfils
Start time (your time): Fri, 4 Apr, 10:30 PM
Court: Les Arènes de Nîmes
Tournament: UTS Nîmes, 2025
Round: Quarterfinal
Head-to-Head
| Machac | Monfils | |
|---|---|---|
| H2H Record | ||
| Total Wins | 0 | 0 |
| Win Streak | 0 | 0 |
| Ranking | ||
| Official Ranking | 21 | 42 |
| Race Ranking | 13 | 24 |
| Live Ranking | ||
| Live Ranking | 21 | 44 (-2) |
| Live Race Ranking | 13 | 25 (-1) |
| Bios | ||
| Age | 24 (13 Oct 2000) | 38 (1 Sep 1986) |
| Birthplace | Beroun, Czech Republic | Paris, France |
| Residence | Prague, Czech Republic | Geneva, Switzerland |
| Height | - | 6'3" (193cm) |
| Weight | - | 187lbs (85kg) |
| Plays | Right-handed (two-handed backhand) | Right handed (two-handed backhand) |
| Turned Pro | - | 2004 |
| Coach | Daniel Vacek | Mikael Tillström (2016–2018, 2023–), Thierry Champion (2004–2006), Tarik Benhabiles (2007–2008), Roger Rasheed (2008–2011), Patrick Chamagne (2011–2013), Jan de Witt (2015), Liam Smith (2019–2020),, Richard Ruckelshausen (2021–2023), Günter Bresnik (2021–2023) |
| YTD W/L | 13-2 (87%) | 13-4 (76%) |
| YTD Titles | 1 | 1 |
| Career Titles | 1 | 13 |
| Prize Money | US $3,790,105 | US $23,681,813 - 23rd all-time in earnings |
| Past Meetings | ||
|
First meeting |
||
Saturday’s Schedule (local time):
• 12:00 PM – Shelton vs Popyrin
• 1:00 PM – De Minaur vs Machac
• 2:00 PM – Ruud vs Rublev
• 3:00 PM – Monfils vs Humbert
• 4:15 PM – Final
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