Young guns Rune and Draper to clash as groups announced for UTS Grand Final in London
Jack Draper “The Power” and Holger Rune “The Viking” are set to meet at the UTS Grand Final next month as a thrilling season draws to a close.
The two youngest contestants in the competition will clash in London’s group stage between December 15 and 17, with Draper making his debut and Rune returning after three years, having started his pro career as a 17-year-old with a single match in 2020.
Both players are huge hitters of the ball, with Rune having recently made the Nitto ATP Finals where he pushed finalists Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner to deciding sets, while Draper, who will be the home favourite, comes in off the back of a run to the final in Sofia and a narrow Davis Cup loss to Novak Djokovic’s Serbia.
The UTS Grand Final tournament will see the best eight players from the event this year competing in two groups of four, with the top two from each group moving on to the Final Four stage.
The groups for UTS London are as follows:
Group A
●Andrey “Rublo” Rublev
●Casper “The Iceman” Ruud
●Diego “El Peque” Schwartzman
●Benoit “The Rebel” Paire
Group B
●Holger “The Viking” Rune
●Jack “The Power” Draper
●Alexander “The Bublik Enemy” Bublik
●Gael “La Monf” Monfils
Rublev will enter Group A as the man to beat, having won the most recent UTS event in Frankfurt. Schwartzman will fancy his chances, however, having defeated Rublev 3-1 to hand the Russian his only defeat of the tournament, while Paire will try to take his revenge after his tough loss in the semi-final (3-0) in Germany.
All eyes will also be on a juicy rematch between Paire and Schwartzman as well in group play, as the pair met earlier this year at UTS Los Angeles, where Schwartzman won 3-2, with the match going to sudden death.
Here is the order of play for the event, occurring from 15th to 17th December:
DAY ONE – FRIDAY 15th
- 4pm – Schwartzman v Paire (Group A)
- 5pm – Rublev v Ruud (Group A)
- 6pm – Bublik v Monfils (Group B)
1h Break
- 8pm – Rublev v Schwartzman (Group A)
- 9pm – Rune v Draper (Group B)
- 10pm – Ruud v Paire (Group A)
DAY TWO – SATURDAY 16th
- 4pm – Rune v Bublik (Group B)
- 5pm – Draper v Monfils (Group B)
- 6pm – Ruud v Schwartzman (Group A)
1h Break
- 8pm – Rublev v Paire (Group A)
- 9pm – Rune v Monfils (Group B)
- 10pm – Draper v Bublik (Group B)
DAY THREE – SUNDAY 17th
- 4pm – Semi-Final 1
- 5pm – Semi-Final 2
- 6:30pm – Final
Fans with tickets for Friday or Saturday are guaranteed to see all players in action.