UTS favourites make a strong start at Victorian Plumbing UTS London Grand Final, but the competition remains wide open
Despite numerous changes in momentum across the four matches played, key favorites of the Victorian Plumbing UTS London Grand Final 2025 made a strong start at the Copper Box Arena on Friday, a day that marked the first round-robin matches of the competition.
The main upset was Casper Ruud’s loss in the sudden death of the session’s final match against Francisco Cerundolo (3-2: 12-11, 13-14, 11-15, 14-13, 4-2). This match-up featured the two latest winners of a UTS stage in the 2025 season.
Cerundolo remains undefeated in the UTS format following his win at the Hong Kong event seven weeks ago, making his success arguably less of a surprise.
The Argentinian won a nail-biting sudden death against the Bastide UTS Nîmes champion, after an intense battle full of winners at key moments, which left the Londonian crowd standing during the final rallies of the match.
Ruud took the result in stride: “First quarter, I was leading. He won. Second quarter, he was leading. I won. Fourth quarter was played at the deciding point. Tough and fun match to play. Of course, I wish I got the win, but he was able to hit some good winners towards the end and deserved the win.”
“I’m happy that I’m still undefeated,” Cerundolo added. “But it was a really tough match. It could have gone either way, but tennis is like this. This UTS format is like this.”
Still, the leader of Group B is Ugo Humbert, who returned to competition six weeks after his withdrawal in Basel with a commanding victory against David Goffin (3-1: 21-12, 18-17, 15-16, 17-15).
The Belgian will regret his 17-12 lead in the second quarter before losing 18-17, displaying some hesitancy when he had the opportunity to close out the segment. “It was tough to lose that one but I kept going to fight,” Goffin said. “I was really close to win the fourth. A point here and there still makes the difference at UTS.”
Humbert has a +2 quarter average while Cerundolo has a +1.
The two-time UTS winner Andrey Rublev and Alex De Minaur lead Group A after overcoming challenges against Tomas Machac and Adrian Mannarino, Rublev with a +3 difference and de Minaur with a +2.
Andrey Rublev was the only one to prevail in straight quarters on Friday (3-0: 14-13, 17-10, 18-15), which is a remarkable statement against Tomas Machac, one of the most efficient players ever in the UTS format (7 wins in 8 matches before the competition).
Rublev managed to dominate the Czech, who appeared with a bandage on his right knee, and prevailed with perfect composure when it mattered most.
Conversion rate on the Victorian Plumbing UTS card was also key for victory, as Machac missed all of his opportunities. “In my opinion, the bonus card made the difference at the end, it’s the main factor” Rublev summarized at the end.
Alex de Minaur had to showcase his ‘A-game’ to overcome Adrian Mannarino to avoid risking everything in an unpredictable Sudden Death (3-1: 13-12, 16-8, 11-12, 14-12). “I kind of knew there was going to be long exchanges where we both make each other move pretty well. Happy to have won against this tricky opponent”, De Minaur said.
Every player still has a chance to qualify during Super Saturday, which will feature eight matches in the same day. Pressure will be immense for Goffin (vs. Cerundolo), Mannarino (vs. Rublev), Ruud (vs. Humbert), and Machac (vs. De Minaur) in the afternoon session, starting at 1:00 pm, as they cannot risk a second defeat in a row.
The pinnacle of the Final Four race will be the last match of the night session between Alex de Minaur and Andrey Rublev, the two champions who arrived in London with the ambition to become the first triple winner of a Zeus trophy since the inception of UTS.
