UTS Day 2: Berrettini remains hot, Paire hits his way into contention

The UTS continued its exciting play with a huge shift in the standings during Day 2. Here is a breakdown of Day 2 and a look ahead to next weekend for Day 3.

The Ultimate Tennis Showdown has wrapped up Day 2 and the rankings have begun to shift as some of the Showdown’s struggling players in Day 1 reversed course and put together solid showcases during Day 2.

The Underdog (Elliot Benchetrit) took his nickname to his core during his second match against The French Flair, Lucas Pouille. After taking the first set 16-11, Benchetrit fell behind 2 sets to 1. He came back in the clutch and took the final set 15-10. In the sudden death, the two split the opening two points before The Underdog claimed the needed two straight points.

The Rebel, AKA Benoit Paire, rebounded from his 3 sets to 1 loss to Stefanos Tsistsipas (The Greek God) with a high-scoring victory over The Artist, Dustin Brown. Brown narrowly edged Paire 19-18 in Set 1 before Paire shot out and won the final three sets of the match, 17-14, 18-15, 21-12. Paire had an astounding 24 winners in the final two sets and improved to 1-1 for the tournament overall.

Matteo Berrettini hammered his way to 2-0 as he pounded through David Goffin’s wall. This was the first match in the UTS so far where the fourth set was played only for “average purposes”. Berrettini took the first three sets 13-12, 20-8, and 18-9.  His nickname proved its worth and the Italian is soaring ahead of the pack after two strong days.

Alexei Popyrin, The Sniper took out Feliciano Lopez (The Torero) 3 sets to 1 during the fourth match of the day. The two played four close sets but Popyrin was ultimately the victor, taking the match 13-11, 14-17, 13-14, 12-15. He moves to 2-0 for the tournament and is nearly a lock to reach the final stage.

Easily the best match of the day came during the final bout between Greek God Stefanos Tsitsipas and the ever-so Virtuosic Richard Gasquet. The pair traded off set wins, with Tsitsipas taking the first 17-12. That was the furthest Gasquet would get, as he took the 2nd set 15-14, lost the third 15-12, and won the all-important final set 15-13 to force sudden death. There, they played the longest sudden-death tiebreak in the history of the UTS.

On match point, the pair engaged in a flurry of one-handed backhands before Gasquet put his in the net. While being a sour way to cap off the epic Day 2 finale, they left more than enough on the court and proved why the fast-paced format was truly a joy to watch.

Day 2 Standings

https://twitter.com/UTShowdown/status/1272663199897321472

With Berrettini staying hot and winning 3 sets to 1 for the second time, he takes the #1 overall spot in the standings from Tsitsipas. Popyrin is a big surprise here; he was in third place after Day 1 but looked to be decently far behind from hotshots Berrettini and Tstitsipas. However, after winning his Day 2 match three sets to one, he jumps over Tsitsipas and takes the #2 spot after the Greek God needed to go the distance (3 sets to 2) against Gasquet.

Gasquet, Paire, and Benchetrit round out the current quarterfinalists in 3rd, 4th, and 5th places. Lopez is on the outside due to his points average being lower than Benchetrit’s.

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Day 3 (Weekend 2) Lookahead and important notes

The most important note is regarding Elliot Benchetrit, who will not be playing and will be replaced by World #3 Dominic Thiem. Thiem will not inherit the young Frenchman’s record and will begin the weekend 0-0.

Match 1: The Torero (Feliciano Lopez) (1-1, 4-5) vs The Hammer (Matteo Berrettini) (2-0, 6-2)

Berrettini will look to stay hot next weekend and continue his strong play. He’ll face the up-and-down Lopez in the first match of Day 3 and aim to be the first player to hit 3-0 in the tournament.

Match 2: The Dominator (Dominic Thiem) (0-0) vs The Virtuoso (Richard Gasquet) (1-1, 5-5)

The Dominator makes his UTS debut here against Gasquet, looking to continue his dominance over the rest of the ATP Tour and start with a win against Gasquet. Gasquet has put together a strong showing so far and has proved his worth to the event in his two matches. We’ll see if he can defeat the UTS rookie in the second match of Day 3.

Match 3: The French Flair (Lucas Pouille) (0-2, 4-6) vs The Rebel (Benoit Paire) (1-1, 4-4)

Pouille is incredibly close to being 2-0, coming a total of 4 points away from doing so. After suffering two sudden death losses in a row, he’ll look to get on track with a win against Paire. Paire struggled against Tsitsipas on Day 1 but rebounded with a powerful Day 2 show. We’ll see how that translates on Day 3.

Match 4: The Artist (Dustin Brown) (0-2, 2-6) vs The Greek God (Stefanos Tsitsipas) (2-0, 6-3)

Brown and Tsitsipas are on opposite ends of the spectrum. Brown is heading into Day 3 as the last player in the standings after suffering two 3-1 losses in his first two matches. Alternatively, Tsitsipas put together two great performances, easily dispatching Paire during Day 1 and overcoming adversity and pressure to beat Gasquet in sudden death during Day 2. If Brown can somehow beat the Greek God, it’ll certainly shake up the standings heading into the final days of the tournament.

Match 5: The Sniper (Alexei Popyrin) (2-0, 6-2) vs The Wall (David Goffin) (0-2, 3-6)

Popyrin took over the 2nd spot in the rankings after winning his Day 2 match 3-1 over Lopez. He’s a strong contender to win the event overall and will aim at continuing his strong play vs Goffin. Goffin has struggled so far this tournament but has put enough on the court to come into this match with a solid chance to win.

Day 3 begins June 20th, with the first match beginning at 4:00 PM CEST: More exclusive Lob and Smash coverage and breakdowns of the event will continue tomorrow night.