Lob and Smash
Fansided

UTS Day 5: 4-0 sweeps galore, Berrettini remains at the top

By Brandon Daniels

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - JANUARY 15: Matteo Berrettini of Italy plays a backhand in his Men’s Singles match against Marc Polmans of Australia during day two of the 2020 Kooyong Classic at Kooyong on January 15, 2020 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Mike Owen/Getty Images)
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - JANUARY 15: Matteo Berrettini of Italy plays a backhand in his Men’s Singles match against Marc Polmans of Australia during day two of the 2020 Kooyong Classic at Kooyong on January 15, 2020 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Mike Owen/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

The third weekend of the UTS started off with three 4-0 sweeps and closed with a clutch performance by one of the event’s best. Here’s a recap of Day 5.

Match #1: The Tornado (Corentin Moutet) def. The Artist (Dustin Brown) 4-0

Dustin Brown is through 5 days of UTS play and has yet to win a match. He’s played 20 quarters and has only managed to win three of them. His point differential is by far the worst in the event at -120 and is just a shade under double of Benoit Paire’s -66.

Moutet, on the other hand, has put together a solid showing at the event since arriving last weekend. In his three matches, he’s +44 in points, which ranks third behind Matteo Berrettini and Stefanos Tsitsipas. After losing three quarters to one to Benoit Paire in his first match, he’s beaten both Alexei Popyrin and Dustin Brown 4-0.

Moutet outclassed the struggling Brown throughout the entire match. With him trending up and Brown trending ever-further downwards, his win wasn’t surprising.

Match #2: The Sniper (Alexei Popyrin) def. The Rebel (Benoit Paire) 4-0

Popyrin broke out of his slump here against Paire. He lost both of his matches last weekend 4-0 (to Goffin and Berrettini) and was looking like he was taking himself out of the running for the finals in two weeks. He rebounded, however, and proved why he’s still in contention with a dominating win.

Paire has been the biggest up-and-down player in this event so far. He lost three quarters to one in his first match on June 14th to Tsitsipas, then put together two 3-1 wins on Days 2 and 3. He finished off last weekend with a 4-0 loss to Berrettini and now sits at -66 in points after his streaky performances.

Popyrin ran up the score on Paire, winning 76 to The Rebel’s 51. Paire only converted 48% of his first serves, which simply isn’t going to cut it.

Match #3: The Hammer (Matteo Berrettini) def. The Virtuoso (Dustin Brown) 4-0

Berrettini has been the UTS’ best player by far. He’s broken out with a 14-6 set advantage and hasn’t lost since the very first day of the tournament. He’s virtually a lock for the finals and will be very difficult to beat moving forward.

This is a surprising result coming from Gasquet who, up until this point, had the best quarters won record (12/6). He’s been consistently among the best after an opening weekend loss but took a slight step back here against Berrettini.

Apart from the second quarter (which Berrettini won 21-11), Gasquet played a very close match but wasn’t able to put together a winning quarter. A 13-12 first-quarter loss and 12-11 second-quarter sealed the results.

More from Tennis News

Match #4: The Greek God (Stefanos Tsitsipas) def. The Torero (Feliciano Lopez) 3-2

Tsitsipas certainly had to work for this one. Coming into the match, he was ranked 3rd and certainly needed this match to cushion himself against those below him. He and Berrettini are the two most likely candidates that will be standing in two weeks.

Lopez has been steadily average with a few good moments so far. Entering into his second weekend, he’s gotten the ground under him and could be a surprise top-four finisher. Currently, Popyrin sits in that spot but given his 3-2 match record and 10-10 quarter record (including a negative points differential), it’s very possible for Lopez to sneak in.

Lopez ran out with an early lead, taking the first two quarters 16-13 and 16-14. Tsitsipas eeked out a 13-12 3rd quarter win to keep his chances alive. The final point was at 12-12 with no time left, where Tsitsipas teed up a clutch serve to keep himself in it. He followed that up with a 16-11 win in the 4th. Lopez’s gas ran out after two quarters it seemed; Tsitsipas had no problem taking him down in the day’s only sudden death. The Greek God now sits at 4-1 in matches.

Match #5: The Dominator (Dominic Thiem) def. The Wall (David Goffin) 3-1

After losing his first-ever UTS match last weekend, Thiem has hit the ground running in his last two. He took down Tsitsipas last Sunday three sets to one and is definitely on the rise. If Thiem gets into the top four, he’ll be dangerous. However, due to his late start, he’s on the outside looking in.

Goffin is right on the cut line and this loss didn’t improve his chances. It dropped him to 2-3 and put his point differential at +2, which isn’t a good enough number to win a tiebreaker at this rate. He’ll have to finish strongly tomorrow and next weekend if he wants to get into the top four.

Thiem comfortably took the first three sets and was the winner before the fourth set even began (15-10, 16-10, 13-10). Goffin took the last 16-14, which did help his averages a bit but not enough to call it a statistical victory.

Post-Day 5 Rankings

  1. Matteo Berrettini (4-1, 14-6, +59)
  2. Stefanos Tsitsipas (4-1, 13-9, +59)
  3. Richard Gasquet (3-2, 12-10, +28)
  4. Alexei Popyrin (3-2, 10-10, -13)
  5. Corentin Moutet (2-1, 9-3, +44)
  6. Dominic Thiem (2-1, 7-5, +7)
  7. Feliciano Lopez (2-3, 12-11, +8)
  8. David Goffin (2-3, 11-11, +2)
  9. Benoit Paire (2-3, 7-13, -66)
  10. Dustin Brown (0-5, 3-17, -120)

Berrettini and Tsitsipas are at the tops of their games and, barring any unforeseen collapses next weekend, will be locked into at least the top 4. Gasquet, despite his 0-4 loss today, looks to be a solid contender for the top 4 given his above-average point differential.

The big question as the “postseason” of the UTS nears is regarding the 4th spot. Popyrin is currently there but given his shaky play last weekend, it’s safe to assume he might not hold up. Moutet and Thiem look like the most likely candidates.

Next. UTS is the perfect example of what "COVID Tennis" should be. dark

The Frenchman has been playing very well as of late and could carry his momentum into the fourth spot. On the other hand, Thiem looks warmed up to the new UTS format and has rattled off two convincing wins in a row. If he gets in, he’ll be dangerous.

Home/Tournaments