Elliot Benchetrit to replace injured Dustin Brown in UTS
Dustin Brown, “The Artist”, has been forced to pull out of Sunday’s action at Ultimate Tennis Showdown because of an ankle injury. The World no 239 will be replaced by Elliot Benchetrit, Dominic Thiem’s alternate during UTS’ first weekend.
Dustin Brown, UTS 2020
The German, whose trick shots and charisma were a highlight of the first two weekends of the revolutionary new format held at the Mouratoglou Academy in the South of France, will be replaced on Sunday by another Frenchman, Elliot Benchetrit. He’s suffering from the right ankle injury. Brown is in doubt for the rest of UTS. He will have an MRI on Sunday or Monday to know the extent of his injury and if he could play next weekend.
Brown had lost all of his five matches at the UTS, the latest a 4-0 defeat by Frenchman Corentin Moutet on Saturday.
Despite losing all of his matches, Brown had provided several moments of class at the event, where players compete over four 10-minute quarters, with the unique addition of special UTS cards to boost their chances.
The format and rules looked like they would fit Brown perfectly but he struggled to show his usual flair.
The first Benchetrit v Goffin encounter
Beaten 3-1 by Italy’s Matteo Berrettini in his opener, Brown had an early lead over Benoit Paire, “The Rebel”, before going down 3-1.
On the second weekend, Brown took the first set from “The Greek God” Stefanos Tsitsipas before going down 3-1, and then came off second best to an inspired Richard Gasquet and lost 3-1.
Benchetrit “The Underdog” played in the opening weekend of UTS as an understudy for Dominic Thiem and after losing his opening match to Alexei Popyrin, “The Sniper”, he upset fellow Frenchman Lucas Pouille the following day.
Brown will be missed at the UTS on Sunday but Benchetrit is a strong replacement and the Frenchman will take on “The Wall” David Goffin. They never faced each other on the ATP Tour.
