From UTS Day 1 to UTS Day 2 : The Greek God stares at them from the sky

The leader after UTS Day 1

Stefanos Tsitsipas, The Greek God above the competition
Tsitsipas’s victory over Benoit Paire in the last match of day one sent him straight to the top of the leaderboard.
The Greek God’s three quarters to one victory over the Frenchman included two hugely one-sided sets, earning him a games won/loss mark of +41.

That puts him well ahead of Matteo Berrettini, Alexei Popyrin, Feliciano Lopez and Richard Gasquet, the other day one winners.

Tsitsipas will be back in action on Monday against Gasquet of France in the final match of the first weekend. The Frenchman made the upset on Sunday by beating David Goffin (13-11, 12-14, 12-11, 10-15, 2-0).

The UTS Day 1 Thriller

Feliciano Lopez v Lucas Pouille
Lopez led two sets to love before Pouille (17-13, 13-12, 9-13, 11-12, 2-0) fought back but the Spaniard, who was a late replacement for the injured Felix Auger-Aliassime, snatched the first ever sudden-death at the UTS to earn a dramatic victory. Gasquet later did the same thing to Goffin.

The UTS Day 1 outsider:

It’s hard to call Richard Gasquet, a three-time Grand Slam semi-finalist and former world No 7, an outsider, but few expected him, now No 50, to beat world No 10 David Goffin. But Gasquet had the endurance to go to sudden death and then the nerve to win it.

Play the rules:

At the end of the third quarter between Tsitsipas and Paire, the Greek’s coach – and father – Apostolos called a time out with five seconds to go, and his son trailing 14-13. But when Paire looked at the clock, he saw six seconds left to serve, which meant he could sit down, and take the set.

The quote:

Richard Gasquet:

“Sorry, it was our first match after three months doing nothing”.

After the first quarter of his match against Goffin, Gasquet needed fresh air !

“Sorry, it’s the first match we do after three months doing nothing so I just try to recover” 😂Gasquet needs to breath after the first quarter! pic.twitter.com/CQCzH4WR0d

— Tennis Majors (@Tennis_Majors) June 14, 2020

The results:

Alexei Popyrin “The Sniper ” beat Elliot Benchetrit “The Underdog” 13-9, 9-12, 15-9, 14-12
Matteo Berrettini “The Hammer” beat Dustin Brown “The Artist” 14-10, 12-13, 22-5, 13-12
Feliciano Lopez “The Torero” beat Lucas Pouille “The French Flair” 17-13, 13-12, 9-13, 11-12 sudden-death
Richard Gasquet “The Virtuoso” beat David Goffin “The Wall” 13-11, 12-14, 12-11, 10-15, sudden-death
Stefanos Tsitsipas “The Greek God – beat Benoit Paire “The Rebel” 24-4, 22-6, 13-14, 15-10

The rankings:

• Players in gold 👉 virtually qualified for the semifinals
• Players in white 👉 virtually qualified for the quarterfinal playoffs
• Players tied in sets are ranked by point difference

Top 10ers @StefTsitsipas and Matteo Berrettini leading the charge early on 👀#UTShowdown pic.twitter.com/Y1aOpVYRdI

— UTS | Ultimate Tennis Showdown (@UTShowdown) June 14, 2020

Monday’s schedule:

DAY SESSION

• 4pm CET: Lucas Pouille “The French Flair” v Elliot Benchetrit “The Underdog”
• 5.15 pm CET: Dustin Brown “The Artist” v Benoit Paire “The Rebel”
• 6.30pm CET: David Goffin “The Wall” v Matteo Berrettini “The Hammer”

NIGHT SESSION

• 9pm CET: Feliciano Lopez “The Torero” v Alexei Popyrin “The Sniper”
• 10.15pm CET: Stefanos Tsitsipas “The Greek God” v Richard Gasquet “The Virtuoso”