Ultimate Tennis Showdown: Grand Final 2023 - Preview, draws, player list & how to watch
• 3 MINUTE READ
Tennis, but not as you know it. Here’s everything you need to know about the upcoming Ultimate Tennis Showdown Grand Final.
What is the Ultimate Tennis Showdown?
The Ultimate Tennis Showdown (UTS) is a new, year-long tennis league that brings together some of the biggest players in the men’s game to compete across a series of competitions, leading up to a Grand Final.
The competition uses modern and innovative formats and rules to create shorter and action-packed matches that centre around strategy and suspense.
Players can qualify for the Grand Final in one of three ways:
- Title-winners: Winning a UTS tournament during the season
- UTS ranking: The top three players in the UTS Race ranking qualification (excluding title-winners)
- Wild cards: At least two wild cards are awarded for the Grand Final
When is the Ultimate Tennis Showdown Grand Final?
The Ultimate Tennis Showdown Grand Final will head to the ExCel London from Friday 15 December to Sunday 17 December.
Ultimate Tennis Showdown Grand Final schedule & order of play
There will be two sessions of play each day:
- Afternoon: 16:00-19:00
- Night: 20:00-23:00
Each session will have three matches. All group matches will be played on Friday and Saturday, with the semi-finals and final on Sunday.
Check out the full order of play
Which British players are competing at the Ultimate Tennis Showdown Grand Final?
Jack ‘The Power’ Draper is the only British player competing at the Ultimate Tennis Showdown Grand Final this year.
Draper comes into the Grand Final as a wild card and is set to contest his first Ultimate Tennis Showdown event.
The 21-year-old has been in impressive form of late – coming off the back of his first US Open fourth round to win the Bergamo Challenger title and reach his first ATP final in Sofia.
Group draws – Ultimate Tennis Showdown Grand Final
|
Group A |
Group B |
|
Andrey Rublev |
Holger Rune (DEN) |
|
Casper Ruud (NOR) |
Alexander Bublik (KAZ) |
|
Diego Schwartzman (ARG) |
Jack Draper (GBR) |
|
Benoit Paire (FRA) |
Gael Monfils (FRA) |
Ultimate Tennis Showdown Grand Final rules & format
Ultimate Tennis Showdown is a new format of competition and has several unique rules.
Quarters: One match consists of four eight-minute quarters – the aim of the game to win each quarter by having the most points at the end of the eight minutes. First to three quarters wins the match.
Sudden death: If it’s a tie at 2-2 the match goes to sudden death – the first player to win two consecutive points takes the match.
Serving: Players serve two points each and are only allowed one serve. They can take no more than 15 seconds between two points and there is a ‘No-Let’ rule in place.
Level up: When each quarter is over, the players play a Quarter Point. The leader only needs to win one more point to clinch the quarter, while the challenger has the chance to ‘level up’ and try to draw level without losing a point, to force a quarter decider. E.g. if it’s 16-11 at the end of he quarter, they play first to 17.
Bonus cards: Once per quarter, each player can use their ‘Next point counts as three’ bonus card. This rule only applies for the player using the card.
Coaches: Coaches are allowed on players benches throughout the match.
Eight players are split into two groups, where they will compete in a round-robin format.
Once everyone in the group has played each other, the two players with the most wins will go through to the semi-finals. The winner of Group A will play the runner-up in Group B and vice versa.
How to watch the Ultimate Tennis Showdown Grand Final
Live coverage of the Ultimate Tennis Showdown Grand Final will be available on TNT Sports - stream on Discovery+ or watch on Sky, EETV or Virgin Media. You can also watch live on Tennis Channel
Tickets are still available for the Ultimate Tennis Showdown Grand Final via the link below:
