Rune & Draper Receive Wild Cards To UTS Grand Final In London In December
World No. 10 Holger Rune and British rising star Jack Draper have been named as the two beneficiaries of wild cards at the "Grand Final" of the Ultimate Tennis Showdown (UTS) in London.
The UTS will host its inaugural Grand Final from December 7 to 10 following the conclusion of the three legs of the competition across the globe this year. Each of the three champions in the three legs of 2023 automatically qualifies.
Eight players in total will contest the final event of this year's UTS tournament. Another way to earn a spot in the Grand Final is through a wild card which Rune and Draper have been given. And lastly, the top three players in the UTS Race with the highest points will complete the line-up.
That means Yibing Wu (winner of UTS LA) and Andrey Rublev (winner of UTS Frankfurt) have also secured their spots at the Grand Final in London. There is still a third phase of the tournament which will be held in Seoul, South Korea, between November 30 and December 3.
For context, the UTS is an international tennis league launched in 2020 by French tennis coach Patrick Mouratoglou and businessman Alex Popyrin - the father of Australian tennis player Alexei Popyrin. UTS has no affiliation with the ATP and WTA tours and doesn't seek to compete with them.
First organized during the suspension of the tennis tour as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has become a staple during the unoccupied weeks on the tennis calendar. UTS uses a modified scoring format and tweaks some of the tennis rules, offering a more unique product for a thrilling fan experience.
This year, the UTS event in Los Angeles marked the first time that it was held outside Europe, and there will be another leg to be staged in the Asian continent before it returns to Europe for the Grand Final.
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