Francisco Cerundolo clinches inaugural edition of UTS Hong Kong

Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo has clinched the inaugural edition of the UTS Hong Kong title. The two-day event will be played at the Kai Tak Arena on the 14th and 15th of October. In the all-important final, Cerundolo defeated America’s Jenson Brooksby with a score of 20-5, 10-12, 15-9, 17-7.

In the contest, the winning player dominated the first and fourth quarters, which proved enough to lift the title. With that win, Cerundolo has now joined the list of elite players who have qualified for the UTS Grand Final in London, which is the last stage of the UTS Tour.

The other players who are set to feature in the competition includes the Czech Republic’s Tomas Machac (winner in Guadalajara), Norway’s Casper Ruud (winner of the Bastide Medical UTS Nimes event), Britain’s Jack Draper (wildcard), Russia’s Andrey Rublev (Rankings), France’s Adrian Mannarino (Rankings) and Belgium’s David Goffin (Rankings).

The competition was a difficult one for Cerundolo, who at one stage was on the cusp of getting knocked out against Mannarino and saved four match points to keep his campaign alive. In that contest, Cerundolo came out on top with a score of 3-2, 9-16, 8-16, 16-13, 2-1.

In the first match of the final four, Cerundolo faced Rublev and managed to get the better of him with a score of 16-, 17-16, 18-11. On the other hand, the competition was a big opportunity for Brooksby, who came into the competition after the withdrawal of Australia’s Alex de Minaur.

De Minaur was recently quoted by the SCMP report, where he explained why he did not feature in the mega-event. De Minaur stated that he was ‘very much looking forward’ to taking part in the event, but will not be able to do so because of feeling pain before starting practising. De Minaur stated that he decided after having detailed discussions with his coaching staff. De Minaur also highlighted that he was ‘amazed’ by the venue in Hong Kong and is keen to return to the competition next year.

“I was very much looking forward to participating in the first UTS event held in Hong Kong,” De Minaur said. “However, it now seems I haven’t physically recovered quickly enough as I was feeling the pain even before working on the practice court. After discussing with my team, I have had no choice but to withdraw and to meet my doctors for a proper assessment. I have been amazed by the excellent venue for the Hong Kong leg of the tour and the outstanding player line-up, which is sure to deliver an incredibly exciting tournament for everyone. I hope everyone thoroughly enjoys the competition, and I look forward to hopefully returning to Hong Kong soon to put on a great show for you all in the future.”

Brooksby, who arrived at the competition at the last minute, defeated Zhizhen Zhang of China 12-11, 17-8, 13-11. In the first match of the last-four, Brooksby defeated Juncheng Shang of China with a score of 14-11, 13-11, 13-10 to book his spot in the final of the competition.

At the end of the competition, famous tennis coach and founder of the UTS, Patrick Mouratoglou, spoke about the format's appeal to players worldwide. “We need good players, but the format is greater than the players,” said Mouratoglou. “It creates moments of tension that thrill any player and crowd worldwide.”