Berrettini becomes first-ever champion of UTS exhibition

The one of a kind Ultimate Tennis Showdown showcased a variety of innovations throughout its debut this summer. One of those was the prevalent use of player nicknames. Matteo Berrettini, for example, was “The Hammer.”

And it’s safe to say he dropped the hammer on the rest of the competition.

Berrettini outlasted Stefanos Tsitsipas in a sudden-death tiebreaker to become the first-ever UTS champion on Sunday evening. After splitting the four quarters at two wins apiece, the two finalists played a ‘breaker in which whoever was the first to seize a two-point advantage emerged victorious. That proved to be Berrettini, who fired a cross-court forehand passing shot to clinch victory.

The new King of UTS 👑

This moment will stay in the history books. Matteo Berrettini "The Hammer" becomes the first ever UTS champion. Here's how it ended 👇#UTShowdown pic.twitter.com/3Nh0xcD0yH

— UTS | Ultimate Tennis Showdown (@UTShowdown) July 12, 2020

The 23-year-old had previously lost to Tsitsipas during round-robin competition, but he still did enough to earn the No. 3 seed and book a semifinal spot. Berrettini battled past Richard Gasquet in the semis (which were also on Sunday), while the top-seeded Tsitsipas defeated No. 4 David Goffin.

“I was pretty upset when I lost (to Tsitsipas), because also the other time I was up two quarters to love,” the world No. 8 reflected. “It’s tough, but you have to handle it. This time I said to myself, ‘it’s not gonna happen; you’re gonna win this one.’ I twice went match point down but I was really good to win those points. Now I’m here.

“One of the biggest qualities a tennis player can have is the ability to adapt. I think I did a good job doing that this week.”

But he isn’t done adapting just yet.

It has been a whirlwind tennis tour for Berrettini, who played in Dominic Thiem’s tournament in Austria on red clay and finished in third place on Saturday. He quickly returned to the hard courts of southern France for the UTS conclusion. The Italian will now head to Berlin for a grass-court exhibition on Tuesday. That’s right; in the span of four days he is playing on all three surfaces.

But will he play in the U.S. Open later this summer? That remains to be seen.

“I think there are a lot of questions the big tournaments have to answer with the quarantine and travel issues,” Berrettini commented. “I am going to think about my health and my tennis and then decide.”