Feliciano López is very good at the innovative format of the Ultimate Tennis Showdown, the original league set up by Patrick Mouratoglou at his Nice Academy and that this Saturday he lived the first part of his second day. The Toledo, who a week ago beat Pouille and lost against Popyrin, This time, he beat the Italian Matteo Berrettini, number 9 in the world, with a 4-0 victory (14-12, 14-8, 12-11 and 16-13).
Matches are not played in sets but in 10-minute quarters and all points, which are counted consecutively from 1 onwards, are not the same, depending on how they are achieved. You can steal serves (each tennis player serves twice in a row) and if the time runs out, the one ahead is the winner. There is no audience, but there are sound effects and chair judges. Coaches are also present. In fact, Marc López vibrated in the stands before his pupil, friend and partner in doubles Feliciano. The BullfighterAs he is called in the tournament, he moved like a fish in the water in this fast tennis where his powerful and accurate serve helps him.
With his victory, Feli takes second in the UTS League with a 2-1 record, behind undefeated Stefanos Tsitsipas. The Greek easily beat the German Dustin Brown (3-1). This Sunday (from 17:15 on Eurosport 1), López will face Goffin, who beat Popyrin (4-0). Paire beat Moutet 3-1 and closed the day Thiem, who joined the League after playing the Adria Tour in Belgrade last week, and Gasquet, with a surprising 3-1 victory for the Frenchman.
Check rules, results, calendar, players and classification in this link.