Rublo, The Demon in race for record-breaking third title in Nimes

A loaded field is set to compete at the Bastide Medical UTS Nimes this weekend, with more than half of the eight-man field that are competing at Arena de Nimes from April 4-5 having won a UTS event in the past.

Former champions Gael “La Monf” Monfils, Alex “The Demon” De Minaur, Andrey “Rublo” Rublev, Ben “The Mountain” Shelton and Tomas “The Air Machete” Machac will all be vying to add to their pre-existing UTS trophies.

It’s not like the other three participants are amateurs either – Casper “The Ice Man” Ruud has played UTS five times and made the Final Four three times, while Ugo “The Commander” Humbert is competing for the fourth time in UTS and is a former finalist. 

Just Alexei “The Sniper” Popyrin comes to Nimes without a strong UTS resume – the Aussie competed when the format was first introduced in 2020, but hasn’t been back since.

The race for a three-time champion

No player has ever won three UTS tournaments in history, but that may well change this weekend.

Both Rublo and The Demon arrive in Nimes with two titles to their names, and will seek a record-breaking third for the first time.

Rublev established himself as a power to reckon with early on in UTS, becoming the first player to win two titles when he claimed UTS Frankfurt 2023 and UTS Oslo 2024. He also made the semi-finals of the Grand Final in 2023, before crashing out in the round-robin stage of the 2024 Grand Final.

The Russian comes to Nimes fresh off the announcement of his new coaching partnership with former world No 1 and compatriot Marat Safin. Fans will be able to see the former player mic’d up and active on the sidelines as Rublev competes.

De Minaur, on the other hand, has had his two UTS titles spaced out. He won one of the first editions of the tournament, claiming UTS 3 in Antwerp back in 2020. He made his return in 2024, making the final of Oslo and semi-finals of New York, before lifting a second title at last year’s Grand Final in London.

While these two are clear favourites to push for the title at the Bastide Medical UTS Nimes this weekend, they’ll have to contend with the in-form Machac as well.

The Air Machete debuted earlier this year in Guadalajara, but made a booming entrance to the format by blasting his way to a maiden title in Mexico. Should he carry on this same form in Nimes, he’ll become the first-ever back-to-back titlist in UTS history.