Alex De Minaur wins Victorian Plumbing UTS London Grand Final

Alex de Minaur from Australia secured a special place in the young UTS Tour history by winning the UTS Grand Final for a second year in a row at the Copper Box Arena, London, on Sunday. The Aussie kept his crown by triumphing at the Victorian Plumbing UTS Grand Final against Casper Ruud from Norway (3–1 : 11–15, 15–10, 15–11, 16–7) on the indoor Rebound Ace court of the Queen Elizabeth II Olympic Park.

De Minaur has been in “conqueror mode” since his loss against Andrey Rublev in the round robin on early Saturday, defeating the Guadalajara winner Tomas Machac on Saturday in a virtual quarterfinal (3–1 : 10–15, 16–11, 16–13, 16–12), Frenchman Ugo Humbert with a sweep in the semifinals (3–0 : 15–13, 18–13, 18–9), and Casper Ruud, winner of the Bastide UTS Nîmes in April on clay, in the final match.

All results and standings on uts.live

De Minaur earned $640,000 USD in prize money, consisting of $390k as the winner and a $250k bonus for playing one event in 2025 (Bastide UTS Nîmes). Casper Ruud received a $225,000 check, out of a total prize pool of $1,615,000 million (£1.37m).

Highlighting how much he loved London (“second home”), being engaged with British player Katie Boulter, De Minaur said: “This year it was a little bit harder, having lost that match and playing a match that was potentially do or die. So I was a little bit stressed, but it was a perfect Sunday.”

The Aussie felt highly motivated after his loss against Rublev, which helped him to perform later. “I had to be a little bit nicer to myself. I can’t get too angry when I make mistakes, or too frustrated. So ultimately, I felt like, as the days went on, I played better and better and I found my level.”

Ruud: “It’s not the first time he’s winning this tournament for a reason”

Ruud made a strong start in the final, but as soon as De Minaur got comfortable with his shots after the first quarter, there was not much Ruud could do to beat him for the first time. “He played better, much better,” Ruud said. “It just creates a lot of problems for me in my game. He plays so flat, so low, so deep. It suits these conditions. Amazing. It’s not the first time he’s winning this tournament for a reason.”

The Norwegian had a great 2025 edition, reaching the final for the first time on a surface other than clay thanks to a convincing win against Andrey Rublev from Russia (3–2 : 9–17, 15–11, 7–17, 17–11, 2–0).

“I’m getting more and more experienced, so that obviously helps,” Ruud said. “I didn’t use the bonus card very well in this Final Four, but I feel like I know when it’s a good time to use it. And if I come to the sudden death, I have at least played a few times before. So I know the kind of pressure and the feeling.”

Rublev, known as a great UTS format specialist since his wins in Frankfurt in 2023 and Oslo in 2024, reached the semifinals of each event he played in 2025 but was prevented from a better outcome twice in sudden death. “Ruud played unbelievable the first point at sudden death, with a great backhand down the line. Then he played a very good rally and finished at the net. Not much I could do.”

Until this 2025 Grand Final edition, Rublev was the only one, along with De Minaur, to have lifted the Zeus trophy twice. Now, at least for one more season, the king of the fast-paced UTS format is from Australia and is called Alex de Minaur.

“We can say that Alex de Minaur is the best player ever in this format, for now,” Patrick Mouratoglou, UTS founder, said. “His achievements show it. He’s always super competitive and almost at the end of every tournament he plays.”

Mouratoglou : “The best player ever in this format”

Until this 2025 Grand Final edition, Rublev was the only one, along with De Minaur, to have lifted the Zeus trophy twice. Now, at least for one more season, the king of the fast-paced UTS format is from Australia and is called Alex de Minaur. “We can say that Alex de Minaur is the best player ever in this format, for now,” Patrick Mouratoglou, UTS founder, said. “His achievements show it. He’s always super competitive and almost at the end of every tournament he plays.”

The Frenchman is looking at this third international UTS Tour in a row as a new achievement. “The stadiums are full everywhere we go. We had some incredible highlights this year with nearly 12,000 seats full in an antique stadium in Nîmes; the videos went viral all over the world.”

“There is much more to come. Everywhere we went, Hong Kong and Mexico were amazing also. Also, the average age of the fans we have is way lower than traditional tennis fans; we dropped 20 years. Bringing new fans for tennis and younger fans was a goal, and that’s great because we keep them for a long time.” UTS Tour 2026 will start in Guadalajara, Mexico (2-4 February).

DAY 1 Results

Humbert – Goffin : 3-1: 21-12, 18-17, 15-16, 17-15 | Group B
Rublev – Machac : 3-0: 14-13, 17-10, 18-15 | Group A
De Minaur – Mannarino : 3-1: 21-12, 18-17, 15-16, 17-15 | Group A
Ruud – Cerundolo : 3-2: 12-11, 13-14, 11-15, 14-13, 4-2 | Group B

DAY 2 Results

Machac – Mannarino : 3–2 : 16–11, 14–11, 13–17, 11–13, 2–0 | Group A
Ruud – Goffin : 3–0 : 14–9, 16–7, 17–9 | Group B
Humbert – Cerundolo : 3–1 : 16–10, 14–12, 11–18, 16–9 | Group B
Rublev – de Minaur : 3–1 : 13–12, 8–18, 16–12, 13–12 | Group A
Cerundolo – Goffin : 3–0 : 19–8, 15–12, 18–7 | Group B
Rublev – Mannarino : 3–2 : 12–17, 11–13, 18–11, 18–12, 2–0 | Group A
Ruud – Humbert : 3–2 : 13–12, 8–16, 8–15, 14–12, 2–0 | Group B
De Minaur – Machac : 3–1 : 10–15, 16–11, 16–13, 16–12 | Group A

Final Four resultsDe Minaur – Humbert : 3–0 : 15–13, 18–13, 18–9 | Semifinal 1
Ruud – Rublev : 3–2 : 9–17, 15–11, 7–17, 17–11, 2–0 | Semifinal 2
De Minaur – Ruud : 3–1 : 11–15, 15–10, 15–11, 16–7 | Final