Holger Rune to replace Matteo Berrettini for UTS Day 9

17-year-old Holger Rune will sub in for Matteo Berrettini on Saturday in Ultimate Tennis Showdown as the Italian plays at “Thiem’s 7” event. The World No 8 will nonetheless return for the Final 4 on Sunday.

Holger Rune will play against Corentin Moutet in UTS

Paul Bonnaud

July 9, 2020

Matteo Berrettini, already qualified for the Ultimate Tennis Showdown semifinals, won’t play his last round-robin UTS match on Saturday at the Mouratoglou Academy. Indeed the Italian is taking part in Dominic Thiem’s “Thiem’s 7” tournament in Kitzbühel, Austria. The Hammer is already qualified for the semis, after wins over Dennis Novak (7-6, 6-3) and Roberto Bautista Agut (6-3, 6-4).

On Saturday, Berrettini will be replaced by Holger Rune. The 17-year-old rising star will thus face Corentin Moutet at 4:00PM CET, in Day 9 opening match. Rune’s UTS nickname will be “The Machine”. Interestingly enough, Rune and Moutet practised together on UTS centre court this Thursday.

The Danish has been training at the Mouratoglou Academy since 2016. In 2019, he won the Junior French Open and the ITF Junior Finals. He achieved ITF juniors ranking world No 1 on October 27, 2019, and is currently ranked No 2. Facing Moutet will be Rune first-ever meeting with a Top 100 player.

The Hammer 🔁 The Machine⁣

2019 junior world champion Holger Rune 🇩🇰 will sub in for Matteo Berrettini for the last round-robin match on Saturday as the Italian is committed to the ‘Thiem’s 7’ event.⁣

Berrettini will be back on Sunday to compete in the #UTShowdown Final Four. pic.twitter.com/HpXm2bERsL

— UTS Tour (@uts_tour_) July 9, 2020

Berrettini will nonetheless return to the Mouratoglou Academy on Sunday for the UTS final 4. He plays against Karen Khachanov on Thursday and is already qualified for Thiem 7’s semifinals which are to take place on Friday, before playing the final or 3rd place final on Saturday.