Tennis stars line up for UTS Frankfurt with an eye on London Grand Final

Eight tennis stars will gather in Frankfurt this weekend with an eye on the UTS Frankfurt 2024 title. But for seven of the players in the field, there’s a lot more at stake. A berth, or rather four of them are up for grabs in next month’s UTS London Grand Final.

The field has already divided into two groups with Ugo Humbert, Dominic Thiem, Denis Shapovalov and Thanasi Kokkinakis, all in contention for London, being placed in Group A while Ben Shelton, Lorenzo Musetti and Jan-Lennard Struff, also all London hopefuls, being placed in Group B along with Gael Monfils, the only player in Frankfurt who has already secured his ticket for the UTS London Grand Final.

In the first match of the day on Friday, Australia’s Thanasi ‘Kokki’ Kokkinakis will take on Dominic ‘Dominator’ Thiem, who is playing one of the final events before hanging up his rackets for good at Vienna next week. The pair, who have played only once prior on the pro tour which Kokkinakis won earlier this year, will both be looking to start off the weekend on a winning note. Former US Open champion Thiem could qualify for London by reaching the final this weekend while Kokkinakis needs to win the Frankfurt leg if he wishes to make the cut in London.

Who’ll qualify for London?

In the second match of the day, Ben ‘The Mountain’ Shelton will face off against Jan-Lennard ‘The Thunder’ Struff.  Shelton, one of the most exciting young prospects in the game, and Struff both also need to win UTS Frankfurt in order to make it to the UTS London Grand Final.

The third match of the day will see two left-handers face off against each other; Ugo ‘The Commander’ Humbert versus Denis ‘Shapo’ Shapovalov. The Frenchman stands a good chance of making it to London as he needs to reach the final this weekend or make the semi-finals by winning his three group matches and hope that Shapovalov or Thiem do not reach the final. The Canadian needs to make the final in Frankfurt in order to qualify for London.

In the fourth and final match on Friday, Lorenzo ‘The Illusionist’ Musetti will take on Gael ‘Le Monf’ Monfils. The Frenchman has already qualified for London by virtue of winning UTS New York in August while Musetti will need to do the same in Frankfurt to punch his ticket for the season-finale.