Feliciano Lopez vs Richard Gasquet - Ultimate Tennis Showdown - Preview & Prediction

With competitive tennis yet to resume, the Ultimate Tennis Showdown happening in France has proved to be game-changer with a star-studded player entourage. 

By introducing new rules such a 1-hour format, steal serve cards, and allowing players to use headphones during timeouts and changeovers, tennis has been disrupted with some revolutionary thinking. 

It is a clash between two veterans slogging hard to make the final four on Day 8 of the showdown. 

Feliciano has had mixed fortunes in UTS so far with three wins and four losses. He lost his last match against Dustin Brown in four quarters. The match was even-stevens as the first two quarters were split between each other. However, Lopez lost his way losing the next two quarters. A poor first-serve percentage of 48 and nine unforced errors affected his gameplay. 

On the other hand, Richard Gasquet is in fantastic form sitting second on the points table. With five wins and just two losses, the Frenchman is calling the right shots. In his last match, he proved too good for youngster, Alexi Popyrin. 

The Australian was ahead in quarter 1, but Gasquet's backhand did the damage as Popyrin cut a sorry figure in the next two quarters.“I didn’t make unforced errors, I think that’s why I won. The first set was pretty tight, but I managed to win it and that was important for my confidence.”, said The Virtuoso after the match. 

Strengths of Lopez

The World number 56 would have to depend on his rock-solid serve if he wishes to win this match. He must avoid long rallies and try to reduce his double fault count. 

Strengths of Gasquet 

The Frenchman holds the aces as he has won seven out of eight encounters against Lopez in his career. Gasquet has adapted smoothly to the fast format winning long rallies comfortably. His backhand must keep firing if he wants to wrap this up quickly.

Both Lopez and Gasquet need to play their cards carefully. The player who wins the first quarter can have a massive edge.

Prediction -  Gasquet to win in four quarters

Featured image credits: tennismajors.com