Alex de Minaur won the UTS Grand Final in London by Builder.ai, defeating Holger Rune 14-8, 14-11, 16-10 in the tournament’s final on Sunday to complete an unbeaten weekend and claim his first UTS championship crown, and his second UTS title after Anvers stage in October 2020.

The Demon was brilliant through the UTS Grand Final, winning five of five matches and dropping just one quarter on the final day of the event (two in total), having seen off veteran Gael Monfils in the Final Four, 3-1.

This was a brilliant season for De Minaur on the UTS stage. The Aussie reached the Final Four of all three events he played, losing the final of UTS Oslo to Andrey Rublev in February, and the semi-final in New York to Alexander Bublik this August.

De Minaur wins $421,800 plus a $375,000 Grand Final Bonus as a result of his performance in London, which was attended by more than 21,500 fans over the four sessions of play.

Rune hungry for revenge

Rune entered the final off the back of a dominant performance against Ugo Humbert in the Final Four, sweeping the Frenchman 15-11, 13-12, 15-11. 

The Dane was clearly motivated to exact revenge after losing to De Minaur in Friday’s round robin match and losing the 2023 final of the event against Jack Draper.

“Very much fired up,” Rune declared after losing the opening quarter of the final. “I hope he can see so. Definitely. Let’s fight for it.”

However, Rune’s bravo was quickly worn down by the incredible defence and fitness of De Minaur, which smothered Rune over the course of his three quarter-to-love victory in the final.

De Minaur’s defence wins on final day

Multiple times across the match, the pair would play out an extended 10+ shot rally, with De Minaur winning on a Rune error – or, a brilliant volley of his own – only for the Dane to spray a rapid series of three or four errors soon afterwards.

The Australian was also excellent when it came to his navigation of bonus cards in the championship match, winning two of his three, and neutralising two of Rune’s three for an overall success rate of 67 percent.

His serve and return stats were impressive too, winning 61 percent of his own serve, but also coming out on top 58 percent of the time on return.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better weekend in London,” De Minaur declared after the match.

With more than 5,000 in attendance in London, the Aussie received great crowd support, which he says buoyed him in the final.

“At some point in the match, it was very difficult not to sing along with the songs,” he said. “I think there were a lot of the Aussies in the crowd, felt a lot like home.

“It definitely has been the best season yet, but I don’t think it’s going to be the best season of my career. I want to keep on improving, keep on being better.

“I want to use everything I’ve learnt this year and put it towards 2025.”

UTS Grand Final – day three results

• Semi-final – Alex de Minaur beats Gael Monfils 3-1 (10-14, 14-11, 15-8, 14-6)
• Semi-final – Holger Rune beats Ugo Humbert 3-0 (15-11, 13-12, 15-11)
• Final – Alex de Minaur beats Holger Rune 3-0 (14-8, 14-11, 16-10)

Full results and more coverage here.