by Herbie Powell-Gray

The UTR Pro Tennis Tour presented by The Progress Tour has returned to Cardiff Met’s Cyncoed Campus for a third time, following two successful $25k events in 2023.

The 20 players are split into four groups of 5, with the player that finishes top of each group going into the semi-finals. The winners of these semi-finals will meet in the Grand Final on Sunday to win their share of the prize money. The remaining players will play off for 5th, 9th, 13th, and 17th place respectively.

As we approach the end of the round robin group stage, let’s take a look at the standings and find out who is likely to walk away with the trophy on Sunday.

In Group A, Sean Hodkin leads the way, although the highest-ranked player in the tournament Ewen Lumsden, is hot on his heels after defeating him on Tuesday. Robert Beznea and Marshall Tutu are battling it out for 3rd place, while Latvian Daniels Tens is bottom of the group without a win.

Joshua Goodger tops Group B with a flawless 3-0 record, but it is all to play for behind him, with Luca Bluett, Eliot Glaysher, and one half of YouTube duo ‘Tennis Brothers’ Felix Mischker all vying for second spot.

Group C is also tight, with Ed Pudney and Marcus Walters leading the way having won two of their matches already. David Quayle and Stefan Cooper are looking to secure 3rd place in the group in order to compete for the 9th place play-off on Sunday.

Phoenix Weir and Joe Tyler are unbeaten in Group D, but they face off on Court 1 today in a showdown. Roy Keegan and 16-year-old Felix Seres prop up the table, while Edison Ambarzumjan will look to consolidate his mid-table place when he plays Keegan later on today.

There is also an ‘Aces4Zambia’ initiative taking place this week. For every ace hit during the tournament, our generous sponsors YC Sports and Diadem Sports, along with The Progress Tour, are making a donation to ‘Volunteer Zambia Foundation’, an international programme which uses sport to engage, educate and empower young people in Zambia and the UK.

Tickets for Finals Day on Sunday 18th February are available on the Fanbase app, or by clicking this link: https://app.fanbaseclub.com/Fan/Tickets/SelectType?fixtureId=4982

You can keep up with all the action by following @cmettennis on Instagram and X, and by watching the livestreams of all 3 courts on the UTR Sports YouTube channel.

Photo Credit: Carl Robertson