UTS founder Patrick Mouratoglou has claimed his “super fun” format will “seduce” a new generation of tennis fans. The T20-style tennis format sees matches shorter matches played in four quarters accompanied by music and lights at the Grand Final at Excel London. And the young players such as Jack “The Power” Taylor and Casper “The Ice Man” Ruud all have nicknames.
Frenchman Mouratoglou, Serena Williams’ former coach, said: “UTS (Ultimate Tennis Showdown) is tennis but it is different tennis. It is tennis with the same courts, the same balls, the same players but completely different rules and a completely different way to play the sport. I believe it is much more dynamic – it is a strength rather than a marathon. It is 45 minute-matches. It is super competitive but at the same time it is super fun and the players can be themselves.
“A lot of things are very important if you want to seduce the younger generation which tennis has not done for the last 20 years. The format that the younger generation are consuming are short, very dynamic with no downtime. And of course they want three characters and UTS has three of those.”
British No.4 Draper reached the US Open fourth round in September and has targetted cracking the world’s top 20 next season if he can stay fit. But Mouratoglou reckons the 21-year-old can aim even higher.
“I think Jack has great potential,” he said. “He is one of the guys that are maybe just behind the generation of Holger Rune, Carlos Alcaraz and Jannick Sinner in terms of ranking. Like Ben Shelton – I think these two can join this group very soon and then they will be potential Grand Slam winners.”
While competing for $1.665m in prize money, a loosened disciplinary code means players are encouraged to show emotion on court during matches.
Draper, who will be making his UTS debut, said: “I knew nothing about the rules until the briefing we had a bit earlier and they were saying smash as many racquets as you want, do whatever. The only thing that you can’t do is physically abuse someone in the crowd. I was going to do an Eric Cantona on you guys!
“It seems like an amazing concept. I don’t think personally I will be smashing any racquets because I don’t have many but I think it is a great concept to be able to show your emotions and play freely. That’s for me, that is what tennis should be about.”
