Ultimate Tennis Showdown: 50 matches, a lot of celebrities, big finals
Patrick Mouratoglou has big plans for the Ultimate Tennis Showdown: the winners in his academy are to be selected from ten top players in a total of five weekends. With new game formats and a lot of interaction with the fans.
by tennisnet.com
last edit:
Jun 09, 2020, 09:04 am
If Patrick Mouratoglou takes things into his own hands, then you can assume that there will never be spills. But always a certain desire for sensations cannot be dismissed out of hand. And so Mouratoglou, in his main job actually coach of Serena Williams (and / or part of the coaching teams of Stefanos Tsitsipas and Cori Gauff), is planning a group phase at the Ultimate Tennis Showdown that tennis has never seen before: ten players compete - and indeed against each other.
On five weekends there will be a total of ten matches on Saturday and Sunday, after the group phase the two best will qualify for the semi-finals, places three to six will push two quarter-finals. These finals (i.e. both quarter-finals, both semi-finals and the final) should take place on the very last day of the UTS.
Tsitsipas, Goffin, Berrettini at the start
The field of participants in the Mouratoglou Academy is impressive: It is led by Stefanos Tsitsipas, plus David Goffin, Lucas Pouille, Benoit Paire, Félix Auger-Aliassime, Richard Gasquet, Matteo Berrettini, youngster Alexei Popyrin and, yes, Dustin Brown. A place is still open, rumored about the participation of Dominic Thiem. Which, however, also has other obligations (Thiem's 7 in Kitzbühel and an exhibition fight in Berlin).
The ultimate goal of the Ultimate Tennis Showdown is to win new, younger fans for tennis. the games are played in a shorter format, the rules of conduct of the ATP and ITF are relaxed, coaching is allowed, yes, the spectators should be involved in the action from the first match between Goffin and Berrettini next Saturday, June 13.
Interaction with fans
The average age of tennis fans is 61, according to Patrick Mouratoglou on the UTS website. That has to change - through new ideas that place sport somewhere between entertainment and competition. The interaction with the spectators is in the foreground here - via digital channels, mind you, because of course no fans are allowed in the matches due to the corona restrictions.
The organizers are looking forward to the event, and so are their ambitions: The five week and 50 matches this summer should not be the end of the story. Rather, the Ultimate Tennis Showdown has come to stay. As an event that continues throughout the year. If you want to follow the matches, you have to dig deep into your pocket: the monthly subscription for streaming costs 9.99 euros.