"A few tournament directors have complained" - Patrick Mouratoglou on Ultimate Tennis Showdown being viewed as competition by ATP events

The Ultimate Tennis Showdown (UTS) is quickly becoming an alternative for traditional tennis, and founder Patrick Mouratoglou disclosed his aspirations for the fast-growing event.

The UTS employs a different, modern format, with matches being played against a time limit. Each match is split into four quarters that each last eight minutes, with players receiving a point for every quarter that they win and go to sudden death if it is tied after the allotted time.

Conceived in 2020 during the pandemic when the main ATP and WTA Tours were suspended, the UTS has grown exponentially, drawing several top-stars to the fan-favorite event. American tennis player Ben Shelton won the most recent edition in Frankfurt, which was also contested by the likes of Dominic Thiem and Gael Monfils.

Although the event has seen a spike in popularity, Mouratoglou admitted to facing some backlash from ATP tournaments based on the UTS scheduling. However, the renown coach stated he would not let that deter him from expanding his project.

"My dream is to have many more matches," said Mouratoglou. "Of course, I’m aware of the tennis schedule, I don’t want to create problems. A few tournament directors have complained, I think they’re completely wrong. That’s my point of view, because you cannot complain that there is competition, you know, in which field in this world there is no competition?
“Competition is sane, and it’s great, you know, it makes everybody improve. So to complain that there is competition, for me, it’s a nonsense. It’s not all the tournament directors, it’s a few who do, but my goal is not to hurt tennis, my goal is to add something to tennis. So we have to find a way to make all these things work, but so far, we’re in the way to what the dream is.”

Furthermore, Mouratoglou admitted he would like to collaborate with the ATP in some capacity in the future.

"Do I want to be partner with ATP, I would love it," said the French coach. I mean, I opened the door from day one. I want the ATP to be part of it. I think it’s also the role of the ATP to maintain this format, because the fans, the current fans, are fan of that format, but at the same time to think about the future and build the future of tennis that maybe will not be UTS, but at least we try something, because we know that tennis the way it is now is not going to be the future of tennis.
“All the figures show it, it’s not me saying that. What about fans that are 61 now and next year, they’re going to be 62 and then 63, in 20 years they’ll be 80 years old, average fans, because every year the fanbase gets older. If they were younger fans coming in, this wouldn’t be the case, but we have the same fan base since the 70’s and the 80’s.”