Patrick Mouratoglou, founder of the Mouratoglou Academy in Sophia Antipolis, has just launched a new tennis tournament format: the Ultimate Tennis Showdown.
This tournament, which breaks with the traditional rules of tennis, is set to revolutionize the way we play the game.
The concept: a shorter tournament, full of excitement and surprises, with more flexible rules.
The goal: to modernize the world of tennis, attract young people, and, above all, reinvigorate the sport and inspire people to play.
The rules:
• The first phase, UTS 1, will last 5 weeks and take place on weekends (5 Saturdays and 5 Sundays). There will be 50 games in total.
• Gone are the sets, games, and traditional scoring; this tournament will consist of quarters lasting 10 minutes each. Each player will serve twice in a row, and they’ll get a 2-minute break between quarters. The player with the most points will win the quarter. If the players are tied, there will be a fifth quarter played under sudden-death rules: the first player to score two consecutive points wins.
• Another very important new rule involves coaching: each player’s coach will have 30 seconds per quarter to give advice to their player using a buzzer. Coaches will be equipped with a microphone so that spectators can hear them, and they must speak only in English.
• UTS cards for each player: These UTS cards turn all the established rules upside down. Why? Because they’ll allow players to add a unique twist to the tournament. Here’s how it works: Each player will be dealt 4 cards and will decide before each match whether or not to play them. These cards will allow them to make things more difficult for their opponent—for example, by deciding to take away their serve. They can play 2 cards per quarter, and the decision rests with their coach. The player and their coach can thus devise a strategy to stack the odds in their favor.
This innovative and promising tournament will give a boost to the world of tennis, which had been lagging a bit behind when it came to new technologies. Our pace of life has changed significantly; the internet has turned everything upside down; we love things that are short and fast; the film industry has adapted by offering fast-paced movies—it was time for tennis tournaments to evolve.
To follow the tournament: https://utslive.tv/fr/
For more information: Mouratoglou Tennis Academy, Phone : +33 483 88 14 38.
“A winner is a dreamer who never gives up.” Nelson Mandela
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