Ultimate Tennis Showdown

Last updated
Ultimate Tennis Showdown
Tennisball current event.svg UTS 12
Exhibition
Founded2020;5 years ago (2020)
Editions12
Location Biot, France (UTS 1-2, 4),
Antwerp, Belgium (UTS 3),
Los Angeles, United States (UTS 5),
Frankfurt, Germany (UTS 6),
Seoul, South Korea (UTS 7),
London, United Kingdom (UTS 8),
Oslo, Norway (UTS 9),
New York City, United States (UTS 10),
Frankfurt, Germany (UTS 11),
London, United Kingdom (UTS 12)
Surface Hard – outdoors and Hard (indoor)
Website https://www.uts.live/

The Ultimate Tennis Showdown (UTS) is an international individual tennis league that was founded in 2020. The competition was organized by tennis coach Patrick Mouratoglou and businessman Alex Popyrin, father of professional tennis player Alexei Popyrin. Originally created as a response to the disruption of the professional tennis season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, [1] the UTS has since taken place every year except in 2022.

Contents

The first three events were held in 2020; the first two were organized at the Mouratoglou Tennis Academy in Biot near Nice and the third was held in Antwerp. In 2021, UTS returned to the Mouratoglou Academy for its fourth edition. After a two-year absence, UTS returned in July 2023 with a series of three events in the United States, Germany, and South Korea, designed to culminate in a new "Grand Final" at the end of the season, which took place at The ICC London, United Kingdom. The 2024 series featured 4 events, in Norway and then returning to the United States, Frankfurt and the Grand Final once again in the United Kingdom [2] , this time taking place at the Copper Box Arena, London. Event 1 of the 2025 series will be in Mexico [3] and then Italy [4] .

All events use a modified scoring format, with matches divided into timed quarters. Among the features UTS has built into the tournament to differentiate the game are "bonus cards" that can affect the amount of points a player can accrue within a quarter.

Format

UTS matches use a different format in comparison to traditional rules, including matches being divided into timed quarters rather than sets, a 15-second shot clock for serves and the ability to take a coaching timeout once per-set, and "cards" — which allow players to affect the game (such as taking away the opponent's second serve). [5] Until UTS 4, even if a player had a majority in quarters, all 4 quarters were played for averaging purposes. If two players are equal in the amount of quarters won, a 'sudden death' is played, where the first player to win two consecutive points wins the match. Introduced in UTS 4, players only have one serve per point, where lets are played; and 'KO Mode', where if a player is leading by 10 points in the quarter, it is declared over. [6]

The UTS also does not enforce a code of conduct. [7] [8] [9]

Past results

Men

EditionYearLocationChampionsRunners-upScore
UTS 1 2020 Biot Flag of Italy.svg Matteo Berrettini
The Hammer		 Flag of Greece.svg Stefanos Tsitsipas
The Greek God		16–15, 15–12, 12–14, 8–15, 3–2
UTS 2 2020Biot Flag of Germany.svg Alexander Zverev
The Lion		 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Félix Auger-Aliassime
The Panther		19–10, 11–13, 10–18, 18–8, 3–1
UTS 3 2020 Antwerp Flag of Australia (converted).svg Alex de Minaur
The Demon		 Flag of France.svg Richard Gasquet
The Virtuoso		24–9, 15–14, 20–10
UTS 4 2021Biot Flag of France.svg Corentin Moutet
The Tornado		 Flag of the United States.svg Taylor Fritz
The Hotshot		12–14, 15–11, 13–12, 16–8
UTS 5 2023 Los Angeles Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Wu Yibing
The Great Wall		 Flag of the United States.svg Taylor Fritz (2)
The Hotshot		11–16, 7–20, 12–11, 16–9, 2–0
UTS 6 2023 Frankfurt Flag placeholder.svg Andrey Rublev
Rublo		 Flag of Bulgaria.svg Grigor Dimitrov
G-Unit		14–13, 12–17, 11–10, 17–16
UTS 7 2023 Seoul postponed indefinitely
UTS 8 2023 London Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Jack Draper
The Power		 Flag of Denmark.svg Holger Rune
The Viking		12–14, 15–12, 13–10, 19–7
UTS 9 2024 Oslo Flag placeholder.svg Andrey Rublev
Rublo		 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Alex de Minaur
The Demon		14–16, 17–10, 16–13, 20–12
UTS 10 2024 New York Flag of France.svg Gaël Monfils
La Monf		 Flag of Kazakhstan.svg Alexander Bublik
The Bublik Enemy		10–20, 17–12, 17–14, 15–14
UTS 112024Frankfurt Flag of the United States.svg Ben Shelton
The Mountain		 Flag of France.svg Ugo Humbert
The Commander		10–19, 18–8, 15–11, 19–11 [10]
UTS 122024London Flag of Australia (converted).svg Alex de Minaur
The Demon		 Flag of Denmark.svg Holger Rune
The Viking		13–8, 14–11, 16–10 [11]

Women

EditionYearLocationChampionsRunners-upScore
UTS 2 2020Biot Flag of Russia.svg Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
The Thunder		 Flag of France.svg Alizé Cornet
The Volcano		16–8, 12–11, 11–14, 9–16, 3–1

Notes

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    The second edition of Ultimate Tennis Showdown (UTS) took place between July 30 and August 2, 2020.

    The fourth edition of UTS took place on May 24 and 25, 2021.

    References

    1. ↑ "Serena's coach and Aussie dad launch indie tennis league". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2020-04-18. Retrieved 2020-07-26.
    2. ↑ "Results UTS 2024". UTS. Retrieved 2025-01-02.
    3. ↑ https://www.uts.live/league-2025/guadalajara/
    4. ↑ https://www.uts.live/league-2025/nimes/
    5. ↑ "Breaking down the Ultimate Tennis Showdown's crazy new rules". 2020-06-12. Retrieved 2023-07-22.
    6. ↑ "UTS4 Rulebook: New season, new rules, no second serves!". 2021-05-19. Retrieved 2023-07-22.
    7. ↑ "No. 3 Thiem to play in Ultimate Tennis Showdown". ESPN.com. 2020-06-11. Retrieved 2020-07-26.
    8. ↑ "What we learned from tennis' COVID-19 shutdown". ESPN.com. 2020-07-20. Retrieved 2020-07-26.
    9. ↑ Wolken, Dan. "New brand of tennis: Serena Williams' coach pushes for faster pace and a more dynamic show". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2020-07-26.
    10. ↑ https://www.uts.live/frankfurt-2024/
    11. ↑ https://www.uts.live/results-uts-2024/uts-london-by-builder-ai-2024/
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