“All the fans will remember UTS for sure” – Patrick Mouratoglou on UTS New York, Monfils’ triumph, Kyrgios’ comeback and more
Patrick Mouratoglou shares views after Gael Monfils’ magnificent success at UTS New York, second stage of the 2024 season.
Patrick Mouratoglou and Gaël Monfils, UTS New York 2024 | © Tennis Majors
In a crazy atmosphere, with memorable moments all the week-end, Gael “La Monf” Monfils defeated Alexander “The Bublik Enemy” in the final to wrap up UTS New York at Forest Hills Stadium on Friday evening, with La Monf prevailing 3-1.
Patrick Mouratoglou, the man behind the UTS format (and also the co-founder of Tennis Majors), sat down with us to talk about the key takeaways and important talking points from the latest UTS series.
Patrick, let's talk about the takeaways from UTS New York. Firstly, a word on the winner, Gael Monfils. He has played the UTS many times before but finally won it for the first time. What was the reason for that, according to you?
Patrick Mouratoglou: I mean, it just shows how difficult it is to win a UTS. I think Gael Monfils has the perfect game, he’s the perfect player for this format. He’s a real showman. He loves this heated atmosphere. The atmosphere at UTS is something that you cannot compare with anything else in tennis. But it’s not easy. He wanted to win so badly every time. He got a bit tense and he was not able to play at his level. I think lately he started to feel his game back and to play some very good tennis. And he felt, I think, more confident when he came to this UTS and he could play incredible tennis. If you look at the players he beat and the way he beat them, he deserved to win. He was the best player these two days.
Can you analyze the way he beat them? We know that the players can adjust their game between UTS and the ATP tour. What gamestyle made Monfils a winner here?
Patrick Mouratoglou: I think he found his best tennis back. Monfils’ best tennis is when he runs around his backhand often and he’s really hitting the ball with a lot of pace with his forehand, which is deadly. We all know that sometimes in the past, he tended to be more passive and relied too much on his defensive game. That is incredible too. But at UTS you can’t do that.
Sometimes in the past, Monfils tended to be more passive and relied too much on his defensive game. That is incredible too. But at UTS you can’t do that.
Patrick Mouratoglou
You have 15 seconds between every point. If you start to be too defensive and run too much, you’re out of breath and you start to miss too much. So he was able to be much more aggressive in all the matches over the two days than what he used to do of late. And I think that was the key. Also, he did the things that are important when you play UTS. Take his chance on serve sometimes, but at the right time, of course. Serve-and-volley sometimes. Mix the game, surprise the opponent. When he’s out of breath, go serve-and-volley. He played the perfect game to win UTS.
There were a lot of good matches, some key events like Nick Kyrgios' comeback. If you had to keep in mind two or three key moments you particularly enjoyed here, which ones would they be?
Patrick Mouratoglou: The sudden death, for me, are key moments. I think it’s something so special, so unique. And we had an incredible one between Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alexander Bublik, incredible, with six match points each I think. Crazy and the crowd was nuts. And also during this final match, the crowd went wild. And that’s what we want. We had that, and that’s what I will always remember. And I have to make a special mention for Nick Kyrgios, because he’s so incredible to watch. And I think when he played, not only that he played great, because he played incredible for someone who didn’t play one match for 11 months, but also I think the crowd loved it so much. Because it was Nick, but also because of the quality of his tennis.
How can you explain to people that Nick Kyrgios, who didn't play for almost two years, defeats a top 10 player by three quarters and it was a one-sided contest?
Patrick Mouratoglou: The explanation for Nick’s success here is firstly that he’s an incredible competitor. And he’s always been an incredible competitor. So when the match starts, he’s turning on and he’s playing an incredible level, even if he hadn’t played for so long. He has the tennis in himself. And I think he has the perfect game also for UTS. Again, when you play UTS, if you’re unpredictable, you’re so dangerous. Unpredictable and very aggressive. And he did both perfectly.
Kyrgios? when you play UTS, if you’re unpredictable, you’re so dangerous.
Patrick Mouratoglou
What are your thoughts on VAR (Video Assistance Referee?
Patrick Mouratoglou I think it’s great for our sport. It’s fun when players lose it, but it’s not fun when they feel it’s not fair and they see something and nobody can come back and see what happened. We had a Video Assistance Referee for the first time here. And I think it’s an enormous plus and a big improvement for our sport.
In terms of organisation, crowd, facilities, what's your key takeaway?
Patrick Mouratoglou: The organisation was amazing. The whole show. I brought a lot of people here. All kinds of people, even guys who are, in real life, very serious. They were like children, really, watching the show. And they said, when is the next one? Which country? I’m going to come. I couldn’t believe it. So I think it’s the success of the organisation, the ambience that’s been created. Also the MC was unbelievable. The DJ did an incredible job. And of course, all the organisation that made this tournament just, perfect doesn’t exist, but very close to perfection.
I brought a lot of people, guys who are, in real life, very serious : they were like children
Patrick Mouratoglou
What can one expect from the next legs in Frankfurt (18-20 Oct) and London (6-8 Dec) ?
Patrick Mouratoglou: For the next tournament, we expect the same show. I think we’re improving tournament after tournament. UTS starts to be more and more known, more and more appreciated. All the people that were here, I think the fans will remember UTS for sure. A big moment for tennis in their life. And there were a lot of tennis fans that told me, “I’ve never seen this in my life, in tennis. I’ve never had so much fun watching tennis”. So that’s what we expect from the next tournament that will be in Frankfurt and then in London. I think it’s going to be incredible.
