UTS: The full-length interview with Patrick Mouratoglou
Here is the full interview between Josh Cohen from Tennis Majors and Patrick Mouratoglou, co-creator of the UTS, Ultimate Tennis Showdown, a closed-doors tournament that will happen from May the 16th. During 25 minutes, Mouratoglou answers all the questions about his philosophy and, of course, his methods to prevent everyone from COVID-19 in his academy. … Continued
Here is the full interview between Josh Cohen from Tennis Majors and Patrick Mouratoglou, co-creator of the UTS, Ultimate Tennis Showdown, a closed-doors tournament that will happen from May the 16th. During 25 minutes, Mouratoglou answers all the questions about his philosophy and, of course, his methods to prevent everyone from COVID-19 in his academy.
JOSH COHEN: People are craving for live sport and live competitions, but the Ultimate Tennis Showdown will be on its way soon. Tell us about this and how this will roll out.
PATRICK MOURATOGLOU: We wanted to make the most of this period and to use it as an opportunity to show our vision. During five weekends, starting from May 16-17th, ten players are going to play against each other. So we will feature 50 matches. It will be ten top players, even though we have not talked to a lot of players for now as we did not want the project to leak. After that fifty matches, we will sit down, we will see what people enjoyed, what they disliked and adapt. Because this is not a one-shot. The UTS is a championship that is going to last the whole season, and for the years to come. Players will earn points, money, and there will be a champion.
Which players will feature the Ultimate Tennis Showdown?
For now, we went to two players: Belgian David Goffin (#10 player in the world), who gave his OK and Alex Popyrin (#103) who will obviously play also. As soon as the other players will confirm, I will announce it next week. I am extremely confident because the players are genuinely willing to play matches that count. Not exhibitions, because they are competitors, and also in which they can earn money.
Where will the matches take place?
The venue is Mouratoglou Tennis Academy, which has amazing facilities and exists for 24 years now. It is near Nice in the south of France, close to Monte-Carlo and Marseille. It is a region where there are a lot of professional players. As the lockdown in France will be over on May 11th, French players will be able to travel. My Academy will host the five first week-ends. But then we will go to other places, in the US, Australia and Asia, because this is not a European tour, but a worldwide tour.
[Read the full interview here]
