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Mike Tyson the boxing legend gave his approval to the UTS on Instagram. He applauded Patrick Mouratoglou for creating the league to make tennis more interesting. And so liked the format as it was shorter yet packed the punch like a UFC match.

“It’s like the UFC of tennis,” said Tyson.

Ultimate Tennis Showdown(UTS), a tournament created by Patrick Mouratoglou kicked off yesterday in France. Ten top star players competed against each other in a new format. UTS will happen every weekend till July 12th and is designed for fans wanting to see their stars play during this pandemic.

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“More energy, more excitement, and battling. Quicker than a regular tennis match.” – Mike Tyson.

UTS involves 4 quarters, with each quarter being 10 minutes long and players serving twice alternatively. The player who wins the most number of quarters wins the match. It’s similar to the tie-breaker in the standard rules where one must reach seven points and have a two-point cushion to win the set. But here it lasts for 10 minutes with no points limit.

The tournament involves Dominic Thiem, Stefanos TsitsipasMatteo Berrettini, David Goffin, Feliciano Lopez, Alexei Popyrin, Benoit Paire, Lucas Pouille, Richard Gasquet, and Dustin Brown and they will play each other in a round-robin format.

The first round of fixtures saw a lot of action and excitement. With the time limit, UTS was more like basketball where things happen quickly in a short amount of time.

The most exciting match was between Richard Gasquet and David Goffin. All quarters were closely fought. The last tie-breaking set went to Gasquet and the match ended 3-2. Other players who got to a winning start were Tsitsipas, Berrettini, Lopez, and Popyrin.

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UTS with its new brand of tennis has already amused a lot of supporters, with Mike Tyson’s stature and value, this is a major boost to building the UTS brand.

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Mike Tyson is a retired American professional boxer. He was a former heavyweight champion and holds the record for the youngest heavyweight champion at 20 years, four months and 22 days old. Also he takes a keen interest in Tennis. Visits various Tennis pilgrimages to see the big stars and matches. His daughter Milan is training with Patrick along with Serena Williams and Coco Gauff.