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Tennis: US OPEN, Sept 2, 2022 Flushing, NY, USA Serena Williams of the USA after a miss to Ajla Tomljanovic of Australia on day five of the 2022 U.S. Open tennis tournament at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports, 02.09.2022 21:02:36, 18972515, NPStrans, Australia, Ajla Tomljanovic, tennis, TopPic, US Open, Serena Williams PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xRobertxDeutschx 18972515
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USA Today via Reuters
Tennis: US OPEN, Sept 2, 2022 Flushing, NY, USA Serena Williams of the USA after a miss to Ajla Tomljanovic of Australia on day five of the 2022 U.S. Open tennis tournament at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports, 02.09.2022 21:02:36, 18972515, NPStrans, Australia, Ajla Tomljanovic, tennis, TopPic, US Open, Serena Williams PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xRobertxDeutschx 18972515
Ever since its inception in 2020, the UTS has made much noise in the tennis world. The international individual tennis league was founded by Serena Williams’ former coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, along with Alex Popyrin, father of tennis player Alexei Popyrin. Players such as Alexander Zverev and Andrey Rublev have participated in the tournament. Recently, Mouratoglou revealed how the UTS can change the game of tennis along with the ATP Tour.
Over the past few years, there have been numerous attempts to tweak the format of tennis tournaments. Take the example of the Davis Cup, which received massive backlash after its traditional home-and-away format was changed. However, Mouratoglou sounded cautious while proposing the idea of how UTS can play a major role in the tennis season.
What did Serena Williams’ former coach say about UTS?
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Last week, the UTS conducted its Grand Final in London. It saw Jack Draper defeat Holger Rune to earn his biggest career payday with the UTS title victory. UTS co-founder, Mouratoglou, was also present at the event. During an interview there, he revealed how the UTS can go side-by-side with the ATP Tour.
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via Imago
Serena Williams (USA) et Patrick Mouratoglou TENNIS : Tournoi d Indian Wells 2016 – 09/03/2016 TennisMagazinex PUBLICATIONxNOTxINxFRAxITAxBEL
Serena Williams USA ET Patrick Mouratoglou Tennis Tournoi D Indian Wells 2016 09 03 2016 TennisMagazinex PUBLICATIONxNOTxINxFRAxITAxBEL
Talking about this, he said, “My dream is to have UTS together with the ATP, having a traditional Tour, like we have already, which is I think beautiful and incredible for all the traditional tennis fans, and next to it, another Tour, that is UTS, dedicated to bringing young fans and new fans, to become tennis fans.”
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Further, he went on to add, “And I think if we work together, all year long, and we are able to have at least one competition per month – that would be ideal – then I think we can do an incredible job for the future of tennis and for all the industry.”
Additionally, the UTS has also given the players financial security that they can earn by participating in the tournament. Recently, a tennis star’s season saw a massive turnaround. Mouratoglou’s UTS enabled the player to earn a massive sum.
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Jack Draper cherishes his moment
During the UTS Grand Final in London, Draper, the 4th-ranked British player, defeated favorite Holger Rune to clinch the UTS title. It was his biggest career victory and came at a stage where he was due to earn a whopping amount. The British star went undefeated in the tournament and received a massive chunk of the prize money.
Draper earned $546,800 in the three-day UTS event. It helped him change his fortunes around as he was struggling on the ATP Tour. Earlier, Draper managed to earn only $737,907 during the entire 2023 season on the ATP Tour.
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Thus, this is a glaring example of how the UTS can help the players financially. However, it remains to be seen how the UTS can be accommodated along with the ATP Tour. If successful, it can create a massive wave of opportunities for budding players.
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