Patrick Mouratoglou : “Now three years in a row that we have done a full season of UTS : Many more to come”
The UTS founder reviewed the London Grand Final, where Alex de Minaur claimed the victory, and declared the event concluded a third consecutive successful season that served as definitive proof of concept for the UTS format.
Patrick Mouratoglou – UTS London 2025 © UTS Tour
Alex de Minaur won the UTS Grand Final again. Can we say he’s the best player ever at the UTS format ?
Patrick Mouratoglou : So far, yes. We have to say that Alex de Minaur is the best player ever. His achievements show it. He won last year, he won this year again. He’s always super competitive and at the end or almost of every tournament he played. He’s a great player in general. This formula UTS is just perfect for him. If you look at the qualities that are the most important at UTS, besides being a top competitor – which he is – you have the ability to be extremely strong in the rallies, and he’s a rally player. Once the ball is in play and the rally starts, that’s where he’s the most dangerous.
You have the physical aspect. UTS is shorter of course, but it’s crazy intense and we’ve seen a lot of players really suffering physically. He has never been down physically because his fitness is one of the top among the male players. And, finally the quality of the focus. When you play your points, if you lose focus for a few seconds, you can lose many points in a row and then it’s very difficult to come back in the quarter. He’s a guy who’s crazy focused from the first to the last point. With all those qualities, he’s the best of all times so far.
He lost against Andrey Rublev in round robin. And from that point, he was even better match after match. Did you see the difference in the way he started the tournament and he ended it?
I did. He was making a lot of unforced errors that he usually doesn’t do, as a very consistent player. He really pushes you to hit winners, which is the most difficult thing because of his crazy movement on court. His court coverage is one of the top 3-4 in the world. If he doesn’t give any point, it’s really a nightmare for the opponent. At the start of this UTS, he was making many more unforced errors than usual and he lost a little bit his focus, which is very unusual for him. The more matches he won and the more time passed, the more he regained his game and his competitiveness.
Many things happened during this tournament. First final for Casper, out of clay, of course. Humbert back at a very good level, both in the Final Four… If you had to sum up the two or three three things you will keep with you as a takeaway from this edition, what would it be?
I’m very happy that he was one point away from the final. He’s coming back to his great level. This is something I really like. Casper (Ruud) did a very good addition. He played and fought amazing. Alex was too good in the final, but, to reach the final, he shows that he’s coming back to a great level, like someone who played three Grand Slam finals and even one on hardcourt.
To see those guys coming back to a great level is really amazing. They had a bit ups and downs lately. Ugo (Humbert) same. He had an incredible rise to the doors of the top ten and then a few difficult months, injuries. The level he played here is really something that he can take for next season. He’ll be ready and dangerous for next season.
As the chief of the organisation, was it hard to bounce back after Jack Draper’s withdrawal?
Draper’s withdrawal was tough for us. It was tough for English fans. They were so happy to see him. And it was tough for him. He was so disappointed. But we have a lot of reserves in when it comes to UTS players who love the format, to play. We replaced him. Of course, it would have been amazing to have him, we were so excited and he was so excited. That’s life.
We are really happy of the average age of the fans we have, which is way lower than the fans of the ATP
Two questions in one. An overview about the 2025 season of UTS Tour, which was the third in a row, and a preview of 2026.
UTS is doing great. The stadiums are full everywhere we go. We we had some incredible highlights this year with nearly 12,000 seats full in an antique stadium (Arènes de Nîmes), the videos went viral all over the world. We’re happy that we opened one in Asia, in Hong Kong. That was amazing. Mexico also. Central America is also exciting for us to be there. This is now three years in a row that we have done a full season of UTS. Many more to come.
People know more and more and appreciate really this format. We can see they come on year whether it’s in London or anywhere. They love it so much, they come back the next year, but they bring friends. That’s why the stadiums grow every time. We are really happy of the average age of the fans we have, which is way lower than the fans of the ATP. We dropped 20 years compared to the fan base of ATP and that’s the goal. We want to bring new fans for tennis and younger fans, so we keep them for a long time.
