“Tennis like never before”: Everything you want to know about UTS – updated ahead of UTS Oslo 2024

The UTS Tour will be back for 2024. Find out more about the revolutionary tennis event that started in 2020 at the Mouratoglou Tennis Academy.

5 February 2024

UTS Frankfurt 2023 -© UTS

Chris Oddo

What is UTS?

UTS is a new tennis format launched in 2020. It seeks to capture the imagination of fans by tweaking the traditional tennis format, and supercharging it to make for a more exciting, memorable fan experience.

The format doesn’t seek to compete with the ATP and WTA Tours, but rather to offer something different to tennis fans. It has an emphasis on being fast-paced and more interactive, drawing in those who want to know their favourite players on a more intimate level and find and interact with younger fans which may have not discovered the joy of tennis.

When is the next UTS event?

The next UTS event will be from February 9th to 11th in Oslo, Norway.

Headlined by Holger “The Viking” Rune and Casper “The Ice Man” Ruud, a total of eight players will be competing across the three-day event:

Alexander “The Bublik Enemy” Bublik
Alex “The Demon” de Minaur
Andrey “Rublo” Rublev
Gael “La Monf” Monfils
Dominic “Thieminho” Thiem
Benoit “The Rebel” Paire
Holger “The Viking” Rune
Casper “The Ice Man” Ruud

Tickets, order of play and groups for UTS Oslo 2024 can all be viewed on the UTS website.

What WAs the 2023 UTS schedule?

In 2023 the UTS Tour took to the road, travelling to the United States for the first time.

2023 UTS SCHEDULE

July 20-23 / USA
September 14-17 / Frankfurt
November 30 to December 3 / Seoul – scheduled but cancelled
December 7-10 / Grand Final / London

What is the 2024 UTS Schedule?

The first UTS event of 2024 will be in Oslo in February.

There will be three other UTS events in 2024 but creator Mouratoglou described the venues and timings in December 2023 as “a mystery”. He also said that he would like to expand UTS and run one event per month at some point in the future.

What are the rules of UTS?

The basics have been in place since the beginning. Four quarters with a running clock are played and the first player to win three quarters wins the match. In 2021, the length of an official quarter has been changed from ten to eight minutes, in order to make the competition more like a sprint than a marathon. During the quarters there are no games, just a running score as players alternate serving two points apiece. The player with the most points when the clock runs out at the end of the quarter wins the quarter.

If the players each win two quarters, sudden death comes next. The first player to win two consecutive points is the sudden death winner, so every point beyond the first point is a match point.

What are UTS cards?

UTS cards are what gives the competition a game-show feel, and force the competitors out of the comfort zones. Each player begins a quarter with two cards that he or she can use, when the time is right. Players can choose a card that makes their winners count for three points, or one that forces their opponents to serve-and-volley. There is also a “steal serve” card that allows a player to serve four points in a row.

UTS cards give the tennis a new level of tactical strategy, as players plan their card usage, based on their strengths, time left on the clock and – of course – their opponents weaknesses.

You can learn more about UTS cards here.

Who are the UTS champions?

The UTS has crowned eight champions in seven competitions, one including men’s and women’s competition.

UTS1: | July 12, 2020 | Mouratoglou Academy, Biot, France | Champion: Matteo “The Hammer” Berrettini
UTS2: | August, 2, 2020 | Mouratoglou Academy, Biot, France | Champions: Alexander “The Lion” Zverev and Anastasia “The Thunder” Pavlyuchenkova
UTS3: | October 18, 2020 | Antwerp, Belgium | Champion: Alex “The Demon” De Minaur
UTS4: | May 25, 2021 | Mouratoglou Academy, Biot, France | Champion: Corentin “The Tornado” Moutet
UTS Los Angeles: | July 23, 2023 | Los Angeles, USA | Champion: Wu “The Great Wall” Yibing
UTS Frankfurt: | September 17, 2023 | Frankfurt, Germany | Champion: Andrey “Rublo” Rublev
UTS Grand Final 2023: | December 17, 2023 | London, UK | Champion: Jack “The Power” Draper

Where can I watch videos of UTS highlights?

Tennis Majors, a UTS media partner from the beginning, provides coverage and highlights of all UTS matches, including live blogs, exclusive interviews, and b-roll videos. You can see all of our content at Tennis Majors.com. You can also watch highlights and read more about the competition at the UTS Tour’s YouTube page.

What’s up with the nicknames of the players at UTS?

The nicknames are part of the UTS allure, and each player has an active role in choosing their own nickname, ideally one that emphasises their personality and embraces the UTS spirit of self-expression and high energy. Here is a list of all the players that have competed at UTS, and their UTS nicknames.