“We found way to make fans feel free to be themselves” — Mouratoglou wraps up “special” UTS in antique arena
Patrick Mouratoglou takes pride in hosting 12,500 fans at the Bastide Médical UTS Nîmes, looks forward to the Asia debut in Hong Kong
© UTS Tour
UTS founder Patrick Mouratoglou wrapped up the Bastide Médical UTS Nîmes at the historic Les Arènes de Nimes on Saturday (April 5) after hosting a record 12,500 fans.
Mouratoglou, also co-founder of Tennis Majors, termed the spectacle unreal and hoped to bring the fast-growing UTS back to the amphitheatre situated in Southern France. The recently concluded tournament saw the crowning of “The Ice Man” Casper Ruud, whom the French coach believes was the deserving champion.
Patrick, simple question as a start : was it the best UTS event so far?
Patrick Mouratoglou: I don’t like to compare events because I think they were all amazing and at different stages finally of where we were. That was the most special because the place, Les Arènes de Nîmes, is unreal. There is no other place like this in the world and the impression you have when you enter the court is really incredible. Also, it was packed. We sold 12,500 seats on Saturday, 20,500 globally in two days. So if you consider all that, yes it’s the best so far, but it’s normal too because in every event we do better.
UTS Tour is an adventure, and it’s a growing process. UTS becomes bigger and bigger after every event (nine since July 2023, editor’s note). Everything was there. The crowd was not only 12,500, but also the people were overexcited, and the atmosphere was incredible. we had this antique 2,000-year-old incredible place where we played, and the quality of the players and the quality of the matches. The two semifinals, Ruud-Rublev and Machac-De Minaur, were really super high quality, and the final as well, so I think we had everything. And then the weather which is the thing we cannot control.
What I saw here in Nîmes was a lot of things that I saw in my mind initially when I started UTS.”
Everyone will take it's own part of UTS memory back home. What's the special image you’ll remember for a long time?
Patrick Mouratoglou: It’s a good question. (Long reflection) Maybe it will sound completely stupid, but the thing that comes to my mind when you ask me the question is when the two French players sang the national anthem. I mean they didn’t sing it, the crowd did, and they got together at the net. I don’t know, I had goosebumps. Maybe it’s completely stupid. I was surprised, but that’s what happened. You don’t see that on a tennis court.
There are a lot of things you don't see on a tennis court. Especially what I felt here, having witnessed several UTS, is that the crowd very early understood the point of being the actor of the match, clapping during the points, expressing loudly but not doing stupid things. Do you share this point of view, and is it what you had in mind when you started UTS?
Patrick Mouratoglou: What I saw here in Nîmes was a lot of things that I saw in my mind initially when I started UTS. First this incredible place to bring a tennis court to, this I saw. It was the first time we did something like this so that was amazing to me. Ans yes, the involvement of the crowd. The crowd was so loud, and from the first point of the first match of the first day. They were here full. They came for that. Of course, I think the team did an incredible job explaining that it was not what we expected of going to a tennis event, that it was completely different, but we found a way to make them [fans] feel free to be themselves, to enjoy, and to be loud when they felt like it.
They played an important role in the whole weekend, and this is also part of UTS. UTS wants to let the people enjoy the way they want. They go to the tennis match, and whatever they feel like doing or expressing in terms of emotion and also in the moment, it’s their choice. It’s their moment, their way to express their emotion. No problem. Nobody’s judging and everything is open and thanks to that, honestly, I’ve never seen an atmosphere like this in a tennis match. Never.
Was it just the first time in Nîmes… or the last time because it was a special event?
Patrick Mouratoglou: It was definitely the first time we came to that venue. Is it the last time? I don’t think so, after a weekend like this. I mean, whatever we all feel is like, wow, we want to come back here. The crowd was amazing. So many people came, and the stadium is unreal. We need to discuss with the team and look at everything and then, of course, we’ll decide, but the first impression is, of course, we want to come back.
Casper Ruud is the new UTS champion. Was it the clay specialist that won this event or the UTS specialist or both?
Patrick Mouratoglou: Casper won for the first time after he played four semifinals but never qualified even for a final. I think it’s a combination of factors. Of course, clay. I think he’s an all-court player, but clay is probably the surface that highlights his style the best, where he had the best results. So that played a role. I think what played a role too is that he’s becoming a real UTS specialist. He played so much with us. And I think the series have to end because he has the level 100 percent to win a UTS. I don’t think it’s a normal thing that he didn’t win one before and he really wanted it. So, you know, at some point he made it, and it was here. He has the level ans the style of game to win UTS. He’s so incredibly consistent and fit, with an incredible cardio. There are two factors that are key at UTS.
How did the fact that we played on clay here change something in the show the players could deliver? Was it any different?
Patrick Mouratoglou: I don’t think it was very different from any UTS event, the fact that it was on clay. Probably, clay is even a bit better for rallies. And UTS is all about rallies. So it was even better. But I don’t think it was very different.
I thought UTS would be great for players who are super aggressive. I was completely wrong.
So the quality you need to shine at UTS is the same, whatever the surface, which is probably confirmed by the fact that we have the four best UTS players ever in the semifinals, De Minaur, Rublev and the two finalists ? Do you see a pack of players that might be considered UTS specialists emerge?
Patrick Mouratoglou: At the start, I thought UTS would be great for players who are super aggressive and take the ball early because the game is fast. Now, after a few events, I realised I was completely wrong, and I think UTS is best for players who are incredibly consistent because when you’re not consistent, when you have ups and downs, the score goes crazy fast. And you can lose a quarter in a few seconds. So, you need consistency. That’s very important. Guys who are great at rallying, who don’t miss, who are super powerful, but without missing. And second, with great cardio, because if you don’t have great cardio, at some point, you will crash. And you see a lot of players crash. So it makes sense that Ruud, Rublev, Monfils, you know, those guys, are really great at playing UTS.
But another reason why it’s not great for players who are super aggressive is that they have only one serve. So one of the big weapons of attacking players is the serve, they don’t have it. But I think there is a spot for guys who are going to disrupt the players who love to rally. A player who loves to rally needs rhythm, and if you break the rhythm constantly, it’s tough. But it’s very demanding because you have to take risks at almost every point. But there is a spot. They will need to take the ball extremely early on returns, because there are a lot of opportunities on serves. So take the ball early on returns, come to the net a lot, cut the trajectory, and refuse to rally too long. Put a lot of pressure. There is an opportunity there, but it’s not easy, and so far, not a single great attacking player has performed at the highest level at UTS. Maybe Shelton indoors. Shelton and probably also Ugo Humbert indoors. But not consistently as the other guys.
I cannot be happier to go to Hong Kong.”
This question is about the future of UTS. The next stage is in Asia, Hong Kong. What does it mean for you to take UTS to each continent, which is being almost ticked now except Africa?
Patrick Mouratoglou: That was a part of my vision when I started UTS, to be global. So, it was extremely important for us to have events on every continent. So this one, this milestone of playing in Asia, is huge for us. And plus to play in Hong Kong in Asia is the cherry on the cake. It is one of the best cities of whole Asia: extremely modern but also a huge place for technology and finance. There are a lot of expats also, which is cool because they know tennis really well, and it’s diverse, so they will be able to root for different players because of their nationalities. I cannot be happier to go to Hong Kong.
Every time UTS is a success, you highlight the importance of the partners. And yet the partners are very different. GS Sports Management, for Guadalajara, and Bastide Médical are very different partners. And the partners of Hong Kong are different too. What's important when you discuss with your eventual partners for UTS? What do you find in them that helps you bring UTS to these places?
Patrick Mouratoglou: We often have a local partner because we don’t know the local market as well as them. We need partners who find the financial resources that are necessary to run the event and are able to bring also the local leaders to the city, to be really involved. And ideally, we do it with people who have very serious experience in running events. That’s what we’ve done so far. The only exception is Bastide, who’s not a specialist for running events, but we were in France, so it was easy for us to do that part, and they brought the place, the resources and the extreme motivation to get there, so they were amazing. And they have already a partnership in tennis because they’re supporting players, so tennis makes sense for them.
