UTS: NEW TENNIS HITS LONDON
Four days of Gladiators-esque nicknames, skills tests, sudden death points, mid-match interviews and 8-minute quarters. Not your usual tennis tournament. Ultimate Tennis Showdown (UTS), the brainchild of Patrick Mouratoglou, came to the UK capital and served up a reminder that tennis traditions are there to be bent.
UTS is more US Open night match than Wimbledon hushed reverence: pumping music, flashing lights and loud announcements make for a rowdy crowd. And the pro’s are all encouraged to express themselves: dancing, smashing rackets or climbing onto the umpire’s chair all go unpunished (the only real warnings come if they’re slowing play down).
At London’s first UTS tournament (also 2023’s UTS Grand Final), fans saw home favourite and event newbie Jack Draper (The Power) take home the lightning strike trophy, beating Holger Rune (The Viking) in the final. Other competitors included Diego Schwartzman (El Peque), Gaël Monfils (La Monf), Holger Rune (The Viking), Benoît Paire (The Rebel), Alexander Bublik (The Bublik Enemy), Casper Ruud (The Ice Man) and Andrey Rublev (Rublo). We sent sports photographer Aryan Arafi courtside to capture the action.
Alexander Bublik
Diego Schwartzman
Andrey Rublev
Benoit Paire
Jack Draper
Holger Rune
Gaël Monfils
Andrey Rublev
Holger Rune
Diego Schwartzman
Jack Draper
Photography: ARYAN AFZALI