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By Richard Pagliaro | Saturday, April 18, 2020

 
Patrick Mouratoglou

Patrick Mouratoglou, coach of Serena Williams, is launching a five-week pro tournament starting on May 16th at his Mouratoglou Academy on the French Riviera.

Photo credit: Mark Peterson/Corleve

Tournament tennis returns next month thanks to coach Patrick Mouratoglou.

Mouratoglou, Serena Williams' long-time coach, announced the launch of the Ultimate Tennis Showdown, a five-week tournament featuring pro players playing at his Mouratoglou Academy on the French Riviera.

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The tournament is set to start on May 16th and incorporate social-distancing with minimal staff on site.

It will be live streamed with 10 matches held every weekend over the course of five successive weekends. UTS is striving for an interactive approach with microphones on court so fans watching on live stream can hear dialogue between players and coaches.

Mouratoglou says the idea is to give players a platform to compete and fans the opportunity to watch.

“The UTS is simply meant to be an alternative to what already exists,” Mouratoglou said. “It is a platform created to showcase the incredible talent, athleticism and personalities of the wide range of tennis players.

“It offers a new and innovative approach, targeting a younger tennis audience and proposes a different way to distribute the money among the players."


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

It all makes for a unique, unprecedented viewing experience. @ultimate_tennis_showdown

A post shared by The COACH (@patrickmouratoglou) on



“The UTS defines itself as a player-centric league, and therefore features a system focusing on the redistribution of income among the players," Mouratoglou said. "This system could be particularly beneficial for lower-ranked players.”

David Goffin is set to take on Alexei Popyrin in the opening match of the event. Popyrin is the son of tournament co-founder Alex Popyrin.

 

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