Guadalajara, Jal.- See a DJ in the middle of the stands, a service of the fields of court and children jumping in full game are unthinkable ingredients for traditional tennis. But the ‘rebel’ variant of Ultimate Tennis Showdown (UTS) allows it.
UTS debuted in Latin America this February 14, in the middle of the celebrations for the day of love and friendship, with four games in Guadalajara. The answer was positive with an estimated 90% in the stands, that is, more than 7,000 attendees.
“The atmosphere is spectacular, people are very affectionate and everywhere there is a party,” said David Goffin, a tennis player from Belgium who became top 10 of the world in 2017.
UTS is clear about showing a tennis completely different from the traditional one that handle the ATP (male), WTA (female) and ITF (both). Its main differentiators are noise and speed.
Noise because fans should not remain silent, even with active matches. In spite of this, the training of traditional tennis made it for many lapses the tapatíos attendees were silent. It was there when the animator himself asked for “scandal.”
As for speed, players do not have previous heating or more than 10 seconds for the serve. There are no double fouls, the clock does not stop the four rooms that are played eight minutes. The winner is the one who triumphs in three of those rooms.
“This is very fast, right now I feel tired and I have not thought about tomorrow’s strategy, but it makes everything more dynamic,” said Fabio Fognini, a tennis player from Italy.
The party was the main feature in the debut of UTS in Guadalajarawhich in turn is the first time that the tournament is activated in Latin America. Since its creation in 2020 it had only had stops in Europe and the United States.
Flavio Cobolli, Fabio Fognini, Tomas Machac and Casper Ruud were the first winners. It should be remembered that in this tournament, where eight separated tennis players compete in two groups, it will be group leaders who will advance to the semifinals. The first phase consists of all against all that will be defined between this Friday and Saturday.
So there are still opportunities to advance for Jakub Mensik, Richard Gasquet, David Goffin and Adrian Mannarino, who were the losers in the initial matches of Friday.
The atmosphere looks different from the tournaments WTA which usually celebrates Guadalajara year after year. Music is constant in each serve, does not wait for pauses between games or sets won.
The coaches are sitting in an armchair inside the court. The players put some headphones with a microphone to tell their impressions at the end of the first two rooms (part -time) with live UTS narrators.
It is a party panorama that contrasts with the seriousness and formality of traditional tennis, but players take advantage of that connection to give autographs to children with a large margin of time.
“I love Mexico and it is incredible to see children so excited,” said Flavio Cobolli, the first to win a game of UTS in Guadalajara. He asked for bachata music to dance at the end of his victory over Jakub Messik and then signed balls and caps.
This environment was also used by brands. Porsche and Zenith appear as the main sponsors on the screen that is on the court, but around others such as Hot, Casa San Matías, Mahi, Grupo Tenerife, Red Cola and Cinepolis.
The group stage will continue with eight games this Saturday, February 15, while the semifinals and final will be played on Sunday 16, when the first edition of UTS Guadalajara will be completed.
