Alex de Minaur is preparing to take part in the UTS Grand Final in London and he has admitted the huge prize money on offer is a huge motivating factor for the star names on show.
The field for the $2.165million UTS Grand Final London is set, with eight of the best male players heading to the Copper Box Arena from this Friday for three days of high-octane tennis in the innovative, quickfire UTS format.
De Minaur will be joined by Andrey Rublev, Holger Rune, Ugo Humbert, Alexander Bublik, Gael Monfils, Denis Shapovalov and Thanasi Kokkinakis in the final event of the UTS Tour year.
Coaching guru Patrick Mouratoglou is the mastermind behind the fast-paced version of tennis, with the huge crowds set to gather in London evidence of the popularity of the event.
World No 9 De Minaur will be one of the star attractions and while he spends most of his year playing in front of crowds urged to stay silent out of respect for the players, the UTS events have very different rules.
An evening of UTS tennis is organised chaos and De Minaur confirmed he relishes the new environment, even if the rule of having only one serve per point requires a big mindset shift.
“It’s exciting and something different and it gives you a different view of how to play points,” De Minaur told Tennis365.
“I’ve played a couple of the UTS events now and I’ve enjoyed it. Having only one serve is an interesting mindset change and I enjoy trying to adapt to it.
“I find the noise and chaos of UTS a little easier to deal with when I know it’s coming and that’s the case in UTS. When everything is quiet, you hear every noise, but it’s never quiet at UTS and it showed me that I can play like that.
“You get used to the fact that the crowd are going nuts, screaming and the music is playing and it means you have to find a different way to focus in on playing points.
“The money is also good at the UTS events and that makes it super competitive. We are all out there trying to win and that big pay cheque at the end of the week is driving everyone on. It gets the best out of the players.”
There has been plenty of debate over the course of this season over the hectic tennis schedule, with players calling for more weeks to rest over the course of the tennis year.
Critics of those comments have suggested they are laced with hypocrisy as the sport’s biggest names sign up to play events like the UTS Tour when they could be resting up ahead of next season, with De Minaur insisting the freedom to choose when to play has to be down to players.
“Playing an event like this is a good way to break up the season and have a lot of fun at the same time,” he added.
“When you are out there, you do feel the pressure of the moment and it tests you. You have to try and improve on aspects of your game and it can help when you play other matches on the regular tour.”
The UTS Grand Final will feature a total prize money of $2.165million, with a maximum of $921.800 available to the winner.
In addition to the prize money for winning the trophy, the champion will receive a bonus for those who have participated in four UTS events, $250,000 for those playing fewer of those tournaments, and a $125,000 prize for someone participating in the tournament for the first time.
Coaching great and entrepreneur Patrick Mouratoglou created the UTS Tour and he told Tennis365 that his vision for this quick-fire brand of tennis has the potential to bring a whole new audience to the sport.
“It always takes time for people to get to about something new, but it feels like people know about UTS now and I’m so excited to see what happens in London this year,” Mouratoglou told Tennis365.
“A lot of people have gone to the events already. They’re speaking because once they go, they love it. We’re sold out every time, we are sold out earlier and earlier.
“I feel like it’s an old format of Davis Cup with the same atmosphere, but plus because there is also the DJ, entertainment, people are really participating, dancing, it’s really special, and it’s a really, really tough competition between players at the same time.
“So you have both the competitive part with the top guys, an incredible amount of really pressure moments, where you have a lot of stress as a spectator, and, of course, as a player too, and at the same time, a huge entertainment. So you have both, which is great because the goal from day one.
“The goal of UTS is mostly to bring new fans to tennis and younger fans. but of course, any tennis fan is more than welcome, and I’m not surprised that those who have come and lived the experience have loved it. Players keep coming back as well, they obviously enjoy it.
“They love the DJ, the music, the atmosphere. What sports people love the most is to feel the crowd with them or against them, and to feel that emotion and to share it.
“AT UTS in Frankfurt, the fans were singing during the points, like at the football match, cheering for their champion during the points. So it gives so much more emotion.”
