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Lars Hamer

Hong Kong’s Kai Tak Arena will host a tennis event with a difference in October, bringing eight of the world’s best men’s players to town, organisers confirmed on Saturday.
The city has been awarded hosting rights for a stage of the Ultimate Tennis Showdown (UTS), a shortened, fast-paced form of the sport with time limits and players encouraged to show their personality.
China’s top men’s player Zhang Zhizhen has been confirmed for the event, along with the world’s No 9 and 10, in Russia’s Andrey Rublev and Alex de Minaur of Australia. There will be a total of US$1.1 million in prize money, with Rublev chasing further success in the city to add to his triumph in last year’s Bank of China Hong Kong Tennis Open.
Michael Cheng Ming-git, president of the Hong Kong, China Tennis Association (HKCTA), welcomed the announcement, made on Saturday at the second UTS event of the year, in Nimes, in the south of France.

“UTS Hong Kong marks UTS’ first-ever event in Asia, and the only Asian stop in the 2025 tour,” Cheng said.
“UTS is more than just a tennis tournament; it’s a dazzling fusion of world-class athleticism and entertainment. It is a mega-event tailor-made for Hong Kong.”
His association has applied for “M” Mark status from the city’s Major Sports Events Committee, to allow the tournament to receive government funding.
The event will take place from October 13 to 15, between the WTA 125 and 250 events that are held at the beginning and the end of that month in Victoria Park.
In a statement, the Hong Kong government’s Culture, Sports, and Tourism Bureau hailed the confirmation of another event for the indoor, 10,000-capacity Kai Tak Arena.
“We welcome the decision to host the Ultimate Tennis Showdown at the new Kai Tak Sports Park,” the bureau said.
“The hosting of major sports events in Hong Kong will not only attract high-spending visitors but will also foster the development of sports.”
UTS was founded in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic by Patrick Mouratoglou, who coaches former world No 1 Naomi Osaka, to entice a younger generation of fans.
It differs from regular tennis, played over the best of four quarters, each lasting eight minutes. Instead of using the traditional 15, 30 and 40-point scoring system, players earn single points and prevail by winning three quarters. If it is two quarters apiece, a match goes to sudden death.
Instead of service games, a player can score only one point on serve, a rule designed to reduce downtime and create more rallies. There are no lets and only 15 seconds between serves.
Other quirks include a “next point counts x3” bonus card, which each player can use once per quarter.
This year’s first UTS event was played over three days in Guadalajara in February and was won by Czech player Tomas Machac. The Nimes leg, over two days, concluded late on Saturday.
The Hong Kong event will be played over two days, on October 14 and 15, preceded by a community day on the 13th.

Players earn points towards their league ranking at the three stops before the grand final, held for the past two years in London.
“Hong Kong is such an exciting, vivacious and fast-paced place, so it’s the perfect location for UTS to make its debut in Asia,” Mouratoglou said.
“The HKCTA, our co-organiser, has done a fantastic job in growing tennis in Hong Kong, and we share their passion for bringing more and more new people into the sport, especially kids and young people.”


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Sport

Hong Kong

Tennis

Kai Tak Arena will stage a leg of fast-paced format in October between city’s WTA 125 and 250 tournaments


Kai Tak Arena will stage a leg of fast-paced format in October between city’s WTA 125 and 250 tournaments.


Hong Kong Tennis Association (HKTA)