UTS London Grand Final stars playing with sudden death and one serve as unusual rules explained – The Mirror
Top tennis stars are competing for their share of a £1.39m prize at a unique event in London where regular rules are thrown out of the window
UTS London Grand Final rules explained – from point-scoring to sudden death to mid-match coaching
The UTS London Grand Final features a generous prize pot of £1,394,000. The tournament is the creation of French tennis coach Patrick Mouratoglou, who previously worked with the likes of Serena Williams and Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Players are divided up into two groups of four. They face the others in their group in a round-robin stage on Friday and Saturday, with the two group winners advancing to Sunday’s semi-final in hopes of reaching the final and lifting the lightning bolt trophy.
Matches are not determined by traditional sets and games but are instead divided into four quarters, each lasting eight minutes. The first player to win three quarters wins the match. In each quarter, players compete to earn points in a tiebreak-style scoring format until the eight-minute clock is up.
A ‘sudden death’ is activated when the eight minutes are up, and the first player who wins two consecutive points wins the quarter. It means that, if the score is 12-7, the first player to 13 points wins – allowing for a heroic comeback. If the score is tied at 12-12, the winner of the next point wins the quarter.
If the match is tied at two quarters each, the winner is determined by a dramatic fifth quarter, played in the sudden death format. Again, the first player who manages to win two consecutive points immediately wins the entire match.
A key tactical element is the bonus card, which a player can use once per quarter. They activate the card by running and pressing a red button on the court before the next point starts. If the player wins that rally, it is instantly worth three points.
Some traditional tennis rules are thrown out of the window to speed up play and increase excitement. Players are limited to only one serve per point, with a no-let rule on serves, and all matches begin without a warm-up.
Unlike traditional tour events, coaching is fully permitted and integrated into the match experience. Coaches sit on a dedicated sofa, are mic’ed up. Players also give interviews mid-match after each quarter via headset.
