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Patrick Mouratoglou agrees with Toni Nadal as he suggests rule change to solve a big problem in men’s tennis

The former coach and uncle of Rafa Nadal, Toni Nadal attends the delivery of the VIII Edition of the Cepyme Awards at the Auditorium of Banco Santa...
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Tennis continues to evolve as a sport, with several big names suggesting improvements to the game.

Rarely does a year go by in tennis without a major change to the way the game is played on the ATP Tour.

The introduction of Live Electronic Line calling on clay was the latest move met with praise, as players look forward to more accurate decisions on the surface in 2025.

Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men's Clay Court Championship - Day 1
Photo by Andrew Wevers/Getty Images

At the end of 2024, off-court coaching was approved, a decision that was met with mixed reviews from the stars of men’s and women’s tennis.

Another idea has now been suggested, as two top coaches think they know how to keep fans interested in the sport.

Patrick Mouratoglou agrees with Toni Nadal and thinks he has solution to major tennis problem

Speaking on Instagram, Patrick Mouratoglou reacted to Toni Nadal’s comments on how serving is ‘hurting’ tennis.

“I agree with what Toni [Nadal] says about the fact that it hurts tennis that there are too many aces/serve winners,” said Mouratoglou.

“Serve has become so important that the players who emerge the most are players who have big serves, so they are very tall.”

The Frenchman then suggested his Ultimate Tennis Showdown events have provided the ideal solution to this issue.

Ultimate Tennis Showdown
Photo by Gaspafotos/MB Media/Getty Images

“What solves the problem is to have only one serve,” said Mouratoglou.

“I think what we did at UTS, having only one serve instead of two, solves the problem.

“We can see at UTS we have many more rallies, much less aces and serve winners, which is what we want.

“We want more rallies and less boom, serve, winner, ace, missed return.

“We don’t want that, we want to see rallies, you can have an ace once in a while but not too many.”

Jakub Mensik’s win over Novak Djokovic in the Miami Open final saw more aces than any other final at the event since 2018.

YearWinning finalistWinning finalist – acesLosing finalistLosing finalist – acesTotal aces
2025Jakub Mensik14Novak Djokovic721
2024Jannik Sinner4Grigor Dimitrov610
2023Daniil Medvedev9Jannik Sinner615
2022Carlos Alcaraz6Casper Ruud511
2021Hubert Hurkacz3Jannik Sinner14
2019Roger Federer6John Isner915
2018John Isner18Alexander Zverev1028
2017Roger Federer5Rafael Nadal49
2016Novak Djokovic0Kei Nishikori00
2015Novak Djokovic4Andy Murray812
Aces in Miami Open finals since 2015

The numbers look to show a gradual rise in the number of aces hit in big matches on the ATP Tour.

TENNIS: MAR 30 Miami Open
Photo by Chris Arjoon/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

When is the next Ultimate Tennis Showdown event?

Fans interested in ‘more rallies’ and ‘less aces’ may want to tune in to Mouratoglou’s UTS events.

The next edition of UTS is set to take place in Nimes, France, between April 4 and April 5, and will feature four top ten players.

Taylor Fritz, Casper Ruud, Andrey Rublev, and Alex de Minaur will all take to the clay courts in Nimes, looking for their first UTS titles of the season.

Czech star Tomas Machac won the opening event of the year in Guadalajara, Mexico, and leads the UTS race standings, securing his spot in the 2025 Grand Final.

RankNamePointsStatus
1Tomas Machac21Qualified for UTS Grand Final
2David Goffin15Provisionally qualified for UTS Grand Final via ranking
3Casper Ruud11Provisionally qualified for UTS Grand Final via ranking
4Adrian Mannarino11Provisionally qualified for UTS Grand Final via ranking
5Flavio Cobolli6
6Fabio Fognini6
7Jakub Mensik4
8Richard Gasquet4
2025 UTS Race rankings

It remains to be seen who will join Machac in the Grand Final later this year, but it will certainly be something to look out for.

TENNIS-MEX-ULTIMATE
Photo by ULISES RUIZ/AFP via Getty Images

Perhaps one of the eight players competing in Nimes will join him, as they take to the court on Friday, April 4.

Rublev and Ben Shelton will be first up as they battle it out for a place in the semi-finals.