Nick Kyrgios comeback set to be given the green light later this month

Nick Kyrgios is preparing to make his return to tennis later this month, as he is scheduled to take his place in a high-quality field at the UTS New York event.

UTS New York takes place at the legendary Forest Hills Stadium, the site of the US Open Tennis Championships for 60 years, a few days between August 22-23.

With the event taking place in the same city as the final major tournament of the year, a stellar line-up has been assembled by tournament chief and coaching guru Patrick Mouratoglou, as he brings his brash brand of tennis to the Big Apple.

Stefanos Tsitsipas will play Alexander Bublik on the opening day of action, while Alex de Minaur will take on Denis Shapovalov in what should be an eye-catching encounter.

Andrey Rublev and Gael Monfils are also set to square off in what will be an emotional match between two players who rarely hold back on court.

Yet it is the expected appearance of Kyrgios that will intrigue tennis fans, as he has been drawn to play against Casper Ruud on day one of UTS New York.

While this is not at ATP Tour event, this could be the first public appearance in a competitive tennis match for Kyrgios since a first round loss on grass in Stuttgart last year.

He has missed all of 2024 due to injury and has hinted that he may be close to retirement from tennis at the age of 29, but appears one of the biggest names in the sport may be about to make his first tentative steps back onto court.

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Kyrgios has hinted that he will play some doubles tournaments to test his fitness levels before he contemplates a full return to the tour, but the high-energy brand of tennis at the UTS event appears to be perfectly suited for a first comeback tournament.

Ultimate Tennis Showdown (UTS) is the world’s newest, most exciting, innovative tennis league, playing an entirely reinvented game format.

The year-round league was founded by Patrick Mouratoglou, who previously coached WTA legend Serena Williams and a host of the biggest names in the game.

Mouratoglou spoke to Tennis365 last year about his vision for UTS and the quality of player he is attracting to the event confirms it has the potential to have a big place in the sport.

“If we look at the demographics, our average age fan is 40-years-old, so 21 years younger than the average tennis fan,” Mouratoglou told Tennis365.

“Half of our fans are non-tennis fans, which shows we have brought new people to tennis through UTS, which is the goal.

“It is clearly the goal to recruit new fans to the sport. This is clearly an incredible sport, but we showcase it in a way that is more modern and that fits better the criteria of what the new generation watches in general.

“It is the same fan base since the 1970s and 1980s. It’s me! I was ten at the time and now I am 53 and this is the fanbase of tennis.

“If we don’t renew the fan base and don’t bring in new people, it is going to fade away. That’s a fact. All the studies that have been made show the same thing.

“Everybody knows that, but it is difficult to make drastic changes as all the traditional fans will be upset. That is why I did UTS.”

UTS explainer:

• The timer stops during the 3-minute changeover at the end of each quarter.
• The 1st player to win 3 QTS wins the match. If both players are tied at 2 QTs apiece, the 5th QT is played in a ‘Sudden Death’ format*
• The ‘Sudden Death’ is a dramatic cliffhanger where the first player to win two consecutive points wins the match. Every point from the second point onwards is a match point during the Sudden Death.
• During the quarter, Players serve two points each: player A serves for two points, then player B serves for two points, then player A serves for two points again.
• As a major change designed to reduce downtime and create more rallies, UTS players are allowed one serve only per point: missing the serve results in losing the point.
• Finally, the ‘No-Let’ rule during serve will be in effect.