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John McEnroe is playing tennis against a virtual version of himself on ESPN+
ESPN and its partner Michelob Ultra have decided to use AI to answer an enduring question: what would happen if tennis legend John McEnroe played against himself? An upcoming ESPN+ special entitled "McEnroe vs. McEnroe" will feature the 63-year-old star, who retired from singles competition in 1992, playing against a complicated, AI-trained version of himself.
These AI-generated tennis matches are both eerie and impressive
An new AI allows us to answer the question of what it would look like if Roger Federer played himself.
Facebook's pro-am 'Mario Tennis' tourney includes the Williams sisters
Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka and Maria Sharapova are among the tennis stars teaming up with celebrities for the tournament.
Snapchat made a Bitmoji tennis game to celebrate Wimbledon
It's no secret that Snapchat is a big fan of sport, and tennis is no exception. Last year it released a 3D Bitmoji Lens that let users "take on" tennis legend Serena Williams at Wimbledon, now it's launched a real-time Bitmoji multiplayer tennis game that'll let you challenge your friends right within the chat function.
AI is better at bluffing than professional gamblers
The act of gambling on games of chance has been around for as long as the games themselves. For as long as there's been money to be made wagering on the uncertain outcomes of these events, bettors have been leveraging mathematics to give them an edge on the house. As gaming has moved from bookies and casinos into the digital realm, gamblers are beginning to use modern computing techniques, especially AI and machine learning (ML), to increase their odds of winning. But that betting blade cuts both ways, as researchers work to design artificial intelligences capable of beating professional players at their own game -- and even out-wagering sportsbooks.
Snapchat’s new lens lets you play tennis against Serena Williams
Wimbledon is in full swing, and thanks to Snapchat you can get in on the action by playing your very own match against tennis legend Serena Williams. Kind of. Snap and Williams have collaborated on a new interactive 3D Bitmoji Lens that lets you take on the tennis queen in an increasingly fast-paced match. Let's be honest, you're never going to beat her -- but you might be able to beat the high scores of your friends, and that's still gloat-worthy. As the tennis star herself said, "It's so fun because how often do you get to play against me?" Watch Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian Sr. foolishly believe he can match her, below.
Nintendo's 'Mario Tennis Aces' combines charm with surprising depth
Before Mario Tennis Aces appears in stores and on your Switch, Nintendo offered up a weekend of tournament play to whet appetites and convince you to preorder its first in-house sport title for the Switch. The demo sticks to purely tournament play, and while we didn't get the chance to play one another, there's something addictive here. That is, once you've figured out what the heck's going on. Two editors offer their very early impressions.
'Mario Tennis Aces' hits the Nintendo Switch on June 22nd
Nintendo said that we'd get Mario Tennis Aces on the Switch this Spring, and now it looks like the company is stretching that deadline a bit. The game will actually land on June 22nd, one day after the season officially ends. We won't hold that against Nintendo too much though, because it looks to be a unique entry in the Mario Tennis franchise.
Amazon Prime's sports streaming expands with more ATP tennis
Like other streaming services, Amazon has been hunting for sporting events to feature on its Prime Video platform. Earlier this year, the company took over NFL Thursday game livestreaming from Twitter. Today, the company announced it's snagged rights for a string of tennis matches. Amazon Prime owners in the UK and Republic of Ireland will have access to 37 Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) events from 2019 to 2023, while US owners get access to ATP's streaming service, Tennis TV.
BBC to stream 1,000 extra hours of live sport each year
The BBC continues to reduce the amount of public money it spends, it's led to some notable sporting events being cut from its programming. It's already been forced to drop the rights to big-name British golfing tournaments, Formula 1 and perhaps the most prestigious global sporting event of all: the Olympics (although it has since agreed a sub-licencing deal with Discovery-owned Eurosport). Instead, the corporation has focused on sports that it believes are most valuable to licence fee payers, including Wimbledon tennis and Six Nations rugby. Expanding that commitment, the BBC today announced "its biggest increase of live sport in a generation," confirming that will add 1,000 extra hours of live sport to the BBC Sport and iPlayer websites each year.
Zepp's tennis sensor now includes a highlight camera
Unless you've got a professional coach on hand, it can be tricky to determine how good your tennis skills really are -- simply not slamming the ball into the net doesn't count, unfortunately. But for those looking to up their game, sport sensor creator Zepp has a new gadget that could help you serve your best match yet. The Tennis 2 Swing and Match Analyzer, which looks not unlike a tennis ball, fits on the bottom on your racket and measures stroke type, spin, ball speed, ball spin and accuracy, then relays the info to its iOS or Android app via Bluetooth.
Amazon snatches ATP tennis rights from Sky
After winning numerous awards for its TV and movie originals, Amazon has set its sights on adding coverage of various popular sporting events to its Prime subscription. In the US, the company has already wrestled Thursday-night NFL game streams away from Twitter, but has been slow to lock in similar deals on the other side of the Atlantic. According to The Guardian, Amazon has now finally made a move, outbidding Sky and ITV to secure the UK rights to tennis' ATP World Tour for the next five years.
Twitter to stream live coverage of Wimbledon and Comic-Con
Twitter's livestreaming efforts have been well documented, and today we have news that the microblogging service is expanding it further. Variety writes that next month Twitter will broadcast the opening preview night from San Diego Comic-Con as part of a deal with entertainment publication IGN -- much like what the pair did with E3 earlier this month.
IBM’s Watson will analyze Wimbledon to suggest the best matches
IBM's Watson can apparently do everything. From manufacturing and medical treatment planning to portrait drawing and filing your taxes, there seems to be no limit to what the Jeopardy-winning AI can do. And next week, Watson will be offering its services to the Wimbledon tennis tournament.
Vive Studios' 'VR Sports' is exactly what it sounds like
The unmitigated phenomenon that was the Nintendo Wii had an everlasting effect on any medium with motion controllers: If you have hardware that can track hand movements, it needs to have its own "Wii Sports" game. Enter Vive Studios' latest virtual-reality game, VR Sports -- a lighthearted but surprisingly realistic-feeling ping-pong and tennis simulator. On March 15th, the game kicks off Vive Studios' spring lineup of VR games, which also includes a WWII defense shooter and a port of Sixaxis' virtual-reality CAD program.
Get served by this tennis-instructing drone
If tennis is your game and you're looking for help that a ball-spitting machine can't provide, luxury gym chain Virgin Active has your back. They've built a drone to drop your racquet's prey from above so you can work on your awful smash without any witnesses.
Zepp wants rackets and bats to pack integrated sensors
Now that any athlete (or wannabe) can measure their baseball, tennis and golf swings with standalone sensors, Zepp figures that the next step is putting them directly into the sports equipment. The company announced that it's working with several equipment manufacturers to integrate its sensor and cloud tech directly into baseball bats, tennis and badminton rackets, cricket bats, glove gloves and other products. It also wants to partner with companies and sports' governing bodies to develop open-source sensor standards for both professional and amateur athletes.
On the court with the promising Qlipp tennis sensor
It wasn't long ago that we rounded up a collection of gadgets aimed at tennis players -- everything from fitness trackers to sensor-laden rackets. But this is still a young market and we've seen several new entries since then. Equipment maker Babolat announced the Pop, a stat-tracking sensor housed in a wristband, back in August. Meanwhile, a new name is entering this growing field. A small team called 9 Degrees Freedom successfully crowdfunded the Qlipp -- a small sensor going for $99 in pre-release deals before jumping to its regular $129 price. It's a "universal" device that should work with nearly any racket and the company boldly claims it's the "ultimate tennis performance sensor." I received a pre-release version several weeks ago and, thanks to a nagging foot injury, I ended up spending far longer with the device than I anticipated. That added time gave me the chance to watch the accompanying app evolve as the Qlipp neared its December release and while the typical crowdfunding growing pains are evident, I do like where the company's going with this device.
Teacher arrested after drone crashes at the US Open
In a Grand Slam like the US Open, top tennis players have to be able to block out unwanted distractions. A crowd that's starting to side with your opponent is one problem, but a drone? That's something most competitors aren't prepared for. As the Guardian reports, a 26-year-old teacher has now been arrested after a quadcopter crash-landed into an empty section of the stands. Flavia Pennetta and Monica Niculesu were facing off on Thursday night when the 3DR Solo swooped in unannounced. Videos have emerged documenting the crash -- although no-one was hurt, it clearly broke the flow of the match and worried the players, their families and fans. Curiously, the intruding drone didn't appear to have a camera on board -- it's possible that it snapped off during the landing, but otherwise it's unclear exactly why the pilot was flying there in the first place. As we've seen in the past, usually drones sneak into sporting events to capture all of the action.
Babolat and PIQ team up for a pair of wrist-worn tennis wearables
The market for connected tennis wearables hasn't exactly been around for very long, yet equipment maker Babolat has already established itself as something of a veteran in the space with its Play series line of sensor-equipped rackets. But that meant if you wanted the company's stat-tracking sensor and its easy-to-use app, you also had to buy one of its popular (and pricey) rackets -- since the sensor is hardwired to the handle. Babolat's latest entry, though, doesn't require quite as much brand loyalty. Today, the French company unveiled the Babolat Pop: a $90 connected tennis wristband that lets players track their groundstrokes, serves and other stats with any racket they want -- and, yes, that means other brands as well.
