The Impact of AI on Tennis

As our existence becomes increasingly digital, the impact of artificial intelligence can be felt everywhere. AI is changing the way we go about our daily lives, from how we shop online to how we control the devices in our homes.

It’s also being deployed across many industries, leading to more automation and innovation. AI is also becoming particularly common in the sporting sector, with tennis being one of its earliest adopters.

the Perfect Tool for Professional Development

Tennis is often considered one of the most technical sports. This makes it a natural fit for integrating AI. Many players are now taking advantage of advanced training tools which let them practise specific shots in a wide variety of scenarios. The scope for AI training tools is endless. As well as allowing athletes to fine-tune specific skills, AI can be used for more focused training sessions, with the technology taking into account the behaviour of fellow players.

For tennis pros with long-standing rivalries on the court, it might be possible to break a long run of bad luck thanks to AI.

Advanced Analysis and Match Commentary

There is hardly a shortage of tennis commentators, with many tennis greats from yesteryear like Tracy Austin and John McEnroe making the jump from the court to the commentary box. However, even these celebrated greats will have a hard time keeping up with advancements in AI technology.

In a joint initiative with IBM, Wimbledon deployed AI-powered commentary for the first time in 2023. Even with the best human commentators, bias can get in the way of delivering a fair assessment of player performance. This isn’t an issue with AI-powered commentary, bringing together things like tracking data and player power index metrics to offer unrivalled insights.

With text-to-speech technology becoming increasingly sophisticated, don’t be too surprised to see AI-powered commentary being offered at most major tournaments in the future.

AI is Being Used to Take on the Trolls

Unfortunately, even tennis pros aren’t immune to online trolls and social media harassment. From profanity and scathing insults to outright death threats, navigating the likes of Instagram and Twitter can be a minefield for tennis players. Once again, AI is offering innovative ways to protect the mental health of players, allowing them to concentrate on the most important matches of their careers.

In 2023, the French Tennis Federation recently unveiled a smart monitoring tool that players can use to safeguard themselves against inflammatory content. It’s yet to be seen whether the technology will be rolled out beyond the French Open, but if all goes well, expect this to become a staple of other Grand Slam tournaments.

Sports Gambling and AI

AI-powered match analysis means that everyday gamblers can make more informed decisions when wagering on Grand Slam events and other tournaments. However, it’s also driving changes elsewhere in the gambling sector.

AI has proved transformative for online casinos, with most major platforms now providing personalised experiences for loyal players, like suggesting a shortlist of the most popular Pokie titles it thinks a user will enjoy. Going forward, expect more AI involved in the actual development of games themselves