AI is making the Australian Open cover tennis in the most fun way possible by transforming it into a Nintendo Wii Tennis game.
"Bring out those Wii controllers!"
The Australian Open, one of the most important tennis tournaments in the world, is taking place in Melbourne, and its use of artificial intelligence has garnered a lot of attention. Due to the lack of full broadcasting rights to stream all matches of the event, the tournament has opted to use AI to live-stream matches using Nintendo Wii-style animations, with a two-minute delay. This ingenious solution allows tennis fans around the world to enjoy the matches for free on YouTube, although it does not match the experience of a live event.
The Wii-style recreations are especially entertaining when unexpected situations occur on the court that the AI doesn't know how to handle. For example, during Daniel Medvedev's first-round match, the Russian player broke his racket by hitting it against the ground and the net. The AI replicated this incident, generating very comical results that caught the attention of viewers.
For those unfamiliar, the Australian Open does not possess the full broadcasting rights for all matches. Therefore, its YouTube stream uses artificial intelligence to create Nintendo Wii-style animated avatars that imitate the action, always with a two-minute delay. This has resulted in animated clips that illustrate highlight moments, such as the aforementioned episode with Medvedev.
This is not the first time sports events have been transformed into animation; the NFL has experimented with animations to promote interest in sports among young people, even integrating characters from popular shows like The Simpsons and SpongeBob SquarePants into its commentary to make broadcasts more appealing to children.
The Australian Open variant, known as AO Animated, utilizes sensors on the courts to digitally recreate live action, adding commentary and crowd sounds that simulate an authentic experience, albeit in animated form. Although this technology was introduced last year, the figures suggest that this year's edition has gained greater popularity among tennis fans worldwide.
Tennis has been a pioneer in adopting new sports technologies, using the Hawk-Eye system since 2006. The question that arises is whether this new method of live streaming, which allows for colorful animated reproductions of sports events, could become the norm. Will we one day see highlights from the 2026 World Cup turned into AI-generated animation? Given the virality of clips like Medvedev breaking his racket and the convenience of watching matches on YouTube without broadcasting restrictions, it is very likely that we will see more AI-generated sports content in the future.
