Artificial intelligence could fuel growth in global tennis

Off-court growth

To this end, off-court, the tennis industry is harnessing the latest technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), while on-court, the players and their coaches are using the same technologies to support training and tactics.

“AI has a huge part to play in growing the sport of tennis,” said Judy Murray, tennis coach and mother of Wimbledon, US Open and Olympic singles champion Andy Murray and two-time mixed doubles Grand Slam champion Jamie Murray.

Speaking at an event held by IBM, in its 36th year as a technology partner for AELTC, Murray talked about the role of technology, including AI, in attracting the current and future generations of tennis fans and players.

IBM UK’s head of sport partnerships, Kevin Farrar, shared numbers around the use of digital technology to engage with sporting events and demand for what he described as “snackable content”.

He said 70% of sports fans use social media while watching events at home, and 44% use social platforms while at the events. He said 66% of sports consumption comes from a “core group” of 20% of fans.

“Snackable content is very much something that the younger fans want to want to see, and it’s ever evolving. Our challenge is to respond to that each year and make sure that we can give them the best possible experience, whether they’re on-site or at home,” added Farrar.

Judy Murray agreed: “It’s all about engaging with those who grew up with technology, understanding how they get their news and information and how they are viewing sport.”

She said young people are consuming tennis in a different way from previous generations, through digital services, such as a dedicated app and personalised information.

“I certainly see it with all the young people that I’ve come into contact with through the sporting world – it’s about what I always call ‘bite-size chunks’,” she added. “It’s the highlight reels, the shot of the day, the celebrity watch, and it’s the kids and behind-the-scenes content. I think it’s about creating the atmosphere and the magic of Wimbledon, through the app, to a hugely diverse global audience.”

Social add-ons

At the event, in the shadow of Wimbledon’s Centre Court, IBM announced two AI-generated tools for spectators. 

The new features for this year’s Wimbledon tournament include an interactive AI assistant that can answer questions and provide analysis during a live match, using generative AI. Match Chat, as it is known, is built using IBM’s Watsonx AI technologies, including a collection of AI agents and large language models (LLMs) trained on the Wimbledon editorial style and tennis jargon.

An enhanced version of the Likelihood to Win tool is also being introduced to offer fans a projection of which player is most likely to win.

Chris Clements, digital products lead at AELTC, said the organisation puts a lot of effort into understanding the audience of the Wimbledon event.

He said AELTC estimates that more than three billion people worldwide are aware of the Wimbledon brand, with about a billion of these showing an interest.

“In 2024, our global audience was in excess of 670 million people, who engaged with Wimbledon in any way, shape or form. As you can imagine, that audience is not only extremely diverse in terms of location, in terms of knowledge of the sport, but also in terms of the way in which they consume media,” said Clements.

He said the challenge for AELTC is “showing up in the spaces where people spend their time”.

There were 13 billion engagements last year with Wimbledon globally, according to Clements, which he said works out to about 20 per individual that AELTC has engaged with.

According to AELTC figures, last year, it produced over 5,200 pieces of content, grew its audience by 63% on social platforms, and delivered 1.6 billion video views in total.

“It is really important to us that we’re generating that kind of deeper engagement, which ultimately leads people to take on the sport and to engage with it on a recurring basis.”

On-court success

The use of AI and other digital tools goes way beyond growing the sport and the brands of the various tournaments, and into the everyday training and preparation of the players themselves.

Judy Murray, a long-time coach, talked about the role of technology, such as AI, in preparing players for tournaments and individual matches. “These days, you certainly need people who know how to turn a computer on,” she joked.

She said today’s top players have data experts in their teams, alongside fitness coaches and video analysts. “I think the old guard of coaches, who would have worked in the old school way, have had to adapt or take someone on to help them to analyse the data.”

Murray said in her early days coaching juniors, everything was done with a pen and paper. “You drew your court diagram with your stick man and you made your own markings and notes, but over time it’s evolved.”

“Today, data is available to you as a coach, which helps you to form, not just match strategy for your player and the tactics against other players, but also a lot of your training plans, because it allows you to analyse technique through slow-motion videos.”

She recalled analysing competitors’ style at a US junior event one year, using a video camera hanging from the back of the court to film an opponent her players might have to face. “We took footage back, put it onto the computer, and then edited it into a small package that junior players would understand.”

But she added that today, “one click, and it’s not just available to you before and after the match, but it’s available in real time as well”.

“The player boxes have iPads fitted in them, which tell you exactly what’s happening during a match,” she said, adding that coaches will need to learn to understand this data and act on it quickly.