- New Match Reports summaries give fans in-depth analysis of all 254 US Open main draw singles matches
- Enhanced AI Commentary returns to US Open digital platforms for on-demand highlights alongside the completely redesigned IBM SlamTracker experience
- IBM and USTA Foundation Announce New Collaboration to Provide AI Professional Development Resources for Students, Education Professionals and the Public
IBM (NYSE: IBM) and the United States Tennis Association (USTA) today announced several Watsonx-powered fan features coming to the US Open digital platforms ahead of this year’s tournament. These new and enhanced features – a product of collaboration between IBM and the USTA’s digital team – aim to deliver a more informative and engaging experience for millions of tennis fans around the world.
New this year, IBM will provide AI-generated recaps for all men’s and women’s singles matches within minutes of completion. The solution leverages technologies from Watsonx, IBM’s AI and data platform—including Granite 13B, its purpose-built large language model (LLM) for business—and the USTA’s trusted data and editorial guidelines to produce comprehensive post-match articles featuring player performance analysis, statistics and highlights. The content is reviewed and updated with context and feedback from the USTA editorial team before being published on the US Open app and USOpen.org.
Match Reports will expand the USTA’s editorial capabilities, enabling them to provide fans with near-instant coverage on an unprecedented scale – for all 254 main draw singles matches across seven rounds and on all seventeen courts.
An enhanced version of IBM’s AI commentary is also returning to the US Open’s digital platforms. First introduced in 2023, AI commentary provides automated English audio and captions for highlight videos of men’s and women’s singles matches. This year, IBM will leverage Watsonx, including the Granite 13B LLM, to generate more frequent, expressive and contextual commentary, with highlight packages published within minutes of a match’s conclusion.
Fans will also have access to a completely redesigned IBM SlamTracker experience, offering more detailed pre-, live- and post-game information. This includes win probability predictions, point-by-point analysis, and scorecard previews and recaps, built on IBM WatsonX, for all men’s and women’s singles matches. This includes live matches with new near-real-time 3D graphics of the current game.
Additionally, IBM and the USTA Foundation, the philanthropic pillar of the USTA, are announcing a collaboration to offer free career-readiness training through IBM SkillsBuild, aligning with the USTA Foundation’s mission to help under-resourced youth become more engaged in school and learning and IBM’s goal of empowering 30 million people by 2030. The collaboration will provide select USTA Foundation National Junior Tennis & Learning (NJTL) students, as well as teaching professionals and the public, access to AI courses and professional development, including personalized learning plans, workshops and mentorship from IBM volunteers. Participants will also have access to a new interactive microlearning course and guide, available in English and Spanish, that will provide information on AI concepts and techniques used in tennis, such as electronic calling and player analysis, as well as an introduction to LLMs, including IBM Granite.
“Fans want more quality content about their favorite sports and athletes, and IBM Match Reports allows us to deliver that immediately for the US Open,” said Jonathan Adashek, Senior Vice President, Marketing and Communications, IBM. “IBM’s ongoing partnership with the USTA, built on more than 30 years of innovation, is an example of how companies in any industry can modernize and scale their workflows with fit-for-purpose models like Granite and AI technologies like WatsonX.”
“A key goal of the US Open’s digital platforms is to provide fans around the world with comprehensive coverage of all the action that unfolds during the three weeks of the tournament,” said Brian Ryerson, Senior Director of Digital Strategy, USTA“AI Match Reports enables us to efficiently deliver concise and factual match previews and reports from over 150 matches to fans across our platforms. The efficiency in delivering this content at scale allows our editorial teams to focus on other stories and interviews, ensuring we can deliver the most comprehensive coverage possible.”
These new capabilities and efforts showcase how IBM and the USTA continue to co-create world-class digital experiences that bring the drama and excitement of the US Open to more than 15 million people around the world each year. The US Open digital experiences run on the USTA’s open and flexible hybrid cloud platform, which integrates technology from dozens of partners, automates key business processes and secures the entire US Open’s world-class digital experience.
The 2024 US Open runs from August 19 to September 8. To see IBM technology in action, visit USOpen.org and/or the US Open app available in the Apple and Android app stores on mobile devices.
