Real-time analytics is finding its application in the tennis court. WTA, Women’s Tennis Association has come up with a new mobile application for providing real-time match statistics. The WTA used to let players call a coach on the court after every set for a conversation of 90 seconds, and the same is broadcasted on TV. This year, at Rogers Cup, the coaches had the option of using a tour approved iPad at the playing surface. The device was loaded with real time statistics of the match for them to advise to players.
The WTA Tour and SAP, its technology partner has developed a new real-time analytics app that can pull data from the electronic scoring system of the umpire. Also, the data is pulled from the camera generated technology Hawk-Eye to confront line calls. The coaches as well as players can dive deeper into the statistical categories during an on-going match or study the archived match statistics collected since 2013. SAP stated that around 70 percent of the coaches have used the same analytics during the matches.
This facilitates more advanced scouting as well as strategizing during the in-match coaching sessions during the Rogers Cup. The Women’s Tennis Association predicts possibility of launching more applications in the future such as identification of the types of movements that cause injuries. It will also release two more versions of the match stats app for the fans and the media.
The WTA app provides a lot of data that can be viewed in a customized way so that it can be referred with ease during the match. The dots show where the shots landed or the location of the player on the court while he or she hit them. The WTA app also displays the percentage of forehands and backhands. It can drill precisely into the categories such as where a particular player frequently serves on break points or what is the frequency of winning games at 40 – 15 at the Rogers Cup, etc. The data displayed by the app is deeper than the ones that basic fans see following a tennis match online or on the TV.
