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With a historic Australian Open coming to a close on Sunday, a large portion of the headlines since have revolved around Rafael Nadal’s record 21st Grand Slam title. In a comeback for the ages, the Spaniard beat Daniil Medvedev in the final.
The title win saw him eclipse Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic’s 20-Slam records to win the most Grand Slams in men's tennis history.
However, there was also a major Indian presence at the Australian Open 2022 that is worth highlighting. While tennis fans from India would have preferred to see an Indian player go deep at the Slam, it was an Indian information technology (IT) giant which stood out instead. With its innovative digital and technology-oriented solutions and experiences, Infosys was the tournament’s Digital Innovation Partner.
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Infosys is no stranger to the limelight, however. The Indian IT heavyweight was recently declared the third most valuable brand in the Brand Finance 2022 report. With the company’s rapidly growing reputation in the global technology services industry, it has also come up as one of the few Indian brands to be widely prominent in sports sponsorships worldwide.
With the Australian Open 2022 being one of the first major events of the global sporting calendar year, activations by sponsors such as Kia were in the limelight. While Kia focused on sustainable mobility as a theme, for Infosys, digital innovation in tennis has proved to be a major forte over the years.
Activating the tie-up with AO 2022 under the hashtag #NextNeverStops, Infosys made good on the tagline, giving fans, players, and coaches alike a plethora of digital analytics, fan engagement solutions, and experiences.
Australian Open 2022 saw a completely fan-centric Infosys Fan Zone
In the Infosys Fan Zone at Melbourne Park, fans who had always dreamed of playing in the Rod Laver Arena lived out their dreams by playing in the virtual world at the iconic Grand Slam venue.
Not one to stop while the going is good, Infosys also went a few steps further to enable fans to enjoy arcade tennis in VR - a twist on bowling with an integration of tennis, Music Tennis, and an out-of-this-world experience with Moon Tennis.
Stats for everyone
While excelling in delighting fans at the Fan Zone, Infosys had to show their capabilities were not limited to just fun and games and that they meant business for hardcore tennis fans as well, who wanted stats beyond just live match scores.
Such data-hungry fans had MatchBeats at their disposal, a custom data visualization solution with which they could view performance from key moments, filtered by winners, errors, aces, and rally length for any point in any set.
Additionally, the Rally Analysis tool allowed fans to view the performance of their favourite players in short, medium, and long rally lengths, with a further option to dive deeper at an individual shot level. With 3D visualizations of every match, fans could also see exactly where each ball landed on the court.
Meanwhile, ardent fans who found themselves wondering about the success rate for a particular type of stroke, such as that of Nadal’s scorching passing shots, the Stroke Summary tool provided a detailed analysis.
With such a sizable number of delightful experiences for fans to enjoy at the venue, it was no surprise to see Infosys’ digital tools and experiences being a hit with everyone who experienced them.
Extending capabilities to serve players, coaches, and broadcasters
Truly serving as an all-encompassing partner to the Slam, Infosys had something in store for athletes, coaches, and broadcasters as well. For the media and broadcasting team, machine learning was leveraged to deliver an AI Shot of the Day.
Meanwhile, a dedicated Players Portal and AI videos helped players and coaches better strategise for their game and rewatch crucial moments of a match.
Robust reputation in digital fan engagement to continue for Infosys
While the Australian Open 2022 might be over, Infosys is far from done with the Grand Slam of the Asia-Pacific. Announcing their partnership extension with the Australian Open until 2026, Infosys rounded up their impeccable activations perfectly with a touch of humour through a memorable video featuring former Grand Slam champion Pat Cash.
With partnerships in place with the ATP Tour, Roland Garros, and the Australian Open, Infosys has placed itself well at the forefront of delivering innovative fan engagement experiences to tennis fans globally. With Infosys' global CMO Sumit Virmani himself being a self-professed "tennis enthusiast," and given the range of tools and solutions conceptualised, it is clear that the IT behemoth’s tennis partnerships are something it holds dear throughout the organization.
