This Huge Tennis Tournament Is Broadcasting Matches That Look Like Wii Tennis

The first major professional tennis tournament of the year, the Australian Open, is underway now in Melbourne. New for the 2025 event is an alternate broadcast that makes players look like something out of Wii Sports. The Australian Open organizers rolled out what they are calling “AO Animated” versions of tennis matches this year, featuring animated, video game-looking versions of the real players.

As you can see in the video game, from the Jacob Fearnley vs. Nick Kyrgios match, the animation is far from perfect–at times, the player’s racket and the tennis ball vanish out of thin air. The audio doesn’t sync up perfectly, either. But it’s pretty solid, all things considered. You can watch more of these matches on the Australian Open YouTube page under the “Live” tab.

Broadcasts of this nature are becoming more and more popular these days. Before this, the NFL and Disney+ partnered to air a very bizarre-looking Simpsons-themed broadcast of the Cincinnati Bengals vs. Dallas Cowboys game on December 9. This broadcast had the likes of Homer, Bart, Moe, Carl, Barney, and Lenny suiting up and making plays on the field.

Before that, the NHL and Disney teamed up for a video game-style broadcast of a professional hockey game, with characters from the show Big City Greens lacing up their skates. And who could forget the NFL’s slime game featuring SpongeBob?