Now, Tech racquets on tennis courts

London: A handful of the world’s best tennis players will show up at tournaments within weeks armed with new technology they hope will give them an advantage at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, the man behind the ‘smart racquets’ said.

Without identifying the players who would be first to wield the hi-tech weapons, Eric Babolat confirmed “connected racquets”, with sensors feeding back information on the players’ forehands, backhands and much more besides, would be swung in anger for the first time, after a decade in development. “It could be any week. We have a lot of players testing. It is going to happen very soon. It is a question of days, not months,” Babolat said.

Declared legal by the guardians of the sport, the International Tennis Federation, who adopted a new rule covering the technology at the start of the year, selected Babolat racquets will feature data-collecting sensors in their handles, “Quite simply, this is information like we have never been able to get before,” smiled Babolat, scion of the French tennis manufacturing empire built out of a 19th century family business making sausage skins, surgical sutures and piano strings from animal gut.

In essence, the technology-loaded racquets collect data such as shot power and ball impact location along with the number of strokes, the level of spin imparted, total play time, endurance, technique, consistency, energy and rallies. The information is transmitted through bluetooth to smartphones or tablets where players and coaches can analyse and share their data with others and online communities.