Viral animation of Daniil Medvedev tantrum part of Aus Open strategy

Tournament organisers have revealed why “Wii tennis” style animations of matches are being live streamed during the Aus Open which led to one player’s on-court tantrum going viral.

A targeted campaign to attract younger audiences and gamers is behind the bizarre animated live streams of big matches during the Australian Open.

Clips of a cartoonish avatar of Daniil Medvedev smashing his racquet into the net went viral this week, drawing attention to an animated live broadcast which has been available on the tournament YouTube channel since last year’s tournament.

Tennis Australia head of innovation Machar Reid said Medvedev losing his cool in his live-streamed match against Thailand’s Kasidit Samrej had given the feature a welcome boost.

“The fact that it was Medvedev and that incident – it made it a little bit more prominent in the eyes of some,” Reid said.

“This is obviously an area in the gaming space – through Fortnite, through our mobile (phone) game – that we’ve been committed to for quite some time.

A startled animated version of Kasidit Samrej (bottom right) watches on as animated Daniil Medvedev smashes the net in anger during the third set of their first-round clash. Picture: Australian Open TV / YouTube

“We’d been expecting it to grab the attention of the world’s media and certainly the demographic we are trying to target … we anticipate more and more people are going to be looking to consume the sport in personalised ways, and this is one example of that.”

Select matches on Rod Laver Arena were live streamed on the Australian Open YouTube channel last year as “racquet rascals” in a less evolved animation, drawing almost 800,000 viewers for the stream of the men’s final between Medvedev and Jannik Sinner.

The 17 matches streamed in the first four days of the tournament had attracted 1.1 million views.

Reid did not say whether the initiative had the support of Nine, the host broadcaster, but said the streaming would “provide optionality” to broadcasters and fans over the long-term.

Nine was contacted for comment.

Collingwood AFL player Mason Cox has been drafted into a team of roving ‘reporters’ for the new AO Bluezone channel at Melbourne Park. Picture: Darrian Traynor / Getty Images

“As a business more broadly, we’re always interested in challenging the status quo and innovating – thinking in terms of what’s next, and how we can better connect with the players or fans through their on-site and off-site experiences,” Reid said.

Another live offering to fans from Tennis Australia was the “AO Bluezone”, which included live Big Brother-style streams of player warm-up and lounge areas along with interviews and “watch parties” of key night matches.

A rotation of hosts were being used to commentate and conduct interviews including Collingwood AFL player Mason Cox, who appeared for the first time on Tuesday night.

“Both AO Bluezone and animated feeds are designed to deepen the bond between fans and players, offering rare insights into their personalities and the unique moments that make the AO unforgettable,” TA chief content officer Darren Pearce said.

Originally published as Viral animation of Daniil Medvedev tantrum part of Aus Open strategy