AI takes the Court: From Line Calls to Livestreams, case: TEHO Finnish Tour, Finland
No more questionable line calls. No more matches without an audience.
Finland's top-tier tennis tournament, the TEHO Finnish Tour, was held in Vierumäki from March 21st to 23rd. Zenniz, the official technology partner of the Finnish Tennis Association, brought a new era of tennis to life. For the first time ever in a tournament setting, the best of Finnish tennis was played with fully electronic line calling and live streaming.
The tournament took place at the brand-new Vierumäki Tennis Center, where all courts are equipped with Zenniz smart tennis court technology. Over the weekend, a total of 51 matches were played and every single one was streamed live on the federation´s YouTube channel using Zenniz. Players also had access to line call challenges during their matches through the Zenniz system.
Tournament Director Petja Nykänen praised the user-friendliness of Zenniz's tournament features:
“Setup was basically as simple as toggling a few settings on the club.zenniz platform. Everything was ready to go in no time. Before each match, I just reminded the players to log in and update the score during the match - and activated the stream myself with one click.”
“Players gave great feedback about the system, and the challenge feature made the tournament feel fair. From an organizer’s perspective, the best part was how smoothly the matches ran. No disputes, no unnecessary stress for players or the crowd. Everyone could just focus on the game. The human eye simply can’t match the precision of the system,” Nykänen summed up.
Players logged into their matches using the Zenniz app and received comprehensive post-match stats, analyses, and highlight reels. The Zenniz Premium app was especially praised for its in-depth stats and the Playstyle IQ feature.
“From the match stats, the most interesting ones for me are the shot statistics. Especially the depth of the shots and the margin over the net. It's also great that videos of all the matches can be easily found in one place”, commented tournament finalist Nuppu Palm.
Zenniz Premium is a consumer app that gives players access to cutting-edge AI insights. Designed to elevate your game, it includes features like Playstyle IQ, Performance Rating, and SmartView Player. Read more HERE.
Ella Haavisto, who also competes internationally, and Santtu Leskinen, the CMO of Zenniz, took home the tournament wins. Haavisto beat her clubmate Palm in the final with a score of 6-4, 6-2. Leskinen defeated Jeri Lassila in a tight match 6-4, 3-6, 6-1.
“It was a great tournament all around. Huge thanks to Vierumäki for the excellent organization and facilities. Players used the challenge system seamlessly and seemed really excited about the Zenniz Premium features. We're currently rolling out tournament features globally with several pilots happening in the U.S. So it was fantastic to see this kind of success in Finland as well,” said Leskinen.
Main article photo: Antti Sihlman
Article photo: Vierumäki