Wireless Wednesday for 7/23/14: With Mitch Evans - BB&T Atlanta Open and Tennis Tech

Rick and Mitch are back with "Wireless Wednesday" and some tennis talk

**Topics**  
It's BB&T Atlanta Open tennis week and that means Rick is living down at Atlantic Station all week.  We will also talk some of the latest in tennis technology.

Have a listen:

listen to ‘Wireless Wednesday for 7/24/14 on 92.9 The Game’ on Audioboo

BB&T Atanta Open

Running all week at Atlantic Station. A men's ATP World Tour 250 event that kicks off the lead up to the U.S. Open. It's the first even in the Emirates Airline US Open Series. With players like defending champ, John Isner, it's one of the strongest draws, ever for this event.

 

The new Wilson Roger Federer 97 Autograph racquet

Wilson and Roger Federer team up for a new racquet

For months Roger Federer's stealthy, matte black racket has been the source of conjecture and debate amongst tennis fans.  Wins in Dubai and Halle, along with several finals appearances amplified the buzz surrounding his new secret weapon.   After three years of development and dozens of prototypes, Roger Federer and Wilson officially announced the new Wilson Pro Staff line of rackets, which they collaborated in developing.

The new Wilson Pro Staff RF 97 Autograph* delivers the precise feel Federer demands with a larger sweet spot and more power in comparison to the Wilson rackets he has used throughout his storied career.  The Wilson Pro Staff line will feature rackets suited for a variety of attack-style players: from avid players to youth striving to improve their game. The Wilson Pro Staff rackets provide more power without compromising the classic feel long associated with the Pro Staff line. The final graphics package will be unveiled closer to the projected October 1, 2014 in-store date.
 

Chase Review AKA "Hawk-Eye"

Hawk-eye is the name of a line-calling system which traces a ball's trajectory and sends it to a virtual-reality machine.  It's used at all top level professional tournaments.

Hawk-Eye uses six or more computer-linked television cameras situated around the court. The computer reads in the video in real time, and tracks the path of the tennis ball on each camera. These six separate views are then combined together to produce an accurate 3D representation of the path of the ball.
If the player is correct with a challenge, then the player retains the same number of challenges. Effectively they have an unlimited number of correct challenges to make.
If the player is incorrect with a challenge, then one of the challenges is lost.

During a tie-break, each player will receive an additional challenge.

Challenges may not be carried over from one set to another.
 

Tennis Tournament Websites and SlamTracker

Last year nearly 20 million unique users visited wimbledon.com during the Wimbledon championships. Fans are able to access the site from their smartphones, tablets and other devices. This will allow them to create personalised feeds with the latest live scores and videos, stats, and match analysis, giving that extra layer of analysis to enhance the fan experience and engagement.

BM SlamTracker tool provides a "second screen" experience for fans on wimbledon.com. At its simplest SlamTracker provides a real-time dashboard for all the matches around the 19 courts. It also uses predictive analytics to identify performance indicators for any particular head-to-head match – the three key things each player needs to focus on to be more likely to win. These update in real time during the match to give fans a sense of being part of the action. SlamTracker works by examining 41 million data points from eight grand slam tournaments.

Smart Racquets and sensors

Babolat, Head and others are coming out with smart racquets. Actual racquets that have a chip embedded in them and then the information from an entire match or practice session can be downloaded to be analyzed.
 


 App of the Week

ATP/ WTA Tour App

 
Free for both iOS and Android

TP/WTA Live is the official Live Scoring App from the ATP World Tour and WTA.

Follow your favourite professional tennis players and tournaments in real-time throughout the season, including ATP Challenger Tour events.

Key Features:
• Live Scores
• Live Match Statistics
• Completed Matches
• Order of Play
• Draws
• Rankings
• Tournament Calendar
• Player Bios & Head to Head Records
• 15+ Languages
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