MELBOURNE, Australia — One moment, they are playing tennis. The next, they disappear from the court, or melt into a puddle, or do a backflip mid-point. Their rackets flail independently from their hands and sometimes disappear completely. Their heads are oversized. They are the best tennis players in the world; they are the undisputed stars of the 2025 Australian Open.

They are also cartoons.

There’s Daniil Medvedev, last year’s finalist, whaling his racket into the net.

There’s Madison Keys, this year’s semifinalist, running down a ball before backflipping into the air and disappearing, causing Elena-Gabriela Ruse to miss a volley.

And there’s Jack Draper, feeling the effects of five three-set matches in a row and dissolving into the court.

These clips are courtesy of AO Animated, a YouTube livestream produced by the Australian Open that delivers video-game-style broadcasts of the matches played on Melbourne Park’s three show courts: Rod Laver Arena, Margaret Court Arena and John Cain Arena. It uses tracking data from the Hawk-Eye system used for electronic line calling (ELC) to map the movement of the players and the trajectory of the ball, before overlaying the skins — facial features, kits, the racket — that turns that data into a cartoon player.

This means that for all the fun of the glitches, the feed is a faithful reproduction of the live tennis, just on a short delay. There’s real commentary, crowd noise and chair umpire calls, alongside bobble-headed figures who bear only a passing resemblance to the players they’re representing. In a throwback to old computer games, the protagonists occasionally have minds of their own.

The tournament trialed a primitive version in 2023, with no players and just a ball being tracked back and forth. In 2024, there was animation for just one court, but this year, there are three and the viral moments have captured the tennis world’s imagination. Viewership has increased from 246,542 in the first six days of last year’s event to 1,796,338 in the same timeframe this year.

The cartoon players, prone to glitching limbs, lost rackets and sometimes swapping places on the court, have won acclaim from their real-world counterparts.

“It’s funny,” Carlos Alcaraz said in a news conference last Wednesday. Leylah Fernandez, the world No. 30, was scouting an opponent on YouTube and clicked onto one of the streams thinking it would be useful before getting a pleasant but strange surprise.

Then Daria Kasatkina, the Russian world No. 10 who runs a vlog through YouTube, cut to the heart of why this seemingly quirky bit of fun is also a harbinger for the future of tennis media, as well as the growth of the sport. There is no subscription to pay, no ticket and travel to buy, and no need to search a litany of television rights and providers to figure out which broadcaster is hosting the tournament in the place that a budding tennis fan might call home.

“It’s for free,” Kasatkina said in a news conference.

The economics of Grand Slam media rights — determining which channels show the four biggest tennis events in the world — are relatively straightforward. The Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open sell their media rights to broadcasters; historically, television networks that built their portfolios on the strength of cable television. Some of them (including ESPN, Warner Bros Discovery and, most recently, Tennis Channel) also have direct-to-consumer streaming.

ESPN will pay $2.04billion (more than £1.5bn) to air the U.S. Open through 2037, while Wimbledon’s broadcast deal with ABC and ESPN networks comes in at $52.5million per year, according to SP Global. Warner Bros Discovery has a 10-year deal worth $650m in place to broadcast the French Open in the United States beginning in 2025.

Grand Slam tournaments also have to protect the value of their in-person experience. If fans can watch a major with relative ease from anywhere, there is less value in having a real ticket. As a result, those broadcast deals come with aggressive restrictions on sharing, editing, and uploading clips on sites such as YouTube, TikTok, X and Instagram — the places where the most people would have the most opportunity to discover tennis.

These restrictions extend to the Grand Slams themselves, which give up a degree of control over how they can promote themselves on social media. Since AO Animated is created by the ELC tracking data and not the broadcast feed from television cameras, it can stream live alongside the real match, creating a free-to-air tennis broadcast just two minutes behind the real action. Rather than bristling at AO Animated potentially taking eyeballs away from their live footage, Eurosport and beIN Sports are hosting it on their online platforms.

“We knew we were sitting on this asset, ELC, and it started with that,” Machar Reid, Tennis Australia’s director of innovation said in an interview at Melbourne Park this week.

“We’re using it for the skeletal data, with 29 points on the skeleton. That’s being tracked 50 times a second by the 12 cameras. That allows you to create a 3D mesh and then you put the skin over the top. There’s almost an infinite number of avatars you can have.

“There’s something in it, around building a community to allow people to chat about what’s happened and connect with the sport differently.”

The community chat is a staple of YouTube, Twitch, TikTok and other streaming platforms, which tennis has been institutionally slow to embrace. The NBA, NFL and NHL have used this gamified version of sports broadcasting: in December, Disney+ broadcast the NFL game between the Dallas Cowboys and Cincinnati Bengals as The Simpsons on Monday Night Football. It complements the Formula One drivers who stream on Twitch, the world-famous footballers who love esports, and the athletes who use TikTok.

Taken together, these platforms and free avenues into tennis widen how fans can discover the sport. They might go from being a fan of Coco Gauff the TikToker to Coco Gauff the tennis player to tennis the sport. Or they might see a funny clip of a cartoon version of an elite athlete dissolving into the floor and wonder what on earth is going on.

These characters are drawn by Tennis Australia’s Mark Riedy, who works on the Australian Open’s gaming content.

Riedy works in a bunker, surrounded by computer screens and feeds of all the matches being converted into animation. Riedy designed the graphics, the players and the stadiums; he regularly pops into the YouTube chat to engage viewers with questions and answer some of their queries. He likes to keep it lighthearted, embracing the glitches that have captured the imagination.

Mark Riedy in the animation room at Melbourne Park. (Tennis Australia)

Sitting in the bunker during Emma Raducanu’s third-round match against Iga Swiatek, he tells The Athletic that the idea first came to him because he thought a gamified version of tennis would attract fans with no viable route to the broadcast footage. The tournament has the rights to the pre- and post-match action, so when the warm-up ends and a player takes to the service line to start the match, the footage dissolves into the cartoon world. It’s like a reverse Wizard of Oz and its mid-film switch from black and white to glorious technicolour.

This also means there is no way of checking everything’s working until the very first point, which creates another layer of jeopardy. That includes the main characters, with their big heads, oversized tennis balls and volatile rackets.

But part of the success of AO Animated is that its creators are not too precious about it. They want it to be fun and engaging first and foremost, like the look of the players — which, with their big heads, are hardly realistic.

“It’s definitely intentional,” says Xavier Muhlebach, the tournament’s head of original content.

“We wanted something that was cutesy and kid-friendly, but not exclusively for them. I can sit back and enjoy and have a laugh and watch that and not feel like I’m stuck in a loop watching Blue’s Clues or something.”

Riedy adds: “It’s fun to have a bit of a cartoony look to it. There’s the real version if you want accuracy.

“We might get a scenario where we have proper models for every single player, but at the moment, it’s like a character editor in a video game. You just pop it up and you can change the shape of the head, eyes and everything. It was about creating a character that was editable and changeable and, at the moment, there are enough different hairpieces and caps and things.”

The following day, he sends over an AO Animated version of this reporter, suffering against Alcaraz.

There are other challenges that make the stream tend towards the surreal. The ELC cameras are mainly behind the players, so when they hunch over, the racket — a challenge to track because of the speed at which it moves — can disappear. There is no finger animation (on Riedy’s wishlist for next year) and the cameras stop tracking the players at around six metres behind the baseline, or if they bend down. This explains Draper’s apparent melting into the court against Alcaraz.

Riedy gets on the front foot in the comments by poking fun at any misfortune. “That’s a big drawcard. Just putting this up without the chat, I don’t know if that would have had the same response,” he says.

“It would be different and be very passive, whereas this is more community driven and they’re actually talking about the tennis but also the tech,” Muhlebach adds.

The race to future-proof tennis from an ongoing decline in cable television revenue, which will eventually start to affect the value of broadcast rights, has also created something of a media arms race between the majors. The French Open introduced umpire head cams last year, which were intended to check line calls but instead became famous for making the players look like whinging toddlers.

Tennis Australia has set up its first venture capital fund, the A$30million (£15.2m; $18.6m) AO Ventures, which it says will “provide early backing to high-growth technology-led startups that are innovating in the worlds of sport, entertainment, media and health.”

Further developing AO Animated is another aim, with a desire to add “emotion tracking” so that players can celebrate and despair. There are plans to animate the entire complex, as well as adding commentators that include color not to the real tennis being animated, but to the quirks of the animation itself.

As much as the most important figures in this initiative are the tournament and the fans, as with the sport of tennis, it’s the players who create the value and draw the crowds. The animated tennis is only as good as the tennis being played. World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka was jokingly unimpressed by her character, sharing a clip on Instagram.

“We’re with them and asking for feedback,” Muhlebach said. “Others might be a bit more standoffish because they’ve been working on their own video game.” Sponsorship changes may also have an impact in the future, with players not infrequently signing new deals or, less often, changing their racket or clothing sponsor.

It’s unlikely that every major, let alone every tournament, will be populated with animated versions of Alcaraz and Swiatek bobbling around the court between points and occasionally backflipping into the stands all that soon. AO Animated is nevertheless one of the clearest signs yet that tennis understands how sports media is changing and that getting left behind could quickly become a death sentence.

One day, these animated tennis bobbleheads might rule the world. Until then, there’s always Daniil Medvedev and his disappearing racket.

(Illustration: Dan Goldfarb for The Athletic)

The Ohio State Highway Patrol has released dash cam footage showing a traffic stop and the eventual arrest of four men. The men are suspects in the December robbery of an Ohio home owned by Cincinnati Bengals star Joe Burrow.

The two-time Pro Bowl quarterback was competing against the Dallas Cowboys in Arlington, Texas, when the home invasion took place. Olivia Ponton, a model and social media influencer who was identified as Burrow’s employee in the incident report, was at the home at the time of the incident. But, no one was injured during the break-in.

However, Burrow’s house was rifled through, per a report from the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office.

The four suspects, who were described as Chilean nationals, were arrested following “an ongoing investigation involving burglaries of multimillion-dollar homes in multiple states,” according to WLWT-TV, citing court documents.

Sergio Cabello, Bastian Morales, Jordan Sanchez and Alexander Chavez were arrested in Clark County after being pulled over by Ohio State Highway Patrol on Jan. 10, documents showed.

“All four males were identified as being illegally in the country or overstaying their permissions,” the arrest report read, as all the men provided fake IDs.

JOE BURROW BREAKS SILENCE ABOUT HOME BURGLARY, SAYS ‘LACK OF PRIVACY’ IS ‘DIFFICULT…TO DEAL WITH’

The video shows investigators searching through several bags located in the rear of an SUV. 

Court documents noted that authorities found “an old LSU shirt and Bengals hat, believed to be stolen from the December 9, 2024 burglary in Hamilton County, Ohio.” Burrow played college football at LSU and currently resides in Hamilton County. 

At one point during the traffic stop, the men told police they were traveling to Florida. The trooper then informed the group that they were driving in the wrong direction. The video later shows the trooper instructing the driver to step out of the vehicle and asking him to sit in the front of the police car. Once the male is in the car, the trooper tells him that he wanted him to exit the SUV because he detected the smell of marijuana.

The search of the vehicle the suspects were in also discovered “two Husky automatic center punch tools wrapped in a cloth towel.” During the video, investigator described the tools as “window punchers.” The tools are believed to have been used by the South American Theft Group, according to authorities. 

The four suspects face charges of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, participation in a criminal gang, possessing criminal tools and obstructing official business.

Ponton called her mother, Diane Ponton, and then 911 was contacted as the break-in was happening, deputies reported.

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow (9) celebrates after an NFL football game against the Denver Broncos in Cincinnati, Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024.  (AP Photo/Jeff Dean)

“Someone is trying to break into the house right now,” Diane Ponton was heard saying on the recorded 911 call. “My daughter is there. This is Joe Burrow’s house. She is staying there. He’s at the football game. She’s wondering what she should do, if she should be hiding or if she should go outside.”

Burrow broke his silence a few days after the incident occurred, saying the situation left him feeling “violated.”

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow rolls out to pass against the Las Vegas Raiders during the first half of an NFL football game in Cincinnati, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024.  (AP Photo/Jeff Dean)

“So obviously everybody has heard what has happened. I feel like my privacy has been violated in more ways than one. And way more is already out there than I would want out there and that I care to share, so that’s all I got to say about that,” Burrow said during a scheduled media availability in December.

“We live a public life, and one of my least favorite parts of that is the lack of privacy. And that has been difficult for me to deal with my entire career. Still learning. But I understand it’s the life that we choose. Doesn’t make it any easier to deal with.”

The NFL released a memo earlier this year urging players to be on high alert after homes were hit, which included Kansas City Chiefs stars Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce. 

In November, the NBA sent a memo to team officials after Milwaukee Bucks forward Bobby Portis and Minnesota Timberwolves guard Mike Conley were victims of home invasions.

Fox News’ Scott Thompson contributed to this report.

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Dodger Stadium remains under construction, in the midst of significant offseason renovations for the defending World Series champions.

But hundreds of reporters flocked to Chavez Ravine on Wednesday nonetheless, to witness the team introduce one of the final key pieces of its 2025 roster.

Less than a week after announcing he would sign with the Dodgers in one of this offseason’s major free agency coups, 23-year-old Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki was introduced by the team at a celebratory news conference — the latest star-player reception for a team that has been stockpiling them over the last several winters.

“Putting on this Dodgers uniform today, I’m reminded that my journey is just about to begin,” the pitcher said through interpreter Will Ireton after slipping into a white No. 11 jersey. “And it makes me feel more focused than ever.”

Introductory news conferences are nothing new for the Dodgers.

They held two last offseason to consummate their acquisitions of fellow Japanese stars Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Twice already this offseason, club brass had taken a stage in the right-field Stadium Club to welcome two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell and welcome back fan favorite Teoscar Hernández.

Another ceremony could be on the horizon soon with the team having agreed to a deal with top free-agent reliever Tanner Scott last weekend.

Sasaki’s arrival, however, was a unique affair, with the hard-throwing right-hander being hailed as a key — and economical — part of the team’s future after inking a minor league contract with a $6.5-million signing bonus that was finalized Wednesday.

It was a modest deal to which Sasaki was restricted because he signed as an international amateur before turning 25. And it belied the tantalizing potential he is bringing to the Southland, where Dodgers officials hope he quickly can develop into a bona fide big league ace.

Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman described Sasaki as “one of the most electrifying and promising talents in the game.”

“This is truly an exciting moment for the Los Angeles Dodgers organization,” Friedman said, smiling back at Sasaki on the stage. “You will not only add to our rich legacy, but you will also play an instrumental part in helping us write the next chapter in Dodgers history.”

In addition to Sasaki and Friedman, the Dodgers’ top executives and manager filled the makeshift stage on the right field loge level. General manager Brandon Gomes and manager Dave Roberts were there, as was club president Stan Kasten. In the first row of folding chairs sat members of the Dodgers’ Guggenheim ownership group.

Like last year’s news conferences for Ohtani and Yamamoto, the Guggenheim name also was prominently displayed on the podium alongside the Dodgers’ logo.

A new twist this time: Wednesday’s event opened with a highlight video of Sasaki that played over an announcement by Dodger Stadium public address announcer Todd Leitz: “Now on the mound for the Dodgers — Roki Sasaki.”

For years the Dodgers dreamed of hosting such an event, long coveting Sasaki as he excelled in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball league — he had a career 2.10 earned-run average in four years, albeit while never making more than 20 starts in a season — and earned a reputation as one of the most talented pitchers in the world.

With his upper-90s fastball, devastating splitter and steadily improving slider, the team’s hope is that the 6-foot-4 hurler will be able to quickly adapt to the majors and become an instant contributor in next season’s World Series title defense.

At the same time, the team built its pitch to Sasaki on also cultivating his long-term development, selling itself as the franchise where he would be best positioned to achieve his goal of becoming the best player in the world.

“I know this year I’m going to have a lot of new experiences,” Sasaki said. “Since I signed a minor league contract, my goal is first and foremost to beat the competition and make sure that I do get a major league contract.”

Not that there’s much doubt about that.

“Our plan is to start him,” Friedman said. “The plan is to hit the ground running in spring training and have him be a big part of helping us win games.”

Sasaki described his free-agent process as “incredibly difficult” after going through an initial round of meetings with a handful of teams before narrowing them down to three finalists in the Dodgers, San Diego Padres and Toronto Blue Jays.

“I am deeply honored that many teams reached out to me with such enthusiasm,” Sasaki said, “especially considering I haven’t achieved much in Japan.”

Sasaki didn’t offer many specifics about what influenced his choice, but cited the Dodgers’ “front office stability” as one key factor.

“I had the opportunity to speak to a lot of teams, and they had a lot of appealing features,” Sasaki said. “But overall, when I looked at the general consensus, I thought that the Dodgers were at the top.”

One dynamic Sasaki downplayed was the presence of Ohtani and Yamamoto on the team, saying it “wasn’t a priority for me” to play alongside fellow Japanese stars.

Nonetheless, when Sasaki informed his two former Team Japan teammates of his decision, he said they immediately welcomed him to the club, the first of many warm receptions that has marked Sasaki’s celebrated arrival.

“Being able to play with Ohtani and Yamamoto, both exceptional players, really looking forward to playing with them,” he said. “And not just them, but the rest of the team, which is incredibly talented as well. So I’m going to work toward making sure that I can stand side by side with them.”