IBM and the United States Tennis Association (USTA) have renewed their longstanding, 30-year partnership by five years.

From the launch of USOpen.org in 1995 to the introduction of the mobile app in 2009, and last year’s debut of the IBM Power Index with Watson, IBM and the USTA have collaborated for more than three decades and now deliver a platform that provides first-of-its-kind fan experiences through hybrid cloud and AI technologies.

This year, they will continue to enhance the US Open digital offerings with new features added to the US Open app and USOpen.org ahead of the 2022 tournament.

Building on the popular IBM Match Insights with Watson feature, which analyzes millions of data points and over 100 million sources over the course of the tournament, ‘Win Factors’ brings an additional level of transparency into what is being analyzed by the AI models.

The new feature is designed to provide fans with an increased understanding of the elements affecting player performance, such as the court surface, rankings, head-to-head records, ratio of games won, net of sets won, recent performance, yearly success, and media commentary.

For the first time at the US Open, users can also register their own predictions for match outcomes on the US Open app and USOpen.org, through the ‘Have Your Say’ function. They can then compare their prediction with the aggregated predictions of other fans and the AI-powered Likelihood to Win generated by IBM.

Jonathan Adashek, senior vice president of communications and marketing at IBM, said: “Our partnership with the USTA provides a unique opportunity to showcase the full breadth of IBM capabilities, against the backdrop of one of the most exciting and iconic sporting events in the world. As we look ahead, the possibilities to continually expand and enhance the US Open digital fan experience are endless. Together we have created a platform of innovation by activating the same hybrid cloud, AI technology and IBM Consulting services that we use with our clients across all industries to bring the US Open digital properties to life for millions of tennis fans around the world.”

Kirsten Corio, USTA chief commercial officer, said: “IBM’s expertise and digital leadership has brought our fans closer to the tournament for the past three decades. We are excited to continue to leverage IBM’s innovative tech to serve up the tournament in exciting new ways and deepen global fan engagement with the US Open.”