New WTA tournament to set VR first for tennis

The InfrontRingier agency has said the inaugural edition of Women’s Tennis Association tournament, the Ladies Open Biel Bienne, will set a first for the sport by providing live virtual reality coverage.

The first edition of the tournament is set to run from April 8-16 in the brand-new Swiss Tennis Arena in Biel.

Tournament organiser InfrontRingier is co-ordinating all marketing and national media rights. In collaboration with premium partner, Korean consumer electronics company Samsung, media partners Swiss public-service broadcaster SRG and newspaper group Blick and WTA Media, InfrontRingier will provide behind-the-scenes footage of the tournament as well as live streams of the matches and training sessions from a 360-degree perspective.

From Tuesday onwards, SRG will also live broadcast the ‘Match of the Day’ on a daily basis, as well as the semi-finals and the final.

Led by world No.18 Barbora Strycova (pictured), at least 25 of the world’s top 100 players will compete at this year’s tournament.