Tennis Australia has transformed the world's best players into animated versions of themselves to bypass broadcast restrictions at the Australian Open.

The Australian Open is re-creating tennis matches with players looking like something out of a Wii game. Here's why these graphics are being used.

If you’re tuning into the 2025 Australian Open, you may notice something very, very weird about the players on the court if you’re watching matches on YouTube. They look like they’re straight out of a video game, like Wii Tennis. The players’ bodies and faces have been replaced with Miis, basically. What gives?

In a unique workaround to address geographical streaming constraints and copyrights issues, the Australian Open 2025 organizers have modified players to animation, enabling viewers to free access to all games albeit at a cost.

The tennis balls are unusually large, players' heads are out of proportion and the racquets they are holding sometimes seem to drift away from their hands. This cartoon is the Australian Open's free-to-watch version of the live action taking place at Melbourne Park.

The Australian Open has implemented a cheeky workaround for international viewers that dodges its own broadcast obligations.

Record-holder of ten Australian Open titles, Novak Djokovic aims for another triumph in the Land Down Under as the year's first Grand Slam gets underway.

Maybe attending sports events in person is too been-there, done-that in the modern age. So, apparently, is watching the actual action on a TV, laptop or phone. The Australian Open is getting in on the newest trend in the sports world by re-creating tennis matches in video-game form.