Novak Djokovic Used A.I. to Train for Wimbledon

A supply chain management company applied its tech to tennis. It worked.

Amanda Loudin
OneZero

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Novak Djokovic won the 2019 men’s final at Wimbledon against Roger Federer. Photo: Simon M Bruty/Anychance/Getty

JJust watching was a feat of endurance. The 2019 men’s final at Wimbledon lasted four hours and 57 minutes, making it the longest on record at the All England Club. Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic seemed to be perfectly matched, until they weren’t. In the end, Djokovic prevailed, and fans were left to debate what allowed the Serbian great to finally notch the win.

They would probably be surprised to learn that some of Djokovic’s advantage could have come from artificial intelligence, which he incorporated in his game for the first time during this year’s Wimbledon.

It all started with a tennis-loving father-son team whose careers are rooted firmly in the more quotidian world of supply chain management. Ed Frazelle and his son Andrew are the owners of Atlanta-based RightChain, an advanced supply chain optimization, planning, and analytics software company. Most of RightChain’s clients — which include Fortune 500 giants like Colgate, Caterpillar, Ford, Baxter, and Coca-Cola — want to find the most efficient way to move product from manufacturing to the customer’s hands.

A.I. for tennis like that developed by RightChain provides an…

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Amanda Loudin
OneZero

Amanda Loudin is a freelance writer providing content for both B2B and B2C. Bylines include the Washington Post, ESPN, Outside magazine and many others.