Sporting events around the world are being canceled left and right over the COVID-19 pandemic, or at least, the in-person sporting events are. But, even if it's not really "tennis," an online tennis tournament using Mario Tennis Aces will have to suffice.
The "Stay at Home Slam" tournament, as it has been dubbed, is taking the place of a real tennis tournament--and numerous celebrities (both tennis pros and otherwise) are participating. For those missing sports events during this time, this Switch-run tournament could be the only way of seeing tennis superstars like Serena and Venus Williams perform for quite a while.
Interested viewers can catch the Stay at Home Slam on Facebook, where it'll be streamed live and on the IMG tennis page on Sunday, 4 PM EST. And yes, the event is pretty official--legendary tennis player John McEnroe and YouTuber iJustine will serve as commentators throughout the event. Not only that, but the tournament's participants will be playing Mario Tennis Aces to win; everyone is getting $25,000 to donate to a charity of their choice, but the winner gets an additional $1 million.
In addition to Serena and Venus Williams, the event has a hefty list of celebrity contestants. They are as follows:
- Serena Williams
- Gigi Hadid
- Naomi Osaka
- Hailey Bieber
- Venus Williams
- DeAndre Hopkins
- Maria Sharapova
- Karlie Kloss
- Kei Nishikori
- Steve Aoki
- Madison Keys
- Seal
- Taylor Fritz
- Addison Rae
- Kevin Anderson
- Ryan Tannehill
Teams will be in doubles for the whole event. The Stay at Home Slam is only the latest of creative at-home sporting events that organizations have devised over the past few weeks, and time will tell how much of a success it proves to be.
Mario Tennis Aces is available on the Nintendo Switch.
Source: IMG
