Tennis stands at the edge of a digital storm. The major turning point arrived when Wimbledon announced it would replace line judges with artificial intelligence from this year. For the first time in the tournament’s 147-year history, machines made line calls across 18 courts, mirroring the AO and US Open. But as AI tightens its grip, chaos brewed as Carlos Alcaraz, Taylor Fritz, and other tennis stars now find themselves entangled in the digital uproar sparked by the Six Kings Slam poster.

On October 15, chaos erupted online when journalist Ben Rothenberg re-shared a post that showed an AI-generated poster for the Six Kings Slam. In the picture, Sinner and Alcaraz appeared to wield a same racquet, Fritz looked almost unrecognizable, and the overall composition felt more like a parody than a promotional image. 

Moments later, tennis writer Ben joined the storm, resharing the post with a caption: “This Six Kings AI slop gets funnier the longer you look at it. Why are Sinner and Alcaraz holding the same racquet? Why is Temu Fritz holding a pickleball paddle? It’s almost like they weren’t sure if the sixth guy was Fritz or Musetti so decided on something in between.” 

On the other hand, just before the last year’s Six Kings Slam, a short AI generated film ad “Call of the Kings” was created for promotions. The ad was created by BigTime Creative Shop, and was brought to life by the award-winning directors Tania Verduzco and Adrian Perez. It featured Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Daniil Medvedev, and Holger Rune.

Interestingly, each scene of the movie takes spectators to different global locations where players can be seen battling different challenges, that reflected their individual persona and skillset. More so, ‘Welcome to the War’ song by 7kingZ painted the background that resonated well with the special affects of the film. The Six Kings Slam ad campiagn did garner a lot of attention due to its unique theme and poster.

Now, for the second straight year, the Six Kings Slam boasts a dream lineup. World No. 1 Alcaraz and defending champion Sinner headline the draw, joined by 24-time Grand Slam legend Novak Djokovic, world No. 3 Alexander Zverev, world No. 4 Taylor Fritz, and two-time major finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas. Britain’s Jack Draper had been slated to compete but withdrew due to an arm injury, paving the way for Tsitsipas to step in.

However, this year’s poster, which was meant to celebrate tennis royalty, ended up becoming a digital disaster, and it didn’t take long for the tennis community to descend into laughter and disbelief.

Fans slam the AI-generated Six Kings Slam poster

The moment Ben shared the infamous AI-generated Six Kings Slam poster, chaos broke loose online. A flurry of fans stormed the post, their disbelief turning into collective mockery, especially aimed at the unrecognizable Taylor Fritz. One fan quipped, “Somehow the ‘Jannik’ looks more like Fritz than the ‘Fritz’ lol 😂” while another added, “Is 2nd from the right meant to be Fritz? Who signed off on this rubbish?🤯 🤣”

Soon, the comment section became a battlefield of sarcasm and fury. One user lamented, “I hate to see tennis go down this sportswashing road,” while another ridiculed the lack of detail, writing, “Sixth guy doesn’t have any branding on his clothes😂🤣🤣🤣🤣who tf is that😂😂.” The tone was sharp, raw, and relentless.

Another fan cut straight to the core: “So embarrassing. Every single bit of it.” That single line echoed the sentiment of thousands who felt AI had stripped away the authenticity of tennis’s royal showcase.

Then came the humor-laced jabs. “They did the two guys/one racquet to show how much better they are at hands,” one wrote, roasting the bizarre racquet duplication. “With Tsitsipas they only cared about the hair and didn’t even try with everything else 🙈.”

As the digital storm raged, one thing was clear: fans weren’t just laughing; they were defending the soul of tennis from a poorly rendered algorithmic misfire.