Sean Callanan chats with Gus Balbontin in the Tennis Lab Racquet Room to find out how they are applying high performance analysis extending Hawk-eye technology to help elite tennis players match their racquet to their game.

On this podcast you'll learn about:

  • The importance of picking the right racquet for tennis players
  • How the partnership between Tennis Australia and Victoria University came about
  • How Tennis Lab use data to help players in the racquet selection process
  • The challenges of being in the R&D space
  • Where they see the Tennis Lab heading in the future
  • How the Game Insights Group produce valuable content for Australian Open partners
Learn more about tennis with Gus Balbontin

Listen to Gus Balbontin on Sports Geek

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Our fave quote from Gus Balbontin interview

“There is such a lack of understanding of the importance of a tennis racquet in the game of tennis and for some reason completely underestimate it. “

Gus Balbontin

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About Gus Balbontin

Gus Balbontin is the Entrepreneur in Residence at Victoria University. He was the former Executive Director and CTO of Lonely Planet, a company he led globally that dominated the world of travel information in the internet and mobile.

Born in the Argentinean Patagonia, Gus dreamt of travelling the world. At 17, he won a scholarship grant that landed him a trip to Australia that eventually changed his life. This experience led him to his dream job working as a designer for Lonely Planet. After eight roles with the company and an MBA on his shoulders, he led the team that launched ebooks, apps and reinvented the content production process that has become an amazing travel brand.

Gus has worked with big corporate brands such as Google X, Nokia, Apple and Amazon in developing a cutting edge technology and business transformation.

To date, Gus continues to share his knowledge and experience in digital disruption, business transformation, business innovation and culture through keynote presentations.

Gus describes himself as a big thinker who doesn’t let life’s hurdles get in the way of big solutions.

Learn more about Gus on gusbalbontin.com/about

Resources from the podcast

Highlights from podcast with Gus Balbontin

3:28 Gus Balbontin on what Tennis Lab does

5:35 How the partnership of Victoria University and Tennis Australia started

8:24 Gus on the process of racquet selection in the Racquet Room

11:57 Where they see the Tennis Lab heading in the near future

13:45 Why tennis players should choose the right racquet

15:11 What tennis can learn from other sports like golf in terms of product innovation

17:36 The challenges of being in the research and development space

19:05  How the Game Insights Group produce content the is valuable to Australian Open partners

26:03 Gus’ favourite moment in the Australian Open precinct

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Rafa in the Tennis Lab

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ONE MORE DAY. ONE DAY LEFT.

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Nice to be at the Australian Open

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#AusOpen Rafa in action

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