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The U.S. Open is back in Queens this week, as the final Grand Slam of the year brings millions of fans together at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center to witness some of the best men’s and women’s players in the world competing for glory. 

As fans gear up to soak in hundreds of matches over the next couple of weeks, IBM and the United States Tennis Association announced new and enhanced AI-powered fan features within the popular U.S. Open app and USOpen.org for this year’s tournament. 

For decades now, IBM has been working with the U.S. Open to truly evolve the fan experience, especially in recent years with AI-powered innovations that are designed to cut through all the noise and allow fans to personalize their tennis experience at their fingertips.

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That experience has evolved into one in which the fans demand AI-powered features because accuracy, not speed, has been shaping the digital sports realm for those consumers. According to new global research commissioned by IBM and conducted by Morning Consult, sports fans’ digital expectations are evolving as platform choices multiply, with 46% of more than 20,000 sports fans across 12 countries saying their expectations for digital sports experiences have increased in just the past one to two years. Also, 72% of surveyed fans say they use sports apps as their central hub for fandom, while 40% said having their information in one place is their leading motivation to follow along. 

As a result, IBM continues to transform that experience in a way fans can enjoy one of the best tournaments in all of sports this week. 

“I think we have such an incredible reputation in tennis through our two [Grand] Slam partnerships, as well as The Masters, where there’s this anticipation for the event, but also to see how we’re going to keep them connected,” Kameryn Stanhouse, vice president of sports and entertainment partnerships at IBM, told Fox Business in a recent interview. 

“That’s one of the things that I love about what we do in sports is that we actually leverage technology as a way to foster conversations and connection. You can talk to people whether they’re able to go to tennis matches [or not]. We’ve got 1 million people that are going to go to the [UTSA] Billie Jean Tennis Center across the two weeks, and then 14 million people are going to be engaged at home on their couch, but able to feel like they’re courtside and engage on that second-screen experience.”

TOP-RANKED JANNIK SINNER WITHDRAWS FROM US OPEN WITH RIGHT KNEE INJURY: ‘SAD AND DISAPPOINTED’

What will that second-screen experience look like for the 2026 U.S. Open? First, an all-new Live Updates homepage will provide fans with a smarter and more personalized way to follow the action they care about the most. Stanhouse emphasized fans being able to choose their favorite players and quickly zero in on those matches, while getting insight and stories they care about in the process. 

Another new feature Stanhouse is very excited to see in real time is the Serve Quality metric, which is a “first-to-market feature” that provides a whole new context to one of the most important aspects of tennis. 

Last year, American women’s star Coco Gauff came into the U.S. Open with a new coach specifically to help with her serves. Service can be the difference between winning and losing, and those generally with superior serves win matches. 

This new feature from IBM will be available across all 254 singles matches, where the AI-powered tool will use advanced limb-tracking technology developed with IBM Bob to help analyze the precise mechanics of every serve. And the continuous stream of this live data will be managed by IBM Confluent. 

“We basically trained this model to look at all the historic white papers, all the research about serves. Then, we’re looking at 21 specific joint points on the body – everything from the elbow to the big toe that looks at momentum,” Stanhouse explained. “The position of a serve on the court, where it lands. We have six different coordinates we’re looking at all the way to the racket positioning. Synthesizing all of that, it’s doing snapshots 50 times per second – lots of data points in this one. But overall, 1.2 billion data points that’s going to be analyzed over the tournament to give you a Serve Quality number.”

Also, the new “Key Moments” feature within the app takes the popular “Likelihood to Win” feature to the next level to help fans understand why someone is winning – not just who is up in the match. The “Likelihood to Win” feature became a hit as it calculated each player’s probability of victory using an AI-powered analysis of current and historical statistics, expert opinion and match momentum. 

Now, “Key Moments” will provide additional, more rich information, to summarize those momentum shifts in matches. 

“We’re looking at that structured and unstructured data, taking AI to make an analysis, and then make a pre-match projection that takes into consideration not only how they’ve been playing, but what’s the media saying? What’s been said on social media? What are the broadcasters saying? Did someone get a new tennis coach? Do they have a lingering injury? So, we take all that into consideration and provide a pre-match projection,” Stanhouse added. 

Finally, as fans have become more accustomed to an AI experience over the years, IBM’s enhanced “Match Chat” will act as an interactive companion to help provide whatever insight is needed to help guide the user through the tournament. Everything from analysis to finding out Serve Quality, to simply figuring out how to pronounce someone’s name properly, Match Chat, powered by watsonx Orchestrate, is a collection of AI agents and fit-for-purpose models trained to give fast, accurate responses that keeps fans informed whenever they need it. 

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For Stanhouse and her team, the U.S. Open is simply another opportunity to showcase what IBM can do for not just the sports world, but drive the conversation for other companies to utilize the fun, engaging technology they’ve developed for themselves. 

“Everybody says my team has the best job at IBM. There’s many, many great jobs, but I think what we do is so exciting because there’s a tangible output that people actually see and people are waiting for. Each tournament that we go to is not only a learning opportunity because we’re constantly thinking about how we’re going to evolve things for the next year, but it’s such a pay-off to see everything come to life. Because what we do is not just serve the fan experience, but we’re so creating unique conversation pieces for our clients. They see how IBM technology makes all of this possible and inspire what you could do with us.”

Mumbai: InCred hired three senior executives who helped rival Avendus build its wealth management business to lead a new platform focused on ultra-high-net-worth individuals, as financial firms compete for a growing pool of wealthy Indian clients.

Alok Agrawal, Harmeet Sahney and Zarksis Gotla joined InCred as cofounders of InCred Black, a new business targeting UHNIs, entrepreneurs and business families, the company said Monday.

The trio spent more than 15 years building the wealth business at Avendus and advised some of the most prominent UHNI clients. Agrawal, Sahney and Gotla will help shape InCred Black, deepen client relationships and expand the team as the business scales, it said.

The move comes as the country’s pool of wealthy individuals expands and family offices increasingly seek access to private markets, alternative investments and global assets. According to InCred, its wealth franchise has crossed ₹1 lakh crore in assets under management and serves a large UHNI client base.

InCred Black will offer personalised wealth management and access to asset allocation, alternative investments, public and private markets, credit, liquidity solutions and global investing, leveraging capabilities across InCred Capital and the wider InCred group, it said.

Read more: Govt to sell up to 6% stake in Hindustan Copper via OFS; floor price at 10% discount
InCred Black plans to add more senior bankers and specialist talent as it scales, InCred founder and group chief executive Bhupinder Singh said.The hiring comes against the backdrop of rapid growth in the UHNI population. India has more than 19,000 UHNIs with assets above $30 million, a figure expected to exceed 25,000 by 2031, according to a Julius Baer-EY report.

India also has around 200 billionaires holding about $1 trillion in wealth. The growth in the UHNI population has been driven by IPOs, private equity exits and founder liquidity events.

New Delhi: The renewable energy ministry has advised implementing agencies and state governments to consider developers’ requests to extend project completion deadlines for renewable power projects delayed by disruptions arising from the West Asia situation by up to four months.

This is in line with the department of expenditure’s note saying disruptions directly or consequentially affecting contractual obligations could qualify as force majeure. For contracts where obligations were due for completion on or after February 28, 2026, the agencies such as NTPC, NHPC, SJVN, and Solar Energy Corporation may allow extensions by up to four months without imposing costs or penalties on contractors.

However, the relief will apply only where the contractor was not already in default as of February 27, 2026.

The force majeure provision will cover only delays directly attributable to disruptions caused by the West Asia situation and will not absolve parties of other contractual non-performance.

Read more: Sebi introduces IT Resilience Index for market infrastructure institutions: Here’s what you need to know

The move comes as renewable energy projects face potential disruptions to the execution of contracts for goods, services and construction.
The renewable energy ministry has asked implementing agencies and state authorities to take the finance ministry’s April 29 order into account while deciding requests for extensions.

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Several former Jersey Mike’s executives and franchisees are reuniting at Dog Haus, betting the lessons they learned helping build the submarine sandwich giant can turn the fast-casual restaurant chain into a national powerhouse.

Dog Haus recently named former Jersey Mike’s chief innovation officer James Field as chief marketing officer. He joins President and Chief Development Officer Chris Rigassio and Chief Operating Officer Garen Khodaverdian, both former Jersey Mike’s franchisees.

The reunion follows Blackstone’s January 2025 acquisition of a majority stake in Jersey Mike’s in a deal valued at roughly $8 billion, according to SEC filings. 

Field told FOX Business that the group could have pursued separate opportunities following the sale, but saw a chance to stay together and help scale Dog Haus, which currently operates roughly 60 locations.

POPULAR BEER BRAND TO CUT 220 JOBS AS PRODUCTION SHIFTS

“We all could have gone off and done different things individually after the sale of Jersey Mike’s,” Field said. “… I think we just thought if we stay together, it’s a one plus one equals three scenarios.”

Field added: “When you’ve been in the trenches with people through that type of brand growth that you saw at Jersey Mike’s, you say, ‘My gosh, let’s run it back.’”

Dog Haus CEO Michael Montagano said the company is “laser focused” on growing from roughly 60 restaurants to 300, with a $1 billion valuation serving as its “North Star.”

“One major step in that success is building a team that is capable of executing to this level of scale,” Montagano told FOX Business.

He said Jersey Mike’s grew systematically while maintaining strong relationships with franchisees and delivering a consistent customer experience — a model Dog Haus hopes to follow as it enters new markets.

“Ultimately, that was done very responsibly and yielded a fantastic result,” Montagano said.

PIZZA HUT MAKES SURPRISING CHANGE TO ICONIC NAME AHEAD OF NFL SEASON

Founded in Pasadena, California, in 2010, Dog Haus serves hot dogs, sausages, burgers, chicken and breakfast burritos. The chain opened its first permanent international restaurant in Mérida, Mexico, in June.

Field said Dog Haus’ founders, food and early investments in delivery and digital ordering helped convince the former Jersey Mike’s leaders that the brand was ready for a larger growth push.

“When you look at the assets that it has, it’s primed for success,” Field said. “… When you look at what Dog Haus has been through over the last 15 years — different economic cycles, different crazes and fads and trends in the industry — not only has it survived, but it’s thrived.”

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
BX	BLACKSTONE INC.	143.64	+0.26	+0.18%
JMKE	JERSEY MIKES SUBS INC	23.53	-0.33	-1.38%

The company is now building the infrastructure it believes it will need before accelerating expansion.

Dog Haus plans to divide the country into 15 regions overseen by area directors responsible for maintaining quality and guiding local growth. The company is also building its corporate infrastructure before accelerating expansion.

PIZZA HUT MAKES SURPRISING CHANGE TO ICONIC NAME AHEAD OF NFL SEASON

“We’re thinking ahead and making sure that we have the right pieces in place in order to meet that demand that we’re already seeing at scale,” he said.

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Montagano said having executives who understand both the corporate and franchisee sides of the business gives Dog Haus an advantage as it pursues its expansion target.

“We believe that going 60 to 300 over the next few years is really a layup,” Montagano said. “It’s really about what we can do beyond that.”

Mumbai: Systematic investment plans (SIPs) have grown steadily over the past five years as more investors have entered mutual funds and increased their exposure to equities.

The number of unique mutual fund investors rose from 2.3 crore in March 2021 to 6.14 crore in March 2026, according to the AMFI-Crisil Intelligence report. Over the same period, SIP assets under management (AUM) more than tripled to ₹14.83 lakh crore from ₹4.5 lakh crore. SIPs now account for 20.1% of the mutual fund industry’s total AUM, up from 13.5% five years ago.

Equity funds continue to dominate SIP investments, accounting for 87% of total SIP AUM, a share that has remained broadly stable over the past five years. Equity SIP AUM increased to ₹12.85 lakh crore from ₹3.46 lakh crore during this period.

Read more: Portfolios need better solutions to existing problems, not more products says Radhika Gupta

Other categories have also seen an increase. Hybrid SIP AUM rose to ₹1.11 lakh crore from ₹0.33 lakh crore, while passive SIP AUM increased to ₹0.46 lakh crore from just ₹0.03 lakh crore.