Serving up high-tech hype

A handful of the world's best tennis players will show up at tournaments within weeks toting new technology they hope will give them an advantage at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, the man behind the so-called "connected rackets" said on Monday.

Without identifying the players who would be first to wield the high-tech weapons, Eric Babolat confirmed that rackets with sensors feeding back information on the players' forehands, backhands and much more besides, would be swung in anger for the first time after a decade in development.

"It could be any week. We have a lot of players testing. It is going to happen very soon," Babolat said at Britain's National Tennis Centre in London. "It is a question of days, not months."