Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Gaming
  3. News

E-sports pro tennis tourney gives fans something to cheer

Trevor Mogg
By

Pro tennis players will swap their real rackets for virtual ones this weekend in an e-sports contest set to deliver more than $1 million to charity.

If you haven’t already noticed, the coronavirus pandemic has prompted the suspension of professional sports events around the world, leaving fans everywhere wondering when they can next cheer on their favorite stars.

Related Videos

For tennis lovers, this weekend should offer some fun respite from the coronavirus chaos. Top players — among them Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, and Naomi Osaka — will partner celebrities including Gigi Hadid, Steve Aoki, Addison Rae, and Seal, and play as characters from the Mario Tennis Aces game on the Nintendo Switch. Commentary will be provided by tennis legend John McEnroe and popular YouTuber iJustine.

The contest will be streamed live on Facebook Gaming as the social networking giant works to boost the profile of its recently launched gaming app for Android. You can also watch it on the Facebook page of IMG Tennis, which is backing the event. The stream starts at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT on Sunday, May 3.

The victors will win $1 million for a charity of their choice, while all of the other competitors will each receive $25,000 for donation to good causes.

Here’s the full list of those getting involved, including who’s partnering with who for the online sports clash: Serena Williams and Gigi Hadid, Naomi Osaka and Hailey Bieber, Maria Sharapova and Karlie Kloss, Kevin Anderson and Ryan Tannehill, Venus Williams and Deandre Hopkins, Kei Nishikori and Steve Aoki, Madison Keys and Seal, Taylor Fritz and Addison Rae.

E-sports events have stepped in to fill the void for both players and fans alike until the pandemic passes. Formula 1 and the National Basketball Association have already held online competitions, while one Formula E team went a different route and turned to marbles for an altogether different kind of spectacle (it’s more mesmerizing than you might think!).

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Mario Strikers: Battle League beginner’s guide: 8 tips and tricks to get started
Mario and his team pose in Mario Strikers: Battle League.

Though it looks and has many similar rules to soccer, Mario Strikers: Battle League isn't as simple as the world's most popular sport. Mario always puts his own unique spin on whatever sport he tries his hand at, whether it be tennis, golf, or even the Olympic games. You can obviously expect the Mario cast to add their own flair and personality to the game, but there's a lot more depth to this game than you might expect.

Whether you played the last game in the series or not, Mario Strikers: Battle League changes things up enough that everyone will need to essentially start from scratch when learning how to properly play this fast, high-energy, action soccer game. You can eventually pick up all the skills you'll need over time, but having a few essential tips and tricks in mind right from the start can get you to the fun parts that much faster. While you're lacing up your cleats and equipping your gear, make sure to check out our beginner's guide for Mario Strikers: Battle League.

Read more
Card Shark will get you kicked out of Las Vegas
A still from Cardshark where a player holds up a 9 of spades.

Cheating in video games is usually frowned upon. If you enable aim bots or wall hacks in a game like Call of Duty: Warzone, you’re probably going to find yourself banned – or worse, thoroughly embarrassed. Winning a few games simply isn’t worth the mark of dishonor. In Card Shark, however, cheating isn’t just encouraged: It’s the entire game.

Developed by Nerial, the team behind the popular Reigns series, Card Shark is unlike anything I’ve ever played. It’s a narrative adventure game set in 18th-century France about a peasant who gets sucked into the world of petty criminals and cheats. It’s technically a card game, but not in the traditional sense. With its one-of-a-kind premise, Card Shark is a must-play curiosity that completely rethinks what gameplay can look like.
Read 'em and weep
In Card Shark, players control a young mute peasant in pre-Revolution France. His life takes a left turn when he meets Comte de Saint-Germain and is roped into a simple card cheat. In a plot that’s almost a little reminiscent of Nightmare Alley, players slowly rise through the ranks of society, swindling rich French aristocrats with a variety of tricks. That rags to riches story intersects with a wider political mystery that revolves around a conspiracy dubbed the “Twelve Bottles of Milk.”

Read more
Everything we know about Mario Strikers: Battle League
Donkey Kong charging across the field.

Mario wears many hats (sometimes literally). While his main profession is the hero of the Mushroom Kingdom, that doesn't stop this Italian plumber from having plenty of hobbies, such as kart racing and participating in just about every sport under the sun. It isn't uncommon to find Mario teeing off for a round of golf, swinging his racket in a tennis match, or even competing at the Olympics. One sport that he's only dabbled in, despite being the most popular one in the world, is soccer, aka football. We've only gotten the chance to lace up our cleats with the cast of the Mushroom Kingdom in two prior games: Super Mario Strikers on the GameCube and Mario Strikers Charged on the Wii.

These soccer games, despite being a mostly noncontact sport, were some of the most brutal and serious depictions we've seen of Mario and company. Because of the more family-friendly image Nintendo likes to present Mario with, many gave up hope of this series ever coming back. That only made the announcement of the sequel, Mario Strikers: Battle League, now 15 years later, all the more exciting. This is a much different style of sports game than other Mario titles, and an even greater departure from other soccer games, so newcomers have a lot to learn and look forward to. Before you strap on your shin guards, here's everything we know about Mario Strikers: Battle League.

Read more