Following on from last year’s foray into Second Life, IBM and the tournament organisers have again teamed up to replicate the real world action in Second Life. Australian IBM staff are central to the whole thing and are hoping for a response at least equal to last year’s.

Features of the build include the replica Rod Laver and Margaret Court arenas, an integrated scoreboard, virtual gameplay (you can be one of the players on the court – racket supplied) and you can even open the Rod Laver arena’s roof by shouting ‘open sesame’. As matches are occurring in real life the Second Life court avatars move in the same locations as their real-life counterparts. It’s one of those experiences that really demonstrates the growing evolution of what virtual worlds can do. And of course you can even buy a t-shirt.

Something a little different from last year is the ‘Couture on the Court’ competition. You have until the 21st January to enter your tennis outfit design. From the 22nd January Second Life residents can vote on the submitted designs with the top 10 receiving a prize. First prize is a quarter of a million Linden dollars so if fashion design’s your thing this may be worth spending some time on.

Check it out in-world