If you’re ever missing a tennis partner to hit a ball with, UBTECH Robotics’ Walker S2 humanoid robot could change everything.
A new video from the Chinese technology company shows the humanoid robot Walker S2 swinging a tennis racket almost like a professional, moving around the court and apparently executing shots with great skill and precision.
The footage plays at normal speed and although it is heavily edited, it shows the robot returning the ball to its human opponent on the other side of the pitch, an impressive display of technological intelligence.
Playing tennis is not an easy task for a humanoid robot. He must see the ball early, get into position, select a shot, and stay balanced and upright as he swings the racket to hit the ball.
But as we can see here, the Walker S2 robot’s tennis strokes seem smooth and controlled.
It’s not clear whether UBTECH is seriously positioning its humanoid robot as a tennis partner or simply using it to demonstrate its advanced capabilities. But with further development, there’s every chance that a faster, even more agile Walker S2 will be able to cover the court like a human athlete and perform as best as it can on a single court. Tennis could even be added to the Robot Olympics roster.
UBTECH introduced the Walker S2 robot in 2024 as an advanced humanoid industrial robot that features autonomous battery replacement for continuous operation.
The company last hit the headlines in November when it released a video purportedly showing the use of hundreds of Walker S2 robots, ostensibly for roles in commercial and industrial environments. However, there was some controversy over whether the video was actually real. The company insisted it was real.
This year is expected to see even greater advances in humanoid robotics, not only in agility but also in AI intelligence. Competition in the industry has increased globally, with Boston Dynamics, Figure AI, Unitree and 1X among a growing field of players looking to make an impact in 2026.
