Tennis Has a Brand New Bag

Tennis is a big hobby of mine, and I follow the grand slams like somebody from Green Bay follows the Packers. When I first attended a big-name tennis tournament, it came as a surprise that people were as big of geeks as me when it came to players, stats, techniques, odds, etc. In fact, compared to others, I'm very much an amateur.

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When the pandemic hit, the cancellation of tournaments, and the lack of crowds able to attend them, came as a giant blow. So, watching the major tournaments come back has been a source of joy to me. And I've spent an inordinate amount of time watching people whose names have no vowels — or are all vowels — slam the bejesus out of the tennis ball on television.

I'm enjoying the sport now more than ever. Why? In the course of adjusting to tiny crowds, health hazards, diminished ticket sales and more, professional tennis has made a few changes. And in my opinion, they are HUGE improvements, and may save us all hours of our lives NOT watching player tantrums. Here are just a couple:

• There are now no linesmen at tourneys that can afford the technology. And guess what that means? No arguments, no glaring, no huffing and puffing. Somehow, now the verdicts are accepted and the game goes on.
• Players are responsible for their own towels, sparing the viewers the almost painful scene of 11-year-olds scrambling out to offer relief to the tennis gods, looking away while they powder their nose. I don't care to ever witness this medieval act again.

Of course, there is still plenty to irritate — spectators who can't seem to get their masks over their noses, for instance — but I will always love the athletics, the flags, the sport, the competition, and the always interesting, always gorgeous, tennis gear that gets rolled out for these events.  

I'll always be tracking tennis on TV. But I guess I have to thank Coronavirus for the changes that make it less precious and more fun to watch.