missizzy

Moment to moment, watching the U.S. Open, a lot of things feel comfortingly familiar. A point is still a point, each player has not changed in their essentials, and well, I really hope Coco Gauff is not going to go the way too many young sensations like her have, but her having loses like yesterday is maybe something she never could've avoided all together. At least the Trumpite went out too, while Naomi Osaka thankfully survived her own scare-a scare that didn't feel very unusual either, in the end. And even if there are only a handful of people in the stands, this is hardly the first tournament where that's been the case! But then the camera catches the older ballpeople, or the lack of linesman in the outer courts, or it pans out to show the tarps in the stadiums. Or the commentators remind you about how this is the Strangest Tournament Ever. Never mind we've got a likely similar French Open coming up right after this. Or they say Black Lives Matter, but one can hardly object to that, unless you object how performative it may be. (And it certainly isn't for Osaka and some of the other players, at least.)
The effect may cumulate over the next couple of weeks, especially when there'll be way less tennis being played in the second week. And if Serena can finally win that damn 24th here, her speech should be interesting. (Djokovic, sadly, can no longer be trusted.)
Also, I wonder how long it'll be before this live Hawkeye replaces linespeople all together. It may be a long time, but it'll probably still happen sooner or later, especially if this isn't the last pandemic that wrecks havoc with the world.