tennis in the time of covid and protest

Serena Williams @ US Open

I was not excited about watching tennis, I'll be honest. Why the US Open decided to go ahead with the tournament in the middle of a pandemic I still don't know. With Djokovic's idiotic early exit, the men's side seems wide open. A number of the top women are still in it, with both Serena and Naomi Osaka playing today. It's so strange watching tennis in nearly-empty stadiums, everyone masked but the players, racquet touches at the end, no handshakes (except of course Djokovic). But, it's also been kind of nice to see some of my favorite athletes on the courts, gutting it out.

Osaka has been wearing face masks with the names of black people killed by police. I wish there weren't so many names, but she is brave for doing so and it has meant something to the families.