Enjoying Following Wimbledon Tennis This Year

A couple of years ago I was recovering at home from some extensive surgery, so I watched a lot of sports on TV, including the 2021 US Open in tennis, played in New York.  That's when I decided that high-level professional tennis was fun to watch, on a number of levels...and I'm speaking of the four annual Grand Slam tournaments held in Australia, France, England, and the United States.  Right now, I'm watching England's premier event, the Wimbledon Championships from southwestern London, played on grass...a surface that seems to favor certain players over others.  I like seeing the same faces in different tournaments, stars like Medvedev, Djokovic, Nadal, Tiafoe, Tsitsipas, Alcaraz, Kyrgios and Murray on the men's side and with women Sabalenka, Swiatek, Rybakina, Sakkari, Azarenka, Jabeur, Gauff, Halep and others. In 2021 dark horse unsung teenagers Leylah Fernandez and Emma Raducanu surprised their way with upset after upset, both reaching the women's US Open final, with the latter prevailing...Novak Djokovic was beaten that year in the same tourney's final by Daniil Medvedev.  Which brings me to a problem I have with tennis...as well as other sports.  It's the absence of certain big names that bothers me, chiefly caused by two factors.  The first, which is an element of high-level competition and training that strains the body, are the many injuries plaguing so many great athletes.  This year Andy Murray is back on the court following years of injury and recuperation.  But others like Raducanu, Simona Halep and Rafael Nadal aren't playing at Wimbledon because of injuries, and the great Roger Federer decided to finally retire from the active sport although he is a featured and honored spectator at Wimbledon.  The second factor is banning, whether it be from disciplinary action or as a political weapon.  Although Djokovic played in 2021 at the height of the Covid Delta Variant scourge across America that claimed so many lives, he was barred the next year from the same tournament because he refused a vaccine although the pandemic had greatly abated by then.  And last year, because Russia and its ally Belarus invaded neighboring Ukraine, the Wimbledon Tournament authorities, under pressure from the government, banned players representing those countries...so no Sabalenka, Medvedev, or Azarenka.  This year they came to their senses and allowed them to participate, albeit without national affiliation.  Well, if you've read this blog, you might have picked up that I tend to avoid identifying athletes anyway by which country they're from...so I'd go a step further and remove all those national flags on TV next to each player's name. As for Covid, I think the bans have all lifted, finally, from Australia and the US (France and England didn't impose them on unvaccinated players). It's still in the early stages of Wimbledon, and I'm working...yet my "free" time in the morning just happens to coincide with London afternoons, when most of the action is taking place.  So let the tennis continue...