So here’s a dose of realism — or surrealism — for the first video game tournament of the coronavirus pandemic involving professional tennis players: Thanks to Rafael Nadal’s balky back, a match got postponed Monday.
That bit of news from Day 1 at the controller-instead-of-racket Madrid Open came 24 hours after another pro, Gael Monfils, withdrew because of his ties to a streaming service not involved in this virtual venture.
Add those developments to technical glitches, some odd announcing and plenty of enthusiasm from the participants — including a particularly creative Belinda Bencic, the 2019 U.S.
Open semifinalist who posted a video of herself entering a living room to the strains of “I Love Rock ‘n' Roll” — as tennis joined the move to