After two long years of waiting, fans were elated to return to the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center for the US Open. But as with almost everything else, the COVID-19 pandemic has left an imprint on tennis, too.
From a reckoning over mental health in professional sports and a migration towards touchless technology in the stadium to a changing of the talent guard — both the way fans enjoy tennis and the players they’re watching have changed.
Hollywood closed out an up and down 2023 with “Wonka” regaining No. 1 at the box office, strong sales for “The Color Purple” and an overall $9 billion in ticket sales that improved on 2022’s grosses but fell about $2 billion shy of pre-pandemic norms.
2024 is the Year of the Dragon for the Lunar New Year, which kicks off February 10. To commemorate the occasion, the U.S. Post Office unveiled a new dragon stamp.
