Of all the reasons to grieve right now, the cancellation of a tennis tournament couldn’t be farther down the list. Still, for those of us who find pleasure and succor in tennis, the recent announcement that Wimbledon will not be played this year hit hard.

It is the sport’s most prestigious championship and a cherished rite of summer. The tennis calendar through early June had already been wiped out by the Covid-19 pandemic, but losing Wimbledon was a dagger. The entire 2020 season is now in jeopardy, and given that international travel may be restricted for a while and that even the most devoted fans are unlikely to want to cluster in large numbers anytime soon, it is possible that tennis could be sidelined into next year, a potentially sad coda to what has been the greatest era the sport has ever known.

As someone who writes about tennis, plays tennis and generally obsesses about tennis, I feel its absence acutely. The men’s tour was supposed to be in Monte Carlo this week, one of the jewels of the European clay-court season. It always has an outstanding field, and the picturesque setting, with rugged cliffs to one side and the Mediterranean to the other, is as enthralling as the matches. But the courts in Monte Carlo are empty now, and Tennis Channel is showing Wimbledon reruns instead.

With the sport on hiatus and more events being canceled or postponed — the Laver Cup, scheduled for September in Boston, is the latest casualty — players are keeping fans entertained (and trying to fight boredom) via Instagram and TikTok. Alas, social media is no substitute for a swinging volley winner.