Players mourn the end of the ATP/WTA Live app

Many are mourning the passing of the venerable, comprehensive ATP/WTA Live mobile app, beloved by perpetually stat-and scores-hungry fans and players, coaches and media members, alike.

Among them, a certain retired-in-2020 major winner:

Tennis observers of all kinds responded with faux-solutions such as "Morse code," "carrier pigeon," and other amusing-if-hollow offerings.

One of Wozniacki's former colleagues wondered "aloud" on Twitter if this meant the Wizard of Woz would be darkening a tennis court for a sanctioned match again in the future.

Kirsten Flipkens seemed obsessed with the app, though, as she tweeted again about it a week later. (She has since suffered an ankle injury after stepping onto advertiser signage and retiring mid-match against Sofia Kenin in Dubai.)

But in all seriousness, the app rolled out its anti-update to its users over a period of days, with some receiving the in-app notification sooner than others that "This app will no longer operate from 2021." Understandably, the not-universally-timed notice and that statement's clunky wording led to confusion.

The app currently redirects to the ATP's own app and the WTA's website. Options to replace the app are plentiful, as evangelized in social media posts and replies by some coaches, including Sven Groeneveld and Sascha Bajin, who both tout the TennisONE app.

A litany of other options have been trotted out in reply to Wozniacki and Flipkens' tweets, among others from players and fans. You can view those options in the respective comment threads—but do they match up to the ATP/WTA Live's all-encompassing, most-of-the-time glory? As expected, each has pros and cons so far. Some in the tennis-sphere simply Google match standings and results at this point, in this incubator period for one app to rise as the new supreme.

In shameless-plug news, this site's parent company, Tennis Channel, has a new app forthcoming this year as well.

All that said: Rest peacefully, ATP/WTA Live app.

And stay vigilant, and in all ways, fellow tennis lovers. On- and offline, this new year will right its proverbial ship soon enough.