Thanks to technology, many people have myriad ways to stay in touch with friends and loved ones during the novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

A pair of Italian girls, ages 14 and 11 respectively, found a relatively analog or old-school way to connect—literally going so far as to put some shape on the ball in hitting groundstrokes back and forth to each other's rooftops. A New York Times write-up on sports-adjacent goings-on globally noted that Tracy Austin and others saluted the tennis-club friends for their depth and precision of shot.

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The video had more than nine million views on the ATP Tour's Twitter feed at press time. The girls, Vittoria Oliveri and Carola Pessina, sent thanks to onlookers in a follow-on video, as shared by Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Vasek Pospisil in episode 3 of the new Tennis United series, a collaboration between the WTA and ATP tours.

Oliveri and Pessina duly thanked social media viewers for making their clip go viral, proving that it's truly the little things these days. It's 2020, and surprise-and-delight still reigns.