On July 5th, we celebrated the 50th anniversary of Arthur Ashe beating Jimmy Connors to win the Wimbledon male single’s title, which marked the first and only time a Black man has won that title.
While the moment was historic, it was also a sad reminder of what’s missing in tennis.
A Black male star.
It’s mind numbing to think that 50 years after Ashe won at Wimbledon that no other African American male tennis player has duplicated the feat. As a matter of fact, the only other Black player to win a Grand Slam is former French tennis star, Yannick Noah. Noah, whose father is from Cameroon and his mother from France, won the French Open in 1983.
That means that outside of Ashe’s Grand Slam wins at the US Open (1968), the Australian Open (1970) and Wimbledon (1975), and Noah’s victory at the French Open (1983), the sport has stunningly been devoid of a Black male tennis champion and star for over four decades.
That is no disrespect to former players like James Blake or Donald Young, or current players like Francis Tiafoe and Ben Shelton, but to not have a single Black Grand Slam winner from any country since 1983 is disheartening and embarrassing.
But who or what is to blame?
Can it be attributed to traditional reasons such as most Black male athletes favoring football or basketball? That definitely holds weight, especially as the money continues to grow exponentially in those sports. And with the advent of NIL in college sports, led by football, the attraction to the sport is even greater.
Could the lack of a Black male tennis star be related to lack of access? Finding tennis courts, particularly good ones, come at a cost in many areas, which becomes a deterrent in many neighborhoods, if they have courts at all.
What about the sport’s financial commitment? Equipment, court time, lessons and travel are expensive and for many, that makes it a difficult sport to choose.
Could the void be attributed to the intimidation behind the lack of representation and feeling of isolation? While tennis is almost 54% male, Black players make up only 8.9% of the playing population according to Zippia.com. When you’re consistently the only one who looks like you during a lesson or competing during a match, it can be a challenging and lonely experience.
“It’s tough,” Donald Young told Andscape’s Bill Rhoden in 2019 article. “You play a sport and don’t see a lot of yourself out there. It’s hard. You play other sports. You can relate. It’s difficult, even the music you like. You look at sports like basketball and everything’s pretty similar. The players all come from similar backgrounds. You kind of relate and talk.”
Young touches on other obstacles for Black players, such as setting and culture.
The music is different and the playing environment is a stark contrast from the stadiums and arenas filled by football and basketball fans. And if you “dare” to attempt to change the culture through expressions of Black culture, the negative criticisms are as swift as they are numerous.
Just ask Serena Williams what she experienced after she crip walked after her gold medal win at the 2012 London Olympics.
Of course, Serena is the biggest star among a list of Black women tennis stars that includes players like the iconic Althea Gibson, Zina Garrison, Venus Williams, Sloane Stephens, Madison Keys, Naomi Osaka, Taylor Townsend and Coco Gauff.
It’s an impressive list that consists of 43 Grand Slam victories and 7 Olympic medals, a far more dominant count than the 4 Grand Slam wins collected by only two Black male players.
So how do we solve the issue of the missing Black male tennis star?
Some in the tennis community are doing their part.
This past February, Coco Gauff donated $100,000 to UNCF to fund scholarships through the Coco Gauff Scholarship Program for student-athletes competing in tennis at HBCUs.
In 2023, the John McEnroe Foundation’s Johnny Mac Tennis Project raised $625,000 to help expose children in East Harlem and the South Bronx to tennis. The former tennis star is also trying to bring the sport to Tanzania to build a pipeline of talent on the continent, joining pro sports leagues like the NFL, NBA and UFC, which have already tapped into Africa’s hot bed of talent.
But for this void to be filled, more must be done.
Grassroots efforts are part of the solution, but they must be complemented by financial commitments and a sincere understanding of the importance of cultural representation.
Football and basketball are never going to be in jeopardy of attracting Black talent, but sports like tennis need more help and attention. And with college athletic departments under more financial pressure, Olympic sports like tennis are in more jeopardy of being cut than ever before.
But a true Black male tennis star can change the fortunes of college programs and help attract new audiences at the pro level.
The problems have identified and solutions have been presented and enacted.
Now it’s time to increase the support to find Black men who can dominate the clay and grass instead of just the gridiron and hardwood.
