The Pioneers Path
Serena Williams and her impact touches not only race but gender.
Recently, two black women tennis players faced off in the Australian Open semifinal, tennis’s first Grand Slam event of the year. The impact of seeing both Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka share the same court is difficult to describe in mere words. The match between one of women’s tennis newest stars, the Afro-Japanese Osaka, and arguably tennis’s greatest player, the African-American Williams, seemed like a dream match. However, this was no dream. The cultural significance of seeing two dominant tennis stars, both Black women, vie for a grand slam title will be remembered for decades.
The landscape of black tennis has been dominated by sisters, Venus and Serena Williams. The shared dominance of both Serena and her older sister Venus is unlike any dominance from two siblings within any one sport. Since the late 1990s, Serena and Venus have won over 30 singles Grand Slam tournaments. Serena Williams alone, has won 24 singles Grand Slam tournaments.
While the impact on tennis of both sisters, especially Serena, have been celebrated for years, there has been notable absence, the Black male tennis player. For the past 20 plus years, the perspective of the black experience in tennis was greatly influenced by Serena Williams. Even though her accomplishments were inspiring to many in the Black community, the absence of Black male tennis stars is glaring.
The current ranks of Black male tennis players include the likes of Gael Monfils and Jo-Wilfred Tsonga from France; Francis Tiafoe, Donald Young, and James Blake of the United States; and Dustin Brown of Germany. Collectively they have zero Grand Slam titles among them. The last Black man to win a Grand Slam tournament was Yannick Noah of France when he won the French Open in 1983. Before Noah, the only other Black man to win a Grand Slam tournament was Arthur Ashe. He won three Grand Slam titles between 1968 and 1975. Even to this day the lack of male tennis stars can even be seen in the current ATP rankings. The only Black male tennis player ranked in the top 25 is the French player, Gael Monfils.
The women’s side of the WTA is filled with up and coming Black stars such as Osaka, Coco Gauff, Sloane Stevens, and Madison Keys. This can be traced directly to Williams sisters, particularly Serena’s, impact on Black women’s tennis. Osaka and Gauff have been cited as using Serena as one of their role models. However, with the lack of success of Black male players, there is likely a lack of Black male tennis role models. Therefore, it can be argued that given this absence, many Black male tennis players of this generation are heavily influenced by the likes of Serena Williams.
Her impact crosses gender lines. This generation’s Black male tennis players are now learning important lessons by watching her journey. For example, Serena’s perseverance shows that even in a place or sport where no one wants to see you win, you have to keep moving forward. Serena has shown the importance of mental strength. There have been several times throughout her career where Serena had to contend against her opponents, the officiating, and even the crowd.
Since 1999, Serena Williams has won 24 Grand Slam titles, earned nearly $100 million in prize money, and been ranked as the number one ranked player eight separate times. She has also been called the greatest athlete of all time. This argument is purely subjective. However, there is no other athlete who has dominated her sport for as long as she has. Notably, there is no athlete in recent history that has the social or cultural impact that Serena Williams does whenever she steps on the court. She continues to inspire generations of Black players, both male and female. She is not only the face of tennis, but given the absence of any Black male tennis counterpart, she remains as the face of Black tennis.
Miles Rajesh Arthur is Junior Communications Major from Washington D.C studying at Morehouse College
