Editor’s Note: Roxanne Jones, a founding editor of ESPN The Magazine and former vice president at ESPN, has been a producer, reporter and editor at the New York Daily News and The Philadelphia Inquirer. Jones is co-author of “Say it Loud: An Illustrated History of the Black Athlete.” She talks politics, sports and culture weekly on Philadelphia’s 900AM WURD. The views expressed here are her own. Read more opinion on CNN.
Coco Gauff has been crowned America’s new tennis darling after her amazing US Open championship win against Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus.
Everyone is giddy, from tennis talking heads to her adoring fans, celebrities, even President Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama. And most of us can’t help but compare this 19-year-old phenom to the greatest of all time, Serena Williams, who won her first of a career six US Open singles championships at just 17 years old. By the time Serena left the game in 2022, she’d won a history-making 23 grand slam titles.
Enter Coco Gauff, standing on Serena’s shoulders. But while we celebrate Gauff, let us not forget to let her become her own woman. She’s a young tennis star who will need time to continue to grow and develop her game.
That’s not to deny the many seen and unseen similarities between the two players: the way Gauff attacks the game, her searing backhand, her supportive family and the father who introduced her to the game. Like Serena, Gauff is unafraid to speak out on social issues or speak up after a bad call from the umpire. Even her joyful dancing after a win and the colorful tennis gear are reminiscent.
Coco can because Serena—and her sister Venus—did first.
Gauff acknowledged as much. “[Venus and Serena] are the reason why I have this trophy today, to be honest,” Gauff told media after her US Open win. “They have allowed me to believe in this dream. Growing up there weren’t too many black tennis players dominating the sport. It was just them that I can remember. Obviously more came because of their legacy. All the things that they had to go through, they made it easier for someone like me to do this.”
Undeniably, in watching Gauff shine at the US Open, we are witnessing the beautiful living legacy of the Williams sisters. But do not be fooled, her road to success did not begin with them. As we celebrate Gauff, it’s imperative to appreciate the full scope of what we’re cheering for.
These successes—the Williams sisters’ and Gauff’s—are an extension of the hard-fought efforts of generations of Black women who adored the game of tennis, even when hate and racism barred Black athletes from competing in what is now the United States Tennis Association (USTA) until 1948.
In that long history, you’ll find a woman named Lucy Diggs Slowe, born in 1885 and recognized as the mother of Black tennis. (I wrote about her in my book, “Say It Loud, an Illustrated History of the Black Athlete”). It was Mother Slowe who mentored Black tennis talent and paved the way for greats like Arthur Ashe and Althea Gibson, Lori McNeil and Zina Garrison—Black women whom the Williams sisters paid homage to throughout their careers.
Despite the many obstacles, Black tennis thrived back in the early 1900s. And Slowe along with a group of other Black athletes founded the American Tennis Association in 1916. It was a safe space for Black tennis players to develop their game. And it was out of this community that tennis prodigy Althea Gibson emerged. She was selected by her mentors to be the first Black player to break the color barrier in mainstream tennis in 1950.
And break she did.
Just as the Williams family was a force confronting not only the blatant and systemic racism in tennis culture but also pay inequality for all women, the outspoken Gibson did the same, crashing down the color barrier and smashing opponents to win championships along the way.
Gibson was the first Black player to win the French Open (1956), Wimbledon (1957–58) and US Open singles championship (1957–58). Standing on Lucy’s shoulders.
Lucy Slowe galvanized the righteous work of combating racism and inequality in tennis. She opened the door for Black women’s excellence to thrive. And though that work continues to this day, the results are clear.
Black American women have dominated the sport, winning every US Open championship singles title since 1998, when Lindsay Davenport won. And today, it’s a credit to the legacy of the Williams sisters and women before them that Coco Gauff can step onto that court knowing she does not stand alone. Today’s game includes several top talented Black women.
Trace the tennis family tree—from Coco Gauff, Naomi Osaka, Sloane Stephens and Madison Keys to Serena and Venus, and further back to Zina Garrison, Lori McNeil and countless others before them. Black women, myself included, now believe there’s a place for us to soar on the tennis court whether that be at our local park, in high school, college or the pro game.
We can all dream big. Standing on her shoulders.
