Choosing the best of anything may be challenging and even without considering the outstanding players from the early 20th century, there have been some outstanding tennis players in the last 50 years of the Open era.
In Zendaya’s film Challengers, which is currently playing in theaters, she portrays a former tennis player who transitions into a coach.
She finds herself coaching her husband in a match behind her ex-husband’s former best friend. The movie has been characterized as a “saucy tennis melodrama” by USA Today.
As a result, we take a look at some of the greatest black tennis players in history, like Naomi Osaka, Serena Williams, Arthur Ashe, and others.
Arthur Ashe
Arthur Ashe’s name cannot be left out when discussing great tennis players. Ashe, a champion who was born in 1943 in Richmond, Virginia, opened doors for many other players of color.
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Ashe was the first (and only) African American male to win both U.S. singles titles at the Open and Wimbledon, and in 1985 he was inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame.
Until he died in 1993, Ashe continued to be a devoted activist, organizing tennis programs for inner-city youngsters, speaking out against apartheid, and spreading awareness of AIDS.
Althea Gibson
Althea Gibson was born in 1927 and grew up in a period when most tennis tournaments prohibited black players. However, her prowess on the court led to numerous significant firsts in the sport. In 1950, Gibson became the first black athlete to compete in the U.S. National Tennis Championships.
She also made history in 1951 by being the first African American player at Wimbledon. Gibson went on to win the 1957 Wimbledon women’s singles and doubles titles, as well as the 1958 U.S. Open.
James Blake
From 2002 to 2007, James Blake, a native of New York, won ten Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) singles championships. Blake, who was ranked fourth in the world in November 2006, advanced to the U.S. Open quarterfinals in 2005 and 2006, as well as the Australian Open final eight.
Serena Williams
Since claiming the first-ever major singles championship in the U.S., Serena Williams, who debuted in the Open era in 1999, is the player with the most Grand Slam victories with 23 to her name. In addition, she holds four Olympic medals and is said to be the highest-paid female athlete in history.
Zina Garrison
The sport was dominated in the 1980s and 1990s by Zina Garrison. With 14 career singles victories and 20 doubles titles, her prowess on the court propelled her to the finals at Wimbledon in 1990 and the semi-finals of the U.S. Open in 1988 and 1989. She also competed for Team USA in the 1992 Olympics, where she placed third in the women’s singles competition and earned a gold medal in the women’s doubles.
Ora Washington
Ora Washington, a great player in the 1920s and 1930s, is regarded as one of the first black female athletes in history. Washington, who was well-known for her strong serve, captured 23 national titles in the American Tennis Association. Washington, known as the “Queen of Two Courts,” excelled in basketball as well, leading the Philadelphia Tribunes to 11 straight Women’s Colored Basketball World Championships.
Venus Williams
Venus Williams, a five-time Wimbledon champion, has won seven Grand Slam titles since 1994. She has also won four gold medals from the 2000–2012 Summer Olympics and one silver medal from the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Coco Gauff
Coco Gauff is a 20-year-old professional tennis player who is already establishing a name for herself. She gained notoriety in 2019 after being awarded a wild card spot at Wimbledon. In the opening round there, she defeated five-time champion Venus Williams in straight sets.
She became the youngest American player to win the tournament since 17-year-old Serena Williams did so in 1999 when she won her first Grand Slam championship at the 2023 U.S. Open.
Chanda Rubin
In the 1990s and early 2000s, Chanda Rubin was a formidable player on the court. She reached the quarterfinals of the French Open three times and the semifinals of the Australian Open in 1996, when she was ranked sixth in the world.
Rubin was admitted into the Southern Tennis Hall of Fame in 2009 after earning a cum laude degree from Harvard University. She has been an analyst for The Tennis Channel since she retired.
Naomi Osaka
The four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka is the winner of two Australian Open championships and one U.S. Open championship. Osaka, a 26-year-old Asian-Haitian tennis player, is the first of his kind to hold the top spot in the world rankings for singles.
Yannick Noah
At an 11-year-old tennis clinic in Cameroon, West Africa, Arthur Ashe made the discovery of French tennis star Yannick Noah. With 23 tour singles titles and 16 in doubles, Noah established himself as a formidable player on the tennis court.
The 1983 and 1984 French Open singles and doubles titles are two of Noah’s career highlights. Sports prowess runs in the family: Joakim Noah, a former NBA player, is Noah’s son.
