When I was around eight years old, I spent many summer days with a friend whacking away at a whiffle ball in our own version of home run derby. While at bat, we alternated between imagining ourselves as Willie Mays or Hank Aaron.
These Black all stars were in the infancy of their Hall of Fame careers, but they already had become huge role models and an inspiration for scores of Black kids who dreamed of one day stepping to the plate for a professional baseball team.
Decades later as my sports addiction shifted to tennis, I noticed a dearth of Black men playing at the elite level on the professional tour. Arthur Ashe, the only Black American, to win a major title, including the US Open, had retired. I often wondered where are the Mays and Aarons of this sport.
Today, I have an answer. The Black tennis heroes I’ve been waiting for have arrived in the names of Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe.
These outstanding Black tennis stars are about to slug it out in what will be the most epic battle between two African American men since the first Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier fight in 1971.
The enormity of this event cannot be overstated. It marks the first time in the history of the sport that two Black men will square off in a major tournament semifinal.
The winner will become the first African American man to play in a US Open final since Ashe more than 50 years ago. Ashe won the title in 1968 and later added the Australian Open and Wimbledon.
So, it is only fitting that this match takes place in Arthur Ashe Stadium, a 24,000-seat stadium that is the largest – and some would add most raucous – venue in the sport.
While there has been a noticeable rise over the past two decades in the number of Black American women in professional tennis, sparked by the success of Serena and Venus Williams, there remains a paucity of Black men.
For that reason, the thought of two African American men playing for a spot in the championship at the US Open is something that Black tennis superstar Coco Gauff never envisioned.
“I never thought I would see an all-Black semi-final between the guys,” Gauff said in a US Open interview after clinching her own semifinal berth in pursuit of her second US Open women’s title.
If Tiafoe wins, he will play in his second historic final in less than a month. Three weeks ago, he played Black Frenchman Arthur Fils in the final of the Cincinnati Open, marking the first time two Black players vied for an ATP 1000 level championship.
That tournament also was the first time an African American played for both the men’s and women’s championship at the same event. While Tiafoe walked away with the runner’s up trophy, Coco Gauff won her second Cincinnati title.
To reach the semifinal, Tiafoe and Shelton endured dramatic five-set quarterfinal matches, each of which culminated in a 10-point tiebreak game. For Tiafoe, that capped a scintillating comeback from two sets down against gritty fellow American Alex Michelson.
Shelton had to persevere after bombing his way to a two-sets-to-one lead on the strength of 140+ mph serves against the reigning champion and World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz.
Both have had good summers, with Tiafoe winning his first 500 level tournament on the grass in Halle, Germany, and Shelton defending his 1000 level Canadian Open title this year in Montreal.
Friday’s match will be their third US Open encounter. Shelton won their initial match in the 2023 quarterfinals, the first time two Black Americans had faced off at that level. Frances avenged that loss a year later with a third-round win.
Gauff said she highly respects both players and has no favorite in their fourth matchup. She just wants to see the winner go all the way.
“I’m rooting for them,” Gauff said, “and hopefully whoever wins can bring it home.”
Regardless of who advances to the final, there can be no loser in the eyes of thousands of Black boys and girls who undoubtedly will witness the performance, the American Tennis Association, the nation’s oldest Blackl sports organization, said in a statement.
“When they see Frances Tiafoe’s passion, Ben Shelton’s confidence and power, and the name Arthur Ashe towering over one of the most important courts in the world, they see more than professional tennis players,” ATA said. “They see what is possible.”
###
TennisintheHood 