Up to date Sept. 11, 2026, 8:29 p.m. ET
NEW YORK — The massive signage that’s on the entrance of the world’s greatest tennis stadium on the USTA Billie Jean King Nationwide Tennis Middle in Flushing Meadows ought to inform you all that you must know in regards to the impression of the person whose identify it bears; who meant so many issues to so many individuals throughout his brief time on this Earth.
Arthur Ashe not solely shattered obstacles but in addition made certain the glass would by no means be repaired. He wished the following era, particularly younger Black Individuals, to have a spot within the recreation he beloved a lot.
So, when Frances Tiafoe and Ben Shelton take the courtroom Friday evening within the second US Open semifinal, it’s not solely a triumph for Black Individuals but in addition for the game of tennis.
The winner of the match would be the first Black American man to achieve a US Open singles remaining since Ashe in 1972, and the primary Black American man to achieve a Grand Slam singles remaining since MaliVai Washington at Wimbledon in 1996. Each can have career-high rankings on the finish of the match: Shelton shall be No. 4, and Tiafoe, who on the very least shall be No. 8 subsequent week, can soar to fourth if he’s victorious on Sunday.
“I feel it’s an thrilling time,” Washington stated to USA TODAY Sports activities. “If one in every of them goes on to win the US Open, it will likely be the best sports activities story definitely of this 12 months, and definitely of this decade. I feel it reveals how the expansion and development of tennis goes in the correct path. They’re two nice representatives of what tennis could be and what American tennis could be.
“This match and the finals will seemingly be the 2 most watched tennis matches in a protracted, very long time.”
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Coco Gauff, the 2023 US Open champion who misplaced her 2026 semifinal matchup to Elena Rybakina, understands the impression that Black ladies, starting with the venerable Althea Gibson, have made on the game.
Gauff stated it was a shock to see Shelton and Tiafoe enjoying for an opportunity at successful their first Grand Slam title.
“Particularly on the lads’s facet, I by no means thought I’d have the prospect to see an all-Black semifinal between the blokes in my lifetime,” Gauff stated. “Even rising up, simply take a look at who was enjoying. I simply by no means thought that will be capable of occur. To have additionally me within the semis, I feel it’s actually cool. I’ve a lot respect for each Ben and Frances. I’m simply rooting for an excellent match. Hopefully, whoever wins can carry it residence.”
Seeing two dynamic gamers and personalities resembling Tiafoe and Shelton has been lengthy overdue.
Even Ashe, who gained the 1968 US Open, the 1970 Australian Open, and Wimbledon in 1975, thought extra Black gamers had been on the horizon after his triumphant profession ended when he retired in 1980 on account of coronary heart points.
“What we’d like is an American Yannick Noah,” Ashe stated to the Los Angeles Occasions in 1988, referring to the French star who gained the 1983 French Open. “In lots of respects, I wasn’t an excellent position mannequin. We want somebody who’s obtained aptitude and may play in-your-face tennis. And he ought to comport himself like Julius Erving.”
That subsequent breakthrough didn’t come shortly. It wasn’t till Washington made his 1996 Wimbledon run that the prospect of taking the baton from Ashe was even attainable. Black ladies quickly moved to the forefront with Venus Williams, who turned skilled in 1994 and reached the US Open remaining in 1997. Her sister Serena Williams, who turned skilled in 1995, quickly adopted her onto the game’s greatest levels.
Washington finally misplaced that Wimbledon males’s singles remaining to Richard Krajicek 6–3, 6–4, 6–3. He says that regardless of the consequence of Friday’s semifinal, it is not sufficient.
“I don’t imagine that only one match or one remaining and even this event, rapidly you’re going to see this flood of gamers approaching to the tour,” Washington stated. “To return on to the tour, it’s a 15-year course of. If there may be not an infrastructure to carry up these younger gamers, to encourage and to impression these younger gamers for an prolonged time frame, there won’t be a rise of curiosity within the sport.”
Washington, now 57, says rather more goes into creating champions on the junior, faculty {and professional} ranges.
“Although this match is extraordinarily vital and it performs a job and it will likely be very optimistic for getting Black children, however not simply Black children, however white children, Hispanic children, Asian children, Native children, it’ll play an vital position in simply getting extra concerned and within the sport,” he stated.
Washington, who picked up a tennis racket at age 5, made it to the tour in 1989 and scored his first upset the following 12 months by beating No. 2-ranked Ivan Lendl on the Volvo Worldwide. His subsequent match in that match, a three-set loss, was towards Bryan Shelton, who’s Ben’s father.
Washington and Tiafoe say that although obstacles exist to getting a foot within the door, particularly for younger Black gamers, there are methods to make an impression and presumably develop into an expert. Numbers don’t match the curiosity because it does with soccer and basketball. These sports activities are extra accessible due to how they’re performed, particularly basketball, the place hoops are in abundance throughout cities and loads of individuals are out there to apply and play pickup video games if essential.
“Attempt to attain out to one of many native golf equipment the place they offer you an opportunity to play,” stated Tiafoe, who attended Junior Tennis Champions Middle in Faculty Park, Maryland, to hone his abilities when he was an adolescent. “After which when you get in that door, man, simply are available in there hungry, particularly whenever you’re younger. You gotta be obsessive about this factor, man, as a result of tennis is such a repetitive sport. You gotta actually get them reps in. However principally, it’s important to adore it.”
Martin Blackman, Junior Tennis Champions Middle CEO, stated the important thing to bringing extra children is doubling down on the construction in place earlier than the coronavirus pandemic hit in 2020. That is when children had been introduced in from native, regional and nationwide camps, exposing them and their households to what good, sound coaching is whereas ensuring they’ve their fundamentals in place by the point they’re 12 or 13 years outdated.
Blackman additionally says that Friday evening’s match will do rather more for the game with Shelton and Tiafoe on the forefront of a attainable growth in recognition.
“It’s one thing to have fun: two wonderful gamers, two wonderful representatives of sport. Nevertheless it’s two guys who will encourage hundreds of youngsters to choose up rackets and take a look at our sport. It is a watershed second,” stated Blackman, who’s the previous senior director for expertise identification and ddevelopment for the US Tennis Affiliation.
Washington, who achieved a high rating of No. 11 and gained 4 profession singles titles, provides that the important thing to success is having fixed self-discipline over an prolonged time frame.
“You may work your however off for years, and that doesn’t assure you’ll develop into an expert tennis participant,” he stated. “You must have the infrastructure and the eagerness. A number of issues go into it, you simply have to provide your self one of the best likelihood.”
Taylor Townsend, who gained the profession Grand Slam in doubles together with her US Open victory together with her associate Katerina Siniakova, stated one of the best is but to come back for illustration in tennis.
“You solely want one,” Townsend stated. “You want anyone to have the ability to see that it is attainable, you can. I’ve stated this the place for those who do not see it, then it is more durable to imagine it, but in addition, it’s important to be a sure kind of individual to need to tackle that feat and say, Effectively, I will carve this path for myself or for another person or for the others who come after me.
“So for me, I am so proud to have the ability to click on on the TV and watch Frances and Ben, and one in every of them goes to have the ability to be in a Grand Slam remaining, and that is a lovely factor. You recognize, Robin (Montgomery), myself, you understand, it has been Coco, it has been an exceptional US Open for folks of colour, and simply having the ability to present folks, like, it is attainable, you understand?”
Maybe the tennis world ought to take heed of what Ashe informed the L.A. Occasions about what the game will seem like in just a few years.
“For some folks, the long run is subsequent 12 months,” Ashe stated. “However for me it’s this afternoon.”
