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Coco
Gauff
becomes
the
first
American
player
since
Serena
Williams
in 2015
to win
the
French
Open
singles
title.
REUTERS
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Coco
Gauff’s
Triumph
Echos
the
Legacy
of
Williams
Sisters
and
Althea
Gibson
By
Leland
Stein
III -
Sports
Aficionado
Special
To: Tell
Us USA
News
Network
PARIS,
FRANCE -
Coco
Gauff
seems to
have
that it
quality,
as she
again
makes
history.
Recently,
Coco won
her
first
French
Open
title by
defeating
top-ranked
Aryna
Sabalenka
in a
three-set
final.
The
victory
was her
second
Grand
Slam
title.
In 2023
Coco won
her US
Open
title by
defeating
Aryna
Sabalenka
in the
final.
The
victory
made her
the
first
American
teenager
to win
the US
Open
since
Serena
Williams
in 1999.
“It
means a
lot (to
win the
title),
“Gauff
told
reporters
without
going
into too
much
detail,
“and
obviously
there’s
a lot
going on
in our
country
right
now with
things —
like,
everything,
yeah.
I’m sure
you guys
know.
“But
just to
be able
to be a
representation
of that
and a
representation
of, I
guess,
people
that
look
like me
in
America
who
maybe
don’t
feel as
supported
during
this
time
period,
and so
just
being
that
reflection
of hope
and
light
for
those
people.”
Venus
and
Serena
Williams
celebrated
the
first of
their
three
doubles
gold
medals
at the
2000
Olympics
in
Sydney
Australia.
Jon
Gaede –
photo
BVN
Working
with the
Los
Angeles
Sentinel
and
Black
Voice
News, I
was
invited
to see
Venus
and
Serena
Williams
when
they
were
young
practicing
up near
Signal
Hill in
California
with the
beads
swinging,
as well
as,
covering
them all
the way
through
all
three of
their
Olympic
Gold
Medal
appearances.
Their
Dad,
Richard
Williams,
told me
back in
the
early
years in
Compton
his
girls
would
change
the
tennis
world.
However,
Richard’s
early
prognostication
drew the
ire of
most in
the
tennis
community.
Collectively
they
railed
at
Richard
for
daring
to take
Venus
out of
their
white
Florida
academies/coaches
and
deciding
to move
to
Compton
and
coach
them by
himself.
Well, a
few
years
later
when
17-year-old
Serena
took out
World
No. 1
Martina
Hingis
in
winning
the 1999
US Open,
and, a
few
months
later
Venus
then
beat
Lindsay
Davenport
winning
the 2000
Wimbledon
title,
then
spontaneously
in
ultimate
jubilation
after
that
victory,
Richard,
shouted
out loud
in that
English
stadium
. . .
“Straight
Outta
Compton!”
Tennis
pioneer
Althea
Gibson
in 1957
with the
first of
her two
Wimbledon
singles
titles.
AP –
photo
Other
than
Althea
Gibson
(11
Grand
Slam
titles:
five
singles,
five
doubles,
and one
mixed
doubles
title),
Arthur
Ashe
(won
five
Grand
Slam
titles:
three in
singles
and two
in
doubles),
Evonne
Goolagong
Cawley
(won 13
Grand
Slam
titles:
seven
singles
and six
doubles),
Serena
and
Venus
(combined
for 30
Grand
Slam
singles
and 14
doubles
titles)
. . .
Gibson,
Ashe,
Goolagong,
and
Serena &
Venus
have all
gotten
over the
top . .
.
however,
fact is
black
athletes
have not
been
able to
sustain
Grand
Slam
level
success
in male
or
female
tennis –
because
of
exposure,
economics,
accessibility.
Look no
further
than
Naomi
Osaka,
Zina
Garrison,
Chanda
Rubin,
Ashleigh
Barty,
Lori
McNeil,
Sloane
Stephens,
Taylor
Townsend,
and
Madison
Keys as
examples
of just
how hard
it is to
sustain
greatness
over
time.
Sloane
Stephens
defeated
Madison
Keys to
win the
women’s
singles
tennis
title at
the 2017
US Open.
AP –
photo
files
All have
had
flashes
of
greatness;
however,
sustaining
Grand
Slam
championship
level
greatness
is
entirely
different
level.
On the
men’s
side
there
has been
James
Blake,
Gael
Monfils,
MaliVai
Washington,
Frances
Tiafoe,
Donald
Young,
and the
only two
Black
men to
win
Grand
Slam
singles
titles
are Ashe
and
Yannick
Noah.
Well,
it’s the
21-year-old
Coco’s
turn
now. She
now has
two
Grand
Slam
titles
(French
and US
Opens)
and the
disposition.
She
indeed
has the
mental,
physical,
graciousness,
and,
capacity
to
sustain
greatness.
We will
see
Leland
can be
reached
at
lelstein3@aol.com
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