In “Challengers,” Zendaya plays a tennis star-turned-coach who finds herself coaching her husband in a match behind his former best friend – who also happens to be her ex. USA Today calls the steam story a “saucy tennis melodrama.”
While we wait for the film to hit the big screen on April 26, we wanted to take a look at some of the greatest real-life Black tennis players throughout history.
You can’t have a conversation about tennis greats that doesn’t include Arthur Ashe. Born in in Richmond, Va. in 1943, Ashe was a champion who opened doors for countless other players of color.
The first (and only) African American male to win both U.S. Open and Wimbledon singles titles, Ashe earned his rightful place in the Tennis Hall of Fame in 1985.
Ashe was also a tireless activist, speaking out against apartheid, creating tennis programs for inner city youth and educating the public on AIDS until his death in 1993.
Born in 1927, Althea Gibson grew up in a time when Black players weren’t allowed at most tennis tournaments. But her skill on the court earned her many important firsts in the sport. Gibson was the first African American tennis player to compete at the U.S. National Championships in 1950. And in 1951, she became the first African American to play at Wimbledon. Gibson went on to win the women’s singles and doubles at Wimbledon in 1957 and the U.S. Open in 1958.
Yonkers, N.Y. native James Blake won 10 Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) singles titles from 2002 to 2007. Ranked number four in the world in November 2006, Blake played his way to the quarterfinals at the U.S. Open in 2005 and 2006 and the final eight at the 2008 Australian Open.
Since winning her first major singles title at the U.S. Open in 1999, Serena Williams has claimed 23 Grand Slam titles – more than any player in the Open era. She also has four Olympic medals and is reportedly the highest-earning female athlete of all time.
Zina Garrison dominated the sport in the 1980s and 1990s. With 14 career singles titles and 20 doubles titles, her performance on the court got her to the finals at Wimbledon in 1990 and the semi-finals of the U.S. Open in 1988 and 1989. She also represented Team USA at the Olympics in 1988 (where she won a gold medal in women’s doubles and a bronze in women’s singles) and 1992.
Since 1994, five-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams has won seven Grand Slam titles, four gold medals between the 2000 and 2012 Summer Olympics and a Silver medal during the 2016 Rio Olympics.
At just 20 years old, Coco Gauff is already making a name for herself in professional tennis. She burst onto the scene in 2019 when she got a wild card slot at Wimbledon. There, she beat five-time champ Venus Williams in straight sets in the first round. At 19, she won her first Grand Slam title at the 2023 U.S. Open, making her the youngest American player to win the tournament since 17-year-old Serena Williams won the title in 1999.
Chanda Rubin was a force on the court in the 1990s and early 2000s. Once ranked number 6 in the world, she made it to the semifinals at the 1996 Australian Open and the quarterfinals three times at the French Open.
Rubin, who graduated cum laude from Harvard University, was inducted into the Southern Tennis Hall of Fame in 2009. Since retiring, she’s been a commentator for The Tennis Channel.
Four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka has two U.S. Open and two Australian Open titles under her belt. The 26-year-old Japan-born Osaka is the first Asian tennis player to be ranked number one in the world in singles.
French tennis star Yannick Noah was discovered at age 11 by Arthur Ashe at a tennis clinic in Cameroon, West Africa. Once Ashe set him up with training, Noah became a force to be reckoned with on the tennis court, with 23 tour singles championships and 16 in doubles. Among his career highlights, Noah won the French Open Singles title in 1983 and the doubles title in 1984. Athletic ability runs in his family: Noah’s son is former NBA player Joakim Noah.
