Tennis star Coco Gauff said losing is fine as long as you learn from it.
Gauff might need to find another way to be schooled. She’s won 13 of 14 matches going into her third-round U.S. Open match tonight (7 p.m.). The tennis world already anticipates the No. 6-ranked Gauff will meet defending champion Iga Swiatek in the quarterfinals.
Gauff has become the latest Black female tennis player to blaze a trail in the sport. Ora Washington won eight tennis titles, including seven in a row beginning in 1929, competing in the old American Tennis Association, which allowed Black players.
Althea Gibson became the first Black woman to win Wimbledon when she won the tournament in 1957. The Williams sisters, arguably, rank as the most dominant siblings ever in tennis. Venus Williams has won seven Grand Slam titles and her sister Serena has 39, which ties her for fourth all-time.
Gauff is just one of a new generation of Black women tennis stars having success on the court. Players from the United States include Taylor Townsend, Sachia Vickery, Robin Montgomery and Clervie Ngounoue, Asia Muhammad, Alycia Parks, Madison Keys and Sloane Stephens.
Taylor Townsend
On Wednesday, the unseeded Townsend, defeated 19th-seeded Beatriz Haddad Maia in a 7-6 (1), 7-5 upset, pushing Thompson into today’s third-round match.
The victory means Townsend, the 132nd ranked player in the world, has defeated two opponents in the top 20 this year, the New York Post reported. Today she has another tough match against No. 10 Karolina Muchova.
In addition to tennis, Townsend has been outspoken about racial and socioeconomic injustices Black people face and how she experiences extra scrutiny when she’s at a match. “Black men are being gunned down and killed in the middle of the street in broad daylight from police officers,” she told Reuters. She said she faces extra security checks at tournaments and people…
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