Venus Williams and Serena Williams help inspire diversity in tennis

A crowd gathered when Venus Williams practiced with Sachia Vickery at the US Open Kids waited by the fence for autographsThe seventime Grand Slam singles champion helped Vickery prepare for her firstround match Vickery lost but the thrill of hitting with her idol was a lasting memoryThat was actually an experience of a lifetime for me so Im still in shock a little bit said Vickery a 23yearold AfricanAmerican and former topranked junior playerVenus and Serena Williams have been a nearly constant presence at the US Open since the debut of Arthur Ashe Stadium 21 years ago Their 30 combined Grand Slam singles titles have changed the tennis landscape Many American kids of color are taking part in youth programs often citing the superstar sisters as the reason Theres certainly more diverse activity from an ethnic standpoint since they came on the scene said DA Abrams chief diversity and inclusion officer for the US Tennis AssociationAt junior tournaments at higher levels theyre more diverse ethnically than they were in the past The No 1 junior is 14yearold AfricanAmerican Cori Coco Gauff who once practiced on the same park courts in Delray Beach Florida as the Williams sistersPatrick Mouratoglou Serenas coach worked with Gauff at his academy in Paris and she recently won the French Open girls title First of all shes a great competitor Second of all she has incredible abilities Mouratoglou said Everything else is just work And shes a hard worker Several young black players were competing in the final major of the season at Flushing MeadowsWhitney Osuigwe recently won the USTA 18s Girls National title and earned a wild card into the main draw Rising Canadian stars Felix AugerAliassime and Franciose Abanda went through qualifying and AugerAliassime reached the main drawI grew up watching the Williams sisters said the 21yearold Abanda who saw them play at the Rogers Cup in Toronto when she was 14 I appreciate Venus who is playing for so long and at a high level They have really big power games and maximize it Thousands of fans and tennis camp kids of varying ethnicities watched the free fourday qualifying tournament ahead of the US Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis CenterThe sport was mostly white when King was a teen in the 1950s American Althea Gibson became the first black player to win a Grand Slam title at the 1956 French Open and Ashe won the US Open in 1968 Both were forced to play in segregated tournaments early in their careers When players take the court today they do not look like each other King said in an email to The Associated PressThey are more reflective of our global society That is a big improvement from my day and it is especially important for future generations because the children can see this change and they can aspire to be part of itKing said shed like to see more diversity on the business side plus more female coaches and coaches of color Of 15 Americans in the top 100 of the WTA yearend rankings in 1999 four women were AfricanAmerican Serena won the US Open that year The current top 100 has 13 Americans including six AfricanAmericans reigning US Open champion Sloane Stephens at No 3 followed by Madison Keys No 14 Venus No 16 Serena No 26 Taylor Townsend No 73 and Vickery No 78 Japans Naomi Osaka No 19 is also of Haitian descent Latina players Caroline Garcia Garbine Muguruza Carla Suarez Navarro and Monica Puig are joined by five Chinese competitorsThe mens ATP top 100 has 21 people of color including AfricanAmerican Frances Tiafoe No 44 and AsianAmerican Mackenzie McDonald No 79 among the 11 top Americans In 1999 eight of the nine American men in the top 100 were whiteVickery signed autographs for several young black fans who called out her name after practicing with Venus She trained at age 8 with Richard Williams practicing for nearly a year with Venus and Serenas father in West Palm Beach Vickery wore a Tshirt after her firstround match with the words black and white crossed out leaving the words human being I know theres not too many of us players on tour she said So its really really great to see the young black kids Several programs are trying to diversify tennis in the United States The Williams sisters have an academy in Los Angeles and Kamau Murray Stephens coach recently opened a 169 million tennis village on Chicagos South SideMore than 200000 kids in the 50 largest US markets have access to free or lowcost tennis programs run by the National Junior Tennis and Learning network and the USTA FoundationUSTA President Katrina Adams the first AfricanAmerican to hold that position is looking forward to more growth at all levels from the seeds Venus and Serena have plantedThe ability to watch a player whom you can identify with competing and succeeding in the very same sport you love and play speaks volumes she said Last year the 24yearold Stephens beat 37yearold Venus in the US Open semifinals which featured four Americans and three women of color She defeated good friend Keys in the final was handed the trophy by Adams and earned a 37 million paycheckMissing was Serena who gave birth to daughter Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr last September Shes in my opinion the greatest player to ever play our game said Stephens who had a poster of Serena on her wall growing up American tennis is really flourishing at the moment especially the women We represent something really strong and really powerfulCatch up on all the latest sports news and updates here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updatesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever