Top 10 African-American Tennis Players of All Time

History of African-American tennis and its players in the United States dates back close to 110 years. In 1898, the first tournament exclusively meant for African-American players was conducted by Rev. W.W Walker in Philadelphia. Thomas Jefferson of Lincoln University won the event. This was the much-needed boost that the community needed to further their interest in the sport of tennis. In 1917, the American Tennis Association or ATA Trophy was won by Lucy Diggs Slowe - making her the first ever African-American woman to become a national champion in any sport for that matter.

Althea Gibson became the first ever African-American to win a Grand Slam title and since then there has been no looking back as multiple African-American athletes (among both men and women) have achieved Grand Slam success. We focus on 10 of the greatest African-American tennis athletes of all-time :

#10 Chanda Rubin

Chanda Rubin was a prominent tennis player in the WTA circuit in the mid '90s. She reached a career-high ranking of World Number 6 in 1996 after making it to the semis of the Australian Open that year. She beat Gabriella Sabbatini in the 4th round and Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario in the quarterfinals 6-4, 2-6, 16-14. The 48 games that she played to win is the most ever played in any Australian Open Women's Singles match. She is also a three-time Grand Slam singles quarterfinalist, having reached that stage at the French Open in 1995, 2000 and 2003. Prior to the 2016 tennis season, Chanda became only the third African-American in the Open Era to enter the WTA Top-10 after Zina Garrison and Lori McNeil. She also won the 1996 Australian Open Doubles title with Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario.

Throughout her career, she managed wins against either past, current or future World Number One's like Justine Henin, Serena Williams, Lindsay Davenport, and Amelie Mauresmo.

#9 Lori McNeil

Lori McNeil had a long and successful career playing in the WTA Tour for 19 years from 1983 to 2002. She won 10 Singles and 33 Doubles titles in her career. Her highest Singles ranking of World Number 9 was achieved in July 1988 and her career-best Doubles ranking was Number 4 which she attained in 1987, the same year that she won the WTA Most Improved Player Award.

Lori McNeil knew a thing or two in beating the legendary Steffi Graf. She handed the German great her first ever first round loss in a tournament in 7 years at the WTA Championships of 1992. In 1994, she shocked defending champion, Steffi in the opening round of Wimbledon - making it the only instance in the Championships history where a defending player has been knocked out in the opening round.

Lori McNeil's only Grand Slam title was the Mixed Doubles title which she won in the French Open on 1998 with her Italian partner Jorge Lozano.

#8 MaliVai Washington

MaliVai Washington at the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championship

MaliVai Washington was an American tennis player who was part of the ATP Tour in the 1990's. In a 10-year career, he won 11 ATP titles and achieved a career-high ranking of World Number 11.

He reached his first Grand Slam quarterfinal at the Australian Open 1994 notching up wins over top-ranked players Michael Stich and Mats Wilander. His only chance to win a Grand Slam came at the Wimbledon final of 1996 where he finished runner-up to Dutchman Richard Krajicek. In his run to the final, he spectacularly came back from 1-5 down in the 5th set of the semi-final against Todd Martin to take the match.

In 2009 Washington won the 'ATP Arthur Ashe Humanitarian of The Year' Award for his influential work through the MaliVai Washington Youth Foundation. Years after retirement, he is still contributing towards nurturing young tennis talent among the less privileged members of the society.

#7 Zina Garrison

The first-ever African American tennis athlete to win a Medal at the Olympics is Zina Garrison. She won the bronze medal at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games and also won the Gold in Doubles along with her fellow American Pam Shriver.

Battling bulimia since her childhood days, Zina Garrison was always under pressure to be the Next Althea Gibson - something which she was very vocal against. She always wanted to perform to the best of her abilities and to be herself rather than being saddled by the expectation of emulating Althea Gibson.

Garrison was a 3-time Grand Slam Mixed Doubles Champion, 2-time Fed Cup winner and runner-up at the 1990 Wimbledon Championships in the Singles category. Seeded 5th, she beat 3rd seed Monica Seles and top-seed Steffi Graf back-to-back in the quarter-finals and semi-finals. She was eventually beaten by 2nd seed Martina Navratilova.

She retired in 1995 after having been ranked inside the WTA Top-25 for 14 consecutive years.

#6 James Blake

Known for his powerful and flat forehands and also his majestic single-handed backhand, James Blake established himself as a force to reckon with in the ATP Circuit during the 2000s.

No man has won 2 Hopman Cups representing the United States of America barring James Blake. Blake was also a key driving force behind the USA winning the Davis Cup in 2007.

Injuries contributed to his ranking to plummet in the first half of 2005. Later, Blake was issued a wildcard to compete in the US Open where he remarkably beat Rafael Nadal along his way to the quarter-finals. His quarter-final with fellow American Andre Agassi will be remembered as one of the greatest ever matches played at Arthur Ashe Stadium. After leading by 2 sets and a break in the 5th set, Blake lost to Agassi in a 5th set tie-break.

Blake attained a career-high of World Number 4 in 2006 and made the final of the ATP Finals that year losing to Roger Federer.

#5 Sloane Stephens

Sloane Stephens at the 2017 US Open Tennis Championships

At the 2013 Australian Open, Sloane Stephens aged just 19 made the semi-finals beating then World Number 3 Serena Williams along the way. She rose to World Number 11 by the end of the year. However, her form dipped and she remained outside the Top-25 until end of 2015.

In 2016, Sloane Stephens hired noted tennis coach Kamau Murray and under his guidance, she started re-discovering her form as she won 3 WTA titles at the start of the year. A foot injury derailed her progress as she was forced to be out of the game for 11 months.

In remarkable fashion, she didn't just make a comeback in the 2nd half of the 2017 season but won the US Open in an all-American clash against her good friend Madison Keys. Her efforts won her 'The WTA Comeback Player of the Year' Award.

In 2018, she won her first Premier Mandatory WTA Tournament in Miami, finished runner-up at Roland Garros, cracked the WTA Top-10 and finished runner-up at the WTA Finals.

#4 Venus Williams

Venus Williams at The Championships - Wimbledon 2017

At the 1998 Wimbledon Championships, Venus Williams clocked a service speed of 125 mph - the first ever woman to do so. This came at the start of her long and fulfilling tennis career which is still not over yet even after close to two decades. The only player in the history of tennis to win medals across 4 different Summer Olympic Games, big-serving American Venus Williams has been an evergreen player in WTA Circuit throughout the 2000s and 2010's.

With 7 Grand Slam Singles titles, 14 Grand Slam Doubles titles, 2 Mixed Doubles titles and 5 Olympic medals, Venus is one of the most decorated tennis players of all-time. In career-prize money accrued, she is second only to her younger sister Serena Williams.

Venus has appeared in a record 80 Grand Slam appearances till date - a feat no man or woman has been able to surpass or match. If it probably weren't for her sister Serena, Venus would have completed a Career Slam by now.

#3 Althea Gibson

The first ever woman's African-American athlete to make it big in any sport for that matter was Althea Gibson. Althea Gibson was a potent force in Women's tennis during the 1960s. In an era when racism and prejudice were commonplace in sports and in practically every other field, Gibson scaled unprecedented heights and is an inspiration to many youngsters.

Zina Garrison, Sloane Stephens, Venus Williams and Serena Williams have all spoken about the kind of positive impact Gibson's success had on their own careers.

Gibson was a five-time Grand Slam Singles champion, winning Wimbledon and the US Open twice each and the French Open once. She narrowly missed out on winning the Australian Open in 1957 where she finished runner-up. A win there would have enabled her to complete a Career Slam of Majors - making her only the 4th woman at the time to do so.

#2 Arthur Ashe

The first African-American to be selected to the USA Davis Cup Team was Arthur Ashe. He was included in the USA Davis Cup squad in 1963 at the age of 20.

Till date, Ashe is the only black man to have won Australian Open, US Open, and the Wimbledon Championships. Ashe won an impressive 66 Singles titles including 3 Grand Slam Singles titles On two occasions he made the quarter-finals at the French Open Championships but was unlucky to have not gone on to win a Career Slam. He also won the precursor to the modern ATP Finals - the World Championship Tennis tournament in 1975. He is also the only African-American male player to be ranked Number 1 in the world. Ashe was a 4-time Davis Cup winner and played a huge part in the USA dominating the competition in the 1960s.

Unfortunately, Ashe contracted HIV from a blood transfusion a few years after his retirement. The great man even during his period of illness fought hard to educate the public about HIV and AIDS through the Arthur Ashe Foundation.

The legend in him still lives on in more ways than one: The primary tennis court of the US Open is named after him. The Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award is award by ESPYS every year. Ashe posthumously received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1993.

Ashe was also a proficient Doubles player winning 18 Doubles titles including 2 Grand Slam titles.

#1 Serena Williams

'Comeback Mom', 'Supermom', 'GOAT' - well these are just a few of the numerous adjectives that are used to describe Serena Williams.

Serena needs no introduction. She has been the face of Women's Tennis for close to 2 decades and counting. Serena rose to prominence as a teenager in the late 1990s and is the only tennis player history to win Grand Slam singles titles across 3 different decades (the 1990's 2000's and 2010's).

Serena Williams' numbers are just staggering to say the least. She has accumulated close to 99 million USD in prize money earnings - that is more than twice as much as second-placed Venus Williams. Having been ranked WTA Number 1 for the first time in 2002, Serena has held that slot on 7 different occasions totaling 319 weeks including on a record 186 consecutive weeks.

23 Grand Slam Singles titles, 14 Grand Slam Doubles titles, 2 Grand Slam Mixed Doubles titles, 5 WTA Finals trophies, 4 Olympic Gold Medals and she isn't done yet.

Having received the WTA Comeback Player of the Year Award in 2018, Serena is poised to overtake Margaret Court's all-time Grand Slam tally in 2019.