Young African American professional tennis players, Donald Young and Sloan Stephens have given the profile of American tennis a boost at the 2011 US Open. Young, 22, and Stephens, 18, have both produced tennis beyond their years at Flushing Meadows in New York, upsetting elite players along the way.
89-ranked Donald Young’s name has been circulating in professional tennis for several years, as he was the top junior in the country at age 16. However, the young prodigy failed to meet expectations, never coming close to performing well in the major tournaments. Young, a 6-foot lefty and Atlanta native, has been criticized for lack of conditioning and maturity (recently shot off a profanity-laced tirade on twitter toward the USTA and had to later apologize) and had never advanced beyond the second round in a Grand Slam tournament, but this year, unseeded, he’s progressed to the 4th round – using 14th seeded Stanlis Warwrinka as a stepping stool.
106-ranked Sloan Stephens, daughter of Sybil Smith (first black female named First Team All American in Division 1 swimming) and John Stephens (professional American football player), turned pro in 2009 and has been hailed for her athleticism and powerful forehand, but she, too, has been eluded by notable Grand Slam results, until this year’s US Open. Her best performance to-date had been the French Open 1st round. She has now reached round 3 in New York, with hopes of upsetting former world no. 1, Ana Ivanovic.
American tennis has been taking hits in the media lately, with the criticisms that no new stars are being born and the USA’s bench is no deeper than Venus and Serena Williams. Young and Stephens give reason to challenge that assessment, lifting American tennis’ profile and at the same time lifting the profile of the sport in the black community. Other notable performances from young American tennis players at this years Open include: Christina Mchale (3rd round); Irene Falconi (2nd round); Madison Keys (2nd round);and Coco Vanderweigh (2nd round).
