Sloane Stephens says more Black girls are picking up tennis because they can now see Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Coco Gauff and Taylor Townsend at the highest level. The former US Open champion said that visibility matters in a sport she describes as both hard to enter and incredibly expensive.
That message is drawing attention now because Stephens is not speaking as a distant observer. She has spent more than a decade on the WTA Tour, won the US Open, reached the Roland Garros final the next year and later lost the 2018 WTA Finals final to Elina Svitolina, giving her the kind of career that makes her view of representation carry weight.
Stephens said young Black girls now have faces on TV that look like them and strong role models to look up to. She said that matters because tennis is a tough sport to access, and the cost can force families to make sacrifices if their children want to play. In her view, the current visibility of Black women in the sport gives young players something concrete to relate to, not just admire from a distance.
She also pushed against the idea that the progress is complete. Stephens said there are not that many African American women in tennis, even as she said representation is growing. That gap between progress and reality is at the heart of what she is describing: the sport has visible stars, but the pipeline is still narrow.
Stephens said that is why the moment feels different. She praised Venus, Serena, Coco and Taylor for how they have represented themselves on and off the court, and said Serena’s return to competition adds another layer to a changing of the guard. She also said parents who see Vicky and Coco playing may be more willing to make the sacrifices needed to keep their children in the game.
The comments also land as Stephens balances tennis with a classroom path that is unusual even by elite-sport standards. She is currently pursuing a doctorate and said this is likely her third and final degree, after earning degrees in communication studies and business administration. She said her parents have always believed in higher education, and that belief has shaped the way she has handled her career.
Stephens is also preparing for a return to home soil in the Memphis Open, a reminder that her voice now carries beyond results. She is no longer just one of the sport’s most accomplished American players. She is also one of the few who can talk about what the next generation sees when it looks at tennis and decide whether it sees a place to belong.
