Final Paper

The Net’s Influence: How Women's Tennis & Social Justice Have Gone Hand in Hand

            “Venus wanna win Wimbledon, Serena wanna win the US Open.  And when I think about that, there are times you know – I wonder what I would do.  And I know what I would do now.  I would go back to the ghettos of Compton, and get some of those gang members who used to protect my daughters from other gang members.  And uh - I would go get the members of the Crips and bring them to the US Open and Wimbledon. And they would sit in box seats, and they would sit there and watch my daughter.”  This is a quote from a very proud Richard Williams, the father of Venus Ebony Starr and Serena Jameka, in 1992 (TWS, 2012).  The sisters, who currently have an impressive twenty-two Grand Slam titles and eight Olympic Gold medals between them, were naturals from the very start (Wertheim, 2010).   These two African-American women have not only been phenomenal on the tennis courts, but they have also showed people that tennis is not just for people with wealthy backgrounds (Sullivan, 2012).  Tennis is a sport for people from all walks of life.  The Williams sisters proved that, and they have had the help of tennis stars before them including Althea Gibson, Martina Navratilova, and the later Maria Sharapova. 

            Both Venus and Serena began playing tennis at age four with their father being their coach.  They practiced on courts in Compton, the “low-income, gang-afflicted hub city outside Los Angeles.”  It was said that the girls had an upbringing that was as stable as you could have in Compton back then (Sullivan, 2012).  At age eight, Venus was dubbed the “Ghetto Cinderella” while gunfire was occurring in the park as she was practicing on the tennis courts nearby.

            Richard Williams did not want his daughters to grow up in a poverty and crime-ridden area.  In 1991, Richard invited Rick Macci, a well-known tennis teaching professional, to come watch Venus play.  When Macci was asked about the call his response was, “Richard said he’d like to meet me but the only thing he could promise me was that I wouldn’t get shot.  All I could think of was: ‘Who is this guy?’  After I footed the bill for a flight to L.A. Richard picks me up in this Volkswagen bus that has dents all over it. There were tennis balls, clothes, McDonald’s wrappers, Coke cans, everything scattered throughout this wobbly bus.  It was 7:30 in the morning when we arrived at East Rancho Dominguez Park, and there must have been thirty guys there already playing basketball and another twenty lying in the grass passed out.”  Despite their hometown, after Rick Macci’s visit it wasn’t long before Venus Williams, “the little girl from the ghetto playing tennis as gang-fire rattled the spray-painted windscreen,” started to make headlines (Wimmer, 2000).

            In 1991, the family moved to Florida, and at the same time both girls were taken out of the Junior Tennis Circuit by their father.  Despite their stunning records – Venus had won 63 of her 63 Junior Tournaments by age 12 and Serena at age 11 had won 50 of 52 tournaments– Richard believed that they were too young and would be burned out and ruined if they started competing so young (TWS, 2012).  While many people criticized this move, their father knew it was the right option for the girls and their future. 

            It wasn’t until three years later, in 1994, that Venus played competitively again.  She was “hardly the gangly kid from Compton anymore,” as she stood nearly six feet tall.  She won her first pro-match against a lower ranking player at the time.  It was an impressive match, but she had to face a tough competitor in the next round of the tournament.  She was up against one of the top players in the world, Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario.  Venus was winning at the beginning of the match 3-1, but Arantxa used a slippery veteran move and took a bathroom break.  Venus then lost her momentum and lost the match.  However, she seemed to be the only one who cared about the loss.  Everyone else was extremely impressed with her opening act.  Based on one professional tournament, Venus Williams then signed a deal in May of 1995 with Reebok.  It was an unprecedented five-year $12 million deal.  It was “the kind of loot usually commanded by established pro male athletes” (Roberts, 2005).   

            Unfortunately, Serena’s professional tennis debut did not go as well.  On their way to the tournament, they missed their plane and misplaced several of Serena’s tennis racquets.  Serena played the “unimpressed and unassuming” Anne Miller who beat Serena in a crushing 6-1, 6-1 match.  Serena and Richard were crushed by her debut match, but nothing could shake their confidence (Roberts, 2005). 

            The two black girls who were trying to find their spot in the professional circuit were getting criticism thrown at them from the players within the tennis community; as the girls were handling their peers’ snarky remarks the public’s fascination grew.   When Oracene Williams, Venus and Serena’s mother, was asked about the pressure her girls felt, her response was this: “There’s no such thing as pressure.  As black Americans, that’s all we’ve ever had.  It’s life.  So where’s the pressure?  It’s like squish them down, they can’t have that confidence.  I teach my kids to live in reality.  You’re black, you always have to work harder, but you don’t have to prove yourself to anybody.  I don’t expect you to, and I don’t expect you to apologize. Ever” (Roberts, 2005).

            The Williams sisters certainly are not the first African-American professional tennis players.  Before them came a female player by the name of Althea Gibson, who was often referred to as “the groundbreaker” (Wimmer, 2000).  Althea made tennis history by becoming the first black person – man or woman – to play in a major United States Lawn Tennis Association (USLTA) sanctioned event. 

            In her early days, Gibson dominated the Cosmopolitan Club, which was New York’s most prestigious black tennis club.  Her game developed very quickly and after just one short year of taking lessons she entered into her first tournament in 1943.  Her first tournament was called the ATA’s (all-black American Tennis Association) New York State Open Championship, which she won.  She won the ATA’s New York State Open Championship again in 1944 and 1945.  Then in 1946, at age eighteen, Althea moved from the girls’ division to the women’s division of ATA competition.  In her first women’s division championship match Gibson lost to a respected player, but she did catch the eye of two ATA officials who were interested in the promotion of black tennis players. 

            These two ATA officials guided and coached Gibson for a year and in 1947 Althea Gibson won the first of her 10 consecutive women’s ATA national championship titles.  While Gibson was busy dominating the ATA circuit, the two ATA officials were working to get her entered into USLTA (United States Lawn Tennis Association) events, which at that point had only had white participants.  After many trials, struggles, and much discrimination Gibson received an invitation from the USTLA to play in the national championships at Forest Hills in1950.  She made it to the second round of the tournament and then lost to the reigning Wimbledon champion. 

            However, despite Gibson’s loss at her first USTLA appearance, she became the first black person to play at Wimbledon in 1952.  She advanced to the quarterfinals before losing.  By 1952, Gibson had shocked the world once again and was ranked ninth in the USLTA standings.  Gibson had a few rough years from 1953-1955, but during the 1956 season Althea Gibson won 16 out of the18 tournaments in the professional circuit.  Additionally, on May 20, 1956 Gibson won the French Open Championships becoming the first black person in history to win a major tennis singles title, but Althea Gibson couldn’t stop there.  She then went on to win additional Wimbledon and US National titles.  In 1957, Althea became the number one female tennis player in the world. Also, in 1957 and 1958 the Associated Press named her the Female Athlete of the Year. 

            Gibson retired from tennis in 1958, but this woman could not stop for great because she wanted to be remarkable.  In the early 1960’s Gibson took up golf and broke another color barrier by becoming the first black woman to hold a Ladies Professional Golf Association player’s card.  This astounding woman broke the color barrier for all of the great black athletes that came after her (Woolum, 1992). 

            Another tennis player who broke down the barriers for future athletes was Martina Navratilova.   Navratilova had an absolutely stunning won-loss record of 427 wins and only 14 losses over her professional career.  She revolutionized the way women trained for matches by establishing daily weight training, running, and nutrition program.   Martina Navratilova was the prominent women’s tennis champion in the 1980’s.  She was the number one ranking women’s tennis player in 1978 and for fourteen consecutive years she was ranked among the top three players in the world (Woolum, 1992).   

            However, her amazing talent and spectacular wins are not what made her so famous in the record books.  Martina Navratilova was the first openly lesbian professional tennis player in history.  She did not receive endorsements like all of her competitors because of her sexual orientation.  One source states that “Navratilova never stopped doing or saying what she believed as she went on to dominate women’s tennis, even though endorsements never came.  People made wisecracks about her sexuality and the physicality she brought to women’s sports, failing to acknowledge that the sort of training regimen and support team she first embraced is now commonplace for athletes” (Howard, 2005).  Throughout her whole professional career reporters and public speculated about her sexual orientation, and when it became clear to fans that she was a lesbian, her star power decreased significantly (Fuller, 2006). 

            Despite the criticism from the public, Navratilova stood up for what she believed was fair and just.  She contributed as much to the gay rights movement as she did to tennis.  Navratilova did not hide her feelings in order to gain fame, endorsements, and money.  She not only acknowledged that she was a lesbian, she campaigned on behalf of gay issues.  When Chris Evert, a tennis rival from Navratilova’s professional days, was asked about Martina she recalled, “She revolutionized the game; she brought a fresh new honesty.  She’s never been afraid to speak out or say what she really thinks” (Smith, 1998). 

            Another player who is not afraid to speak her mind is Maria Sharapova.  Maria began playing in the professional circuit at an extremely young age; she was only 14 years old.  When interviewed by TransWorld Sports she was referred to as the “best in the world for her age.”  Additionally, by age 14 she had earned a remarkable eight junior titles.  Her coach referred to her as “very selfish,” but that is also what he stated allows a player to reach the top.  (TWS, 2002).

            Maria Sharapova won her first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon at age 17, and by age 20 she had already won three Grand Slam titles.  The extremely talented Maria Sharapova is only 25 years old and she is already the world’s highest-earning female sports star.  Of the top ten earners in women’s sports, six others are Sharapova’s on-court rivals. 

            Tennis has the highest earning women athletes out of any other sport in the world.  Women’s tennis is a worldwide sport where spectators can turn on their televisions to “watch the world’s richest sportswomen trying to obliterate one another.”  Women’s tennis is an extremely global sport.  During the 2011 season, viewership of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) tournaments increased by 73% globally.  Additionally, the overall broadcast time and the tournament attendance both rose by 12%.  It has been said that “The WTA, is probably the only entity able to offer a truly global platform in women’s sport” (Adams, 2012). 

            It is clear that women tennis players earn more than their peers who play other sports.  However, when female professional tennis players are compared to their male counterparts a different story arises.  For example, the male professional players competed for $130 million dollars in prize money throughout 2012, but the women’s professional circuit only competed for $96 million.  Not only is there a monetary difference, but there is a difference between the time and type of media coverage female athletes receive versus male athletes.  Studies of broadcast coverage of women’s sports have discovered that less than five percent of televised or newspaper stories are devoted to female athletics or athletes.  Additionally, the type of coverage differs greatly between the genders.  The female athletes receive half the coverage of male athletes in text and visuals. 

            Needless to say when the women are featured for a sports story the subject matter is typically quite different than if a male was being interviewed.  The media portrays female athletes by overemphasizing femininity and a sex appeal.  Many of the interviews will “strike against mental toughness and physical strength” in women’s tennis.  The tennis announcers will typically refer to the women players as “sweet” and “gracious” while the men are referred to as “tough” and “hard-nosed.”  The age and cuteness of women tennis players has always been overemphasized (Fuller, 2006).

            Age, sexual orientation, race, and economic background are things that used to prevent women from playing the timeless sport of tennis.  However, there have been strong, courageous, and outspoken women who have paved the way for those in the future.  Venus and Serena Williams proved that tennis is not a “rich girl sport.”  Althea Gibson broke the color barrier for all black athletes.  Martina Navratilova showed the world that your sexual orientation is not a deciding factor in how well you play the game, and Maria Sharapova proved that you are never too young to follow your dreams and compete.  All of these talented and brave women have opened the doors for the many young women who dream to follow in their footsteps, and if they do, women’s tennis will continue as one of the most uplifting and entertaining sports on the planet.   

Works Cited attached in email.  Will give upon request.