Black Tennis Pros

“On behalf of the city of New York, welcome to the one and only U.S. Open,” said Mayor of New York City Michael Bloomberg.

This year’s Open celebrates the 40th Anniversary of the tournament and the first tournament of the Open Era. From 1881 until 1968, the U.S. National Championship was limited to amateurs. In 1968 the modern era of tennis was born when the US Open replaced the U.S. National Championship and opened its doors to all who qualified to compete.

Since 1968, Bloomberg said that the US Open is “the best attended annual sporting event in the world.”

The host of the evening's festivities was Oscar winning actor Forrest Whitaker, who spoke about the history of the tournament and the tumultuous year of 1968.

In 1968, the U.S. became even more embroiled in the Vietnam War, protests and social unrest erupted throughout the country, Martin Luther King Jr. was shot and killed, and the highly politicized summer Olympic games took place in Mexico City. And in 1968 Arthur Ashe became the first ever men’s champion and the first ever African American Champion of the U.S. Open, which was held at West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills, New York, for the first time, becoming one of the only bright spots during a difficult year for the country.

In honor of that special moment in tennis history, Whitaker introduced a procession of 25 past champions of the tournament including Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe and her daughter Camera Ashe as well as Virginia Wade, the first women’s singles US Open champion.

Widow and daughter of Arthur Ashe, Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe and Camera Ashe

Venus Williams

Serena Williams

Billie Jean King

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg

Forest Whitaker

Martina Navratilova, Gabriela Sabatini, John McEnroe

Boris Becker

Gabriela Sabatini

Monica Seles

Marat Safin

Roger Federer

Forest and Keisha Whitaker

Oscar de la Renta

Martha Stewart

Anna Wintour, Editor of Vogue