Black Tennis Pros

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American Alexandra Stevenson had the pleasure of having more than the Charleston, South Carolina tennis fans observe her match against Akgul Amanmuradova of Uzbekistan - dear old dad was in the stands.

Former NBA superstar Julius 'Dr. J' Erving sat in the stands of the Family Circle Cup and for the first time witnessed Alexandra play a tour match. As depicted in ESPN's "Outside The Lines, Reaching Out: Alexandra Stevenson And Julius "Dr. J" Erving," the father and daughter have been slowly building their newfound relationship.




Of Erving's visit Stevenson said, “He actually wanted to come to one of the challenger tournaments, and I was like, I don’t think you should come there. We play on public parks, and some of them are a bit sketchy.”

“This is a nice tournament to come to, and I think he knows the tournament director, Bob Moran, and he just picked this tournament.”

“We were never in a bad place, I just didn’t know him. So it’s good now. I mean, obviously, it’s still odd, because you are getting to know somebody. But it’s nice that I know him, and he is supporting me out here, coming to watch me play."

Stevenson was not able to bring in a win in front of her father, as she was defeated by Amanmuradova 6-2, 6-4. When asked if having Erving present made her nervous Stevenson said, “I actually didn’t even see him until the second set.”

“And he can see how hard tennis is. It’s not like basketball where you have a whole team of support. So it’s nice that he came out here.”

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Alright, I usually give people the benefit of the doubt, but not this wacky chick. At what point in history was there a 'king' or 'queen' of "Black-American tennis," other than in this chick's mind.

And when was there this "Black-American tennis?" And how do you play it?

If you read Black Tennis Pro's on the regular, you will note that while I highlight Black tennis professionals, tennis is tennis. There is no White tennis, or Black tennis... it's tennis. Now the distinction comes with the fact that we have players of a multitude of ethnic backgrounds. How that background has affected their participation in the sport of tennis is where I come in.

This interview on ESPN, under the guise of 'Black History Month,' clearly was seeking to get Zina Garrison to speak to her lawsuit against the USTA, and in doing so the lead in was about this "Black-American tennis."

As an African-American learning to play tennis at a predominately White high school, I came to know and love the sport of tennis, not Black tennis - but tennis. A sport dominated by White players yes, but still... tennis.

Why are people who don't know a damn thing about a sport allowed to conduct interviews as such?

Yet one more thing to make you go hmmmm?

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Editor's note:

WTA Chairman and CEO Larry Scott on Wednesday formally announced changes in the circuit's calendar and other rules and standards, including on-court coaching, the rankings system and mandatory player commitments. Many of the questions from reporters afterward concerned the Williams sisters' stance that they will not play at Indian Wells -- which will be one of four mandatory events in 2009 -- because of a racially tinged incident in the stands there in 2001. That's where ESPN.com writer Bonnie D. Ford decided to start when she had a chance to sit down one-on-one with the former player and ATP executive.

Bonnie D. Ford: You made this announcement Wednesday morning, you put all this work into these reforms, and yet much of the press conference was dominated by an incident that happened seven years ago, that involves two of your hundreds and hundreds of players, albeit two of the most important ones. How personally difficult and frustrating is it for you that you haven't been able to get closure on this?

Larry Scott: I'm disappointed that there's not an easy solution, but by the same token, I'm looking at moving on, the sport's moving on, the tour's moving on, and I don't think it's going to hold us back from making the type of progress we need to make. As I've dug into the issue, I've gotten heightened empathy for how Serena and Venus feel about the situation and I also feel empathy for the tournament. I've tried to do what I can to bridge gaps. You can only do so much. I respect where they're coming from.

Ford: Do you have any realistic hope that there's going to be movement on this between now and March?

Scott: Not for the 2009 tournament. I'm not expecting they're going to play; they've told me they're not planning on playing. If they do, it's a bonus. I think everyone's expectations are managed. I'd like to think that by the time both Venus and Serena's careers end, fans at Indian Wells will see them again, but I'm certainly not predicting that.

Ford: And the promotional activities players can do in lieu of attendance, they've agreed to do that, so you don't anticipate a suspension coming out of this?

Scott: No.

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