The word “historic” has been thrown around a few times at this year’s US Open. But when Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe step onto Arthur Ashe Stadium on Friday, they’ll make a kind of history American men’s tennis hasn’t seen in more than half a century.
For the first time, two Black American men will face each other in a US Open men’s singles semifinal. And no matter who wins, a Black American man will advance to the final for the first time since Arthur Ashe made his last finals appearance there in 1972. He lost in five sets to Romania’s Ilie Năstase.
Ashe remains the only Black American man to win a grand slam singles title. He beat Tom Okker of the Netherlands in five sets to win the US Open in 1968 – which made Ashe the first Black man from any country to win a major singles title.
Ashe went on to also win the 1970 Australian Open and Wimbledon in 1975.
It’s a milestone that’s resonating with Black tennis players across generations – and the diaspora – who see in Shelton and Tiafoe not only how far the sport has come, but what could come next.
