A showdown of Black American men represents progress, and opportunity, in tennis

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Martin Blackman wasn’t thinking about representation or race when he and his family listened to the 1975 BBC radio broadcast of Arthur Ashe upsetting Jimmy Connors in four sets to become the first and still only Black man to win the Wimbledon singles title.

But his parents were.

“For my parents, I think, understanding how high the barriers were in terms of the lack of accessibility to tennis in the US, they understood what an achievement that was for Arthur. They also understood the gravity of how poised he was in representing himself and opening doors for other African Americans, and I think that was very compelling for them,” Blackman, now 56, told CNN Sports. “I was just a five-year-old listener.”

All he knew at that time was that tennis became the family’s sport. Ashe’s success as a Black man on a big stage had played some small role in Blackman’s introduction to the sport that would shape his life.

“And then, along the way, I’ve had people open doors and give me opportunities that I never would have been able to afford. So I’m very blessed in that respect,” Blackman said. “That’s why I love doing what I’m doing.”

For ten years that meant serving as the general manager of player development at the USTA, where he “tried to be really intentional with that entry-level programming to make sure that we were getting the widest, most diverse cohort of juniors.”

But it was before that - during his first stint working at the Junior Tennis Champions Center in College Park, Maryland - that Blackman met Frances Tiafoe.

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Ben Shelton overpowers ‘big brother’ Frances Tiafoe and will face top seed Alexander Zverev in US Open final

Tiafoe was six when Blackman started as the director at JTCC, already a couple years into a now oft-cited origin story . Tiafoe’s father, an immigrant from Sierra Leone, worked on the construction of the center, moved into a maintenance role, and raised his twin boys Frances and Franklin on and around the courts. When their mother, a nurse also from Sierra Leone, worked night shifts, the boys would sleep in a storage room.

“When he was seven, eight [years old], I would see him hitting on the wall whenever he had free time. I would see him watching other coaches give private [lessons] whenever he had free time, just kind of looking and studying,” Blackman said of a young Tiafoe.

And sometimes, if a group of seniors was short a player for their doubles match, an elementary-aged Tiafoe would step in.

“So you’d see Frances at seven or eight playing with three other 70-year-old guys, who have the worst technique in the world,” Blackman said laughing. “But he’s learning the game from the ground up in his mind.”

Ahead of this season, Tiafoe remade that game, returning to the same grounds where he learned it the first time. Blackman is back at JTCC, too, having returned as the CEO. A few months ago, they celebrated together at JTCC when Tiafoe’s charitable fund, which works to provide tennis and academic programs to underserved communities, surpassed a million dollars.

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It’s a pillar in primarily his own legacy, but also that of the broader initiative to expand the accessibility and, as a result, diversity of tennis. That effort reached a new culmination of sorts Friday night at Arthur Ashe Stadium, when Tiafoe faced off against Ben Shelton – the first time two Black American men played in the semifinals of the US Open and a guarantee that the finals would feature a Black American man for the first time since Ashe himself in 1972.

The work on the court had paid off, as well. Tiafoe slimmed down, redoubled his focus, and saw his ranking rise from No. 34 to No. 12 over the course of this season. But on Friday night, he ultimately seemed to be overmatched by the sustained athleticism of Shelton, waning while the younger man outlasted and outserved him .

Tiafoe won the first set. Shelton the second. And then, with Shelton up 5-3 in the third set, the two embarked on a 15-minute game that went deuce seven times before Shelton clinched the set on an unforced error. The very next game, the first of the fourth set, went to deuce three times. Shelton won that one, too. The momentum was officially in his favor. It would continue to be a battle from there, but one with Shelton setting the pace, and Tiafoe faltering. He lost when he double-faulted on what would be his final serve of the night.

In his post-match comments to ESPN, Shelton, having punched a ticket to his first Grand Slam final at 23 years old, called the 28-year-old Tiafoe “like a big brother.” The comment was a reflection of their friendship, forged on the tour. But it also spoke to the history they now share as Black men succeeding at tennis’s highest level.

Before the match, Blackman considered how it might be viewed by young Black boys, or their parents, and whether it might inspire the next generation of participation from people like him.

“I guarantee it’s going to happen 100 different times in 100 different places,” he said, “because these guys, I mean, these guys are so compelling. What kid wouldn’t watch this and say, ‘Oh my goodness, I want to do that.’”

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1975 年，马丁·布莱克曼和家人收听 BBC 广播，得知阿瑟·阿什在四盘比赛中击败吉米·康纳斯，成为第一位也是迄今为止唯一一位赢得温布尔登网球公开赛单打冠军的黑人选手时，马丁·布莱克曼并没有想到种族或代表性问题。

但他的父母是。

“我想，我的父母了解美国网球运动的准入门槛有多高，所以他们明白亚瑟取得这样的成就有多么了不起。他们也明白他展现出的沉着冷静，以及他为其他非裔美国人打开大门的意义，我认为这对他们来说非常有说服力，”现年56岁的布莱克曼告诉CNN体育频道。“我当时只是个五岁的孩子，听着他的故事。”

他当时只知道网球成了他们家的运动。阿什作为一名黑人在大赛舞台上取得的成功，在某种程度上促成了布莱克曼接触这项运动，而这项运动也将塑造他的一生。

“而且，一路走来，有人为我打开了大门，给了我许多我原本根本无力承担的机会。从这方面来说，我非常幸运，”布莱克曼说。“这就是我热爱我现在所做的事情的原因。”

十年来，他一直担任美国网球协会球员发展总经理，在那里他“努力认真对待入门级项目，以确保我们能够获得最广泛、最多样化的青少年群体”。

但在此之前——在他第一次在马里兰州大学公园的青少年网球冠军中心工作期间——布莱克曼遇到了弗朗西丝·蒂亚福。

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本·谢尔顿击败“老大哥”弗朗西斯·蒂亚福，将在美网决赛中对阵头号种子亚历山大·兹维列夫。

蒂亚福六岁时，布莱克曼开始担任JTCC的主任，而这距离他后来广为人知的成长故事已经过去了几年。蒂亚福的父亲是一位来自塞拉利昂的移民，他参与了中心的建设，后来转为维护人员，并在球场内外抚养他的双胞胎儿子弗朗西斯和富兰克林。他们的母亲也是一位来自塞拉利昂的护士，当她上夜班时，孩子们就睡在储藏室里。

“他七八岁的时候，我经常看到他一有空就对着墙击球。我也经常看到他一有空就观看其他教练进行私人授课，只是看看、学学，”布莱克曼谈到年幼的蒂亚福时说道。

有时，如果一群老年人的双打比赛缺少一名球员，小学生蒂亚福就会挺身而出。

“所以你会看到七八岁的弗朗西斯和另外三个七十岁的老头一起打球，他们的技术简直糟糕透了，”布莱克曼笑着说。“但他却在心里从零开始学习这项运动。”

本赛季开始前，蒂亚福重拾旧业，回到了他最初学习网球的场地。布莱克曼也重返JTCC，担任首席执行官一职。几个月前，蒂亚福的慈善基金——致力于为弱势群体提供网球和学术项目——筹款突破一百万美元，他们曾在JTCC共同庆祝。

朱利安·芬尼/盖蒂图片社

这不仅是他个人成就的基石，也是扩大网球运动普及度、从而提升网球运动多样性的更广泛举措的基石。周五晚在阿瑟·阿什球场，这项努力达到了某种新的高度：蒂亚福与本·谢尔顿的对决——这是两位非裔美国男子选手首次在美网半决赛中相遇，也确保了自1972年阿什本人以来，决赛中将首次出现一位非裔美国男子选手。

球场上的努力也得到了回报。蒂亚福减重成功，更加专注，本赛季他的排名从第34位跃升至第12位。但在周五晚上的比赛中，他最终似乎还是不敌谢尔顿持久的运动能力，随着谢尔顿的体能和发球，蒂亚福逐渐显露疲态。

蒂亚福赢下第一盘，谢尔顿赢下第二盘。第三盘，谢尔顿以5-3领先，两人展开了一场15分钟的鏖战，七次打到平分，最终谢尔顿凭借蒂亚福的非受迫性失误拿下该盘。紧接着，第四盘的第一局，双方又三次打到平分，谢尔顿再次获胜。比赛的势头完全倒向了他。此后比赛依然胶着，但谢尔顿始终掌控着节奏，而蒂亚福则步履蹒跚。最终，蒂亚福在当晚的最后一个发球局中双误，输掉了比赛。

赛后接受ESPN采访时，23岁的谢尔顿首次闯入大满贯决赛，他称28岁的蒂亚福“就像我的大哥一样”。这番话体现了两人在巡回赛中建立的友谊，也象征着他们作为黑人男性在网球最高水平赛事中取得成功的共同经历。

赛前，布莱克曼考虑过年轻的黑人男孩或他们的父母会如何看待这场比赛，以及这场比赛是否会激励下一代像他一样的人参与其中。

“我保证这种事会在100个不同的地方发生100次，”他说，“因为这些人，我的意思是，这些人太有魅力了。哪个孩子看了这个不会说，‘我的天哪，我也想那样做。’”