In her winning entry, Montgomery said she desired to bring tennis to locations such as Pakistan and Afghanistan, where women have practically no opportunity to contend in any sport. 9-year-old Montgomery, of Washington, D.C., concluded:
Montgomery turns 16 Saturday.( Its) the earliest memory I have of enjoying tennis,” Montgomery told USA TODAY Sports in an email. Montgomery comes out of JTCC.
NEW YORK– Seven years before she was the youngest gamer at the 2020 U.S. Open– and a part of tennis history – Robin Montgomery went into an essay contest. If you might follow Arthur Ashes path and provide back to the sport, the subject was what you would do.
In her winning entry, Montgomery stated she wished to bring tennis to places such as Pakistan and Afghanistan, where ladies have practically no opportunity to contend in any sport. She would reveal moms and dads that “it is very important for girls to play tennis like boys since girls would learn crucial life abilities.” She blogged about how the video game has cultivated her strength and an appreciation for difficult work. Then 9-year-old Montgomery, of Washington, D.C., concluded:
” Just like Arthur Ashe stated in among his quotes, An important key to success is self-confidence. An important key to self-confidence is preparation. By playing tennis the girls will be gotten ready for lots of future events in their life. ”
Montgomery turns 16 Saturday. She was the youngest gamer in the 128-person U.S. Open draw, a precocious left-hander with a huge serve and forehand, and a deft net video game, too. She didnt leave the very first round, but the larger story was not 2 dropped sets, but the lots Black ladies who comprised 37.5 percent of the full contingent (32) of U.S. female songs here – a record number in an occasion that dates to 1881.
Two of those players– Serena Williams and Sloane Stephens– will square off in a hotly anticipated third-round match in Arthur Ashe Stadium on Saturday. Nobody is happier about it than Martin Blackman, the basic manager, USTA player advancement, and a Black man himself..
A Stanford graduate and previous gamer on the maless trip, Blackman stated his enthusiasm for the sport was fired up as a young kid when he and his older bros listened on the radio to Ashes triumph over Jimmy Connors at Wimbledon in 1975. Blackman was 5, and still the memory of that crackly broadcast sticks with him.
” People see themselves and imagine themselves doing the same thing,” Blackman told USA TODAY Sports. “When were speaking about all the terrific African-American females who are entering the game, whatever starts with Venus and Serena Williams. The power of what they achieved at such a young age, doing it with very little monetary means, with their parents, Richard and Oracene, providing them what they needed to be champions, is simply amazing.”.
Stacey Allaster, the first female competition director of the U.S. Open, concurred.
” They have actually motivated kids throughout our country, little women, to play tennis,” Allaster stated.
Montgomery was one of them. A year before she wrote her acclaimed essay, Montgomery tuned into the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
“( Its) the earliest memory I have of seeing tennis,” Montgomery told USA TODAY Sports in an email. “The match that I really took pleasure in watching was Serena Williams betting Maria Sharapova. Serena showed her power and supremacy in that match which truly motivated me.”.
Apart from the Williams siblings, Stephens and Montgomery, Black American women who are completing in songs here include Madison Keys, Sachia Vickery, Taylor Townsend and Asia Muhammad. Along with Coco Gauff, the 16-year-old who made a third-round run here a year earlier and beat safeguarding champion Naomi Osaka in Australia in January, the young guard of color at the Open includes Whitney Osuigwe and Hailey Baptiste, who are both 18, and 16-year-old Katrina Scott. (Baptiste and Scott were late wild-card entries after withdrawals.).
” I think its remarkable,” stated Stephens, 27, the 2017 Open champion whose first substantial victory came by Serena in the Australian Open quarterfinals in 2013. “Obviously today kind of leading our sport on the womens side is African-American ladies, which is fantastic.”.
Apart from having the 2 fabled sisters leading the way, Blackman stated he thinks the structure and stability of the USTA player development setup has played a significant function. By working to break down the long time divide in between national programs and gamers individual coaches, and welcoming outdoors coaches into USTA camps, pro gamers can take advantage of the deep-pocketed USTA resources.
Montgomery comes out of JTCC. Blackman believes that keeping world-class training close to home, and being able to support gamers with whatever from coaching to tournament travel and strength and conditioning, has been nothing however favorable.
” The training template has ended up being so much more holistic,” Blackman stated.
He has viewed Montgomery considering that she was a youngster, even prior to she became an award-winning essay author. “I think she (has) a great upside,” he stated.
He figures that quickly there may be youngsters out there who will view her play, and say, “I wish to be like Robin Montgomery.”.
Follow Wayne Coffey on Twitter @wr_coffey.
