Nelson: Blacks in Tennis Have Long Way to Go : Veteran Pro Sees Inroads but Lots of Obstacles, Too

Sitting in the locker room in Lyon, France, Todd Nelson looked around at the other four people in the room and was struck by the odd similarity.

There was Yannick Noah, and Yahiya Doumbia and his coach and Nduka Odizor.

“I definitely noticed,” Nelson said. “Five black guys in the locker room; no white guys.”

And they weren’t just hanging around. Noah, Doumbia and Nelson were three of the four semifinalists--Doumbia went on to beat Nelson to win the $270,000 tournament in February.

Nelson recalled the scene this week after he upset sixth-seeded David Pate, Doumbia surprised No. 4 Amos Mansdorf and another black, Roger Smith, stunned No. 1 Ivan Lendl in the second round of the $602,500 Volvo International Tennis Tournament.

Nelson and Smith agreed that more blacks are discovering tennis, and more are doing well on the pro tour, but they also cautioned that it will be a long time before there is any real dent in the sport’s white domination.

There are about eight or 10 blacks in the top 200; five years ago there were less than half that, said Nelson, 27, of San Diego, a seven-year tour veteran who made it to No. 58 in 1986 and now is ranked 94th.

Doumbia, 24, of Senegal, is ranked 117th; Smith, 24, of the Bahamas, is 150th.

Since the retirement of Arthur Ashe, Noah has been by far the most successful black in tennis, consistently in the top 10 since 1981 and winner of the French Open in 1983.

“Yannick has done a lot to open doors,” Nelson said. “You see a guy play at a high level and you start thinking it’s possible.

“We all look up to Noah, far more than Ashe. Yannick has more of a new energy for that--black involvement in tennis.”

But Nelson Smith and Doumbia stressed that they don’t separate black from white while on the court.

“My goal is not to be the top black player in the world,” Nelson said.

“I don’t want to be thinking 10 years from now what I did in a white man’s sport; I want to be thinking how good I did. I didn’t get into tennis to break any barriers. There was no guarantee I’d even make it.”

“If we do well, we do it for us,” Doumbia said. “If it opens doors for others, fine.”

But the door is bolted for most blacks because of money, they said.

“Tennis is a rich sport for rich people. People try to say it isn’t anymore, but it still is,” Doumbia said.

You can use a soccer ball over and over again; you have to buy new tennis balls after one afternoon, he said.

A racket can cost $100, Smith said, and when you go to the park, if one guy has a basketball, 100 guys can play. It’s the same with facilities.

And how many blacks can afford the tour if they are good enough?

“I get no support from anybody. I pay for everything,” Doumbia said.

It takes thousands of dollars for travel, room and board for the lesser players. “That’s where the doors are limited for minority kids,” Nelson said. “You know you’re going to have a lot of expenses.”

In contrast, once anyone makes the major leagues in baseball or football or basketball or soccer, the team pays the living expenses, and salary is guaranteed.

Nelson, Smith and Doumbia got this far as individuals. There were no programs that helped them along. All three broke from the traditional sports that tugged at youngsters in their native countries.

“It’s such a different sport for us, from our background and culture,” Nelson said. “It was not a part of growing up.”

Nelson played baseball and football, but “it was fun to do something else,” he said. “I said, ‘It’s a hard game; let’s see if I can get good at it.’ ”

Doumbia’s uncle was Senegal’s national coach, so he had someone to turn to for coaching, equipment and facilities. But his interest ran counter to the rest of the country, whose only competitive tennis players came from the families of Doumbia’s uncle and his own.

Smith started by hitting against a wall and “from the minute I played, I loved it.” No one in his family played. But he also was a good high school basketball player and had to choose between tennis and basketball in his senior year.

He chose a tennis scholarship to Ohio State over basketball scholarships to several schools.

“College was very important for a lot of blacks,” Smith said. He and Nelson, who went to Arizona State, agreed that parents of black tennis players probably stress education more than parents of white players.

Almost every top player in the world entered the tour in his teens with little or no time in college.

“Sometimes I think, ‘Golly, if I had done that,’ ” Nelson said. “But then again, you have to look at the other side. College helped me improve to the level that I could play professionally.”