Identifying the next great African-American talent is tricky business for the United States Tennis Association.
For the last few years, business has simultaneously been great and awful. Great because Serena and Venus Williams have forcefully carried the flag for American tennis — and for diversity. Awful because, outside the Williams sisters, the U.S.T.A. has not produced an American singles champion — black or white — at a Grand Slam event since 2003. It has not delivered an African-American men’s champion at a major tournament since Arthur Ashe.
The mission of finding the next one will become even more intense as the Williams sisters wind down their illustrious careers.