On the court, Tim Fometé of Cameroon warms up with Moïse Rafanoharantsoa of Madagascar. Next to it, it’s Anne-Marie Gnarou Poudima, from Togo, who connects backhands and forehands in front of Luciano Hernandez Ramirez, from Mexico. White and snobbish, tennis? Not anymore: in one generation, the face of sport has radically changed — and the trend is here to stay.
In a Quebec city not known for its diversity, the Aliassime Tennis Academy resembles a small UN. Of the twenty teenage athletes who fine-tune their game during the visit Dutyonly three come from Quebec. The others arrive from all continents: Europe, Africa, South America…
“We don’t see many Tremblays anymore,” underlines Jacques Hérisset, a tennis veteran in Quebec who is now responsible for communications at the academy. “Quebecers don’t leave tennis aside, but at a high level, on the other hand, there are fewer of them, that’s obvious. »
Sam Aliassime’s school embodies the rule rather than the exception in Quebec. Because although the man of Togolese origin who gives his name to the academy is particularly committed to the human and social development of Africa (just like his son, Félix Auger-Aliassime, who pays US$5 per point collected during a professional match at this mission), diversity is taking over the courts throughout Quebec.
“It’s not just an impression,” says Martin Gariépy, interim co-director general of Tennis Québec. “We are seeing more and more players of Spanish-speaking or Asian origin and people with black skin. Clearly, tennis has become democratized. »
“I thought you were the janitor”
North American tennis has changed dramatically since the era of Jim Crow laws in the United States, a time when the African-American population was excluded, sometimes explicitly, from tennis clubs, among other things.
In the early 1950s, “the only black people visible around the courts were in the kitchen or cutting the grass. None approached the clubhouse or land. Not a single spectator in the stands was black either,” player Bonnie Logan told researchers from the Arthur Ashe Oral History Project at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). In 1964, Lenny Simpson, aged 15 at the time, felt very alone during his first appearance at the United States Open tennis tournament. “My parents couldn’t come see me for this incredible moment in my life, because black people weren’t allowed into the West Side Country Club,” the late Mr. Simpson lamented to researchers at the UCLA.
In his first steps, even Sam Aliassime experienced the awkwardness of certain tennis fans when faced with a skin color that remained unusual in this sport 25 years ago in Quebec. “I was coaching in a club in Longueuil in 1999 and a lady told me, quite surprised: “You are coach ? I thought you were the janitor.” » When he arrived in the capital a decade later, he also found a very monochrome environment. “There were three black people at the academy at the time. Me, my son and my daughter,” he recalled in a phone call from Japan.
Champions from varied origins
A sport that once excluded members of cultural minorities now welcomes them in greater numbers than ever. Over the past five years, in the United States, the number of African-American and Latino tennis fans has jumped 63% and 105% respectively, according to data from the United States Tennis Association.
Tennis Canada did not respond to requests from Duty within the framework of this report, but all those interviewed agree on the increasing diversity of the next generation in Quebec and Canada — notably because champions from increasingly varied origins are experiencing success on the circuit.
“You see it here: the best players, apart from perhaps Eugenie Bouchard, are people from a cultural mix,” observes Doroteja Eric, coach at the Sam Aliassime Academy. “There is Bianca Andreescu, Leylah Annie Fernandez, Milos Raonic, Denis Shapovalov, Félix, of course…”
It’s starting to change, because the kids see that other people like them have succeeded and believe that they can succeed in tennis too.
Their widely publicized career contributes to the growth of sport among members of cultural minorities, believes the former player of Serbian origin who has been living in Quebec for eight years. “It’s starting to change, because the kids see that other people like them have succeeded and believe that they can succeed in tennis too. More and more, tennis attracts children from different social classes, from different countries, from different cultures. »
Growing all over the planet
100 meters from the grounds where Duty talks with the coach a junior J100 tournament takes place which proves at a glance the diversity that M talks aboutme Eric. The names of the athletes alone reflect the growing internationalization of tennis: a Patry and a Généreux slip into a table dominated by Merhabani, Qin, Jiang, Ahmad and Rakotonavahy.
“Tennis is becoming more and more popular globally, and countries are investing a lot in the sport. In Africa and Latin America, there are more and more tournaments. It’s really, really not comparable to what was there 10 or 15 years ago,” notes Doroteja Eric.
In 2020, more than 38% of the world’s tennis fans (or around 33 million out of 87 million) were in Asia, according to the most recent report from the International Tennis Federation (ITF). A craze which can be explained, according to the coach, by the triumph of the Chinese player Li Na at Roland Garros in 2011. “Before, in China, no one played tennis,” remembers Doroteja. Now it’s very different: six Chinese women appear in the top-100 world, and it is this country which won Olympic gold in women’s tennis this summer in Paris. »
A popularity attributable, according to Doroteja Eric, to the accessibility of tennis – the ITF had 115,000 tennis clubs and 578,000 courts on the planet in 2020. But also, and above all, thanks to “successful athletes, who share their story, which motivate children and which say: “Yes, we must dream. Yes, it is possible to do it.” »
The influence of Félix Auger-Aliassime in this regard is undeniable, according to Martin Gariépy, of Tennis Québec. “He was the spokesperson for our school tour about ten years ago,” he explains. Young people see it, associate with it and see that it is possible. It helps a lot, that’s for sure. »
Filled with pride, his father agrees. “Félix changed the history of tennis in Quebec,” underlines Sam Aliassime. He lifted the Davis Cup — a first in Canada in 120 years. And, most importantly, he made a difference in people’s lives. »
History proves him right. Near a tennis court, to this day no one has confused Félix Auger-Aliassime with the concierge…