Five instances when racism marred the game of tennis
4) Lleyton Hewitt against James Blake
At the US Open in 2001, Lleyton Hewitt, who is notorious for being outspoken crossed a line when he pulled out the race card, insinuating the linesman was favouring American James Blake because they were both black. Hewitt denied that he had made a “racial remark” and insisted that he was “not racial”. Blake, former world number 4 player, dismissed foul play, but it became one of the most talked about “racial” moments in tennis. A simple incident of a player slandering another is a sad reminder of the situation of antipathy and hatred.
The story does not end here for James Blake who also faced another racist assault when he was viciously attacked by a plainclothes New York police officer outside of the Grand Hyatt Hotel in a case of so-called mistaken identity. Police Commissioner William Bratton stated that the person that Blake resembled could have been his “twin,” a reminder of the racist cliché that all Black people look alike.
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