Clervie Ngounoue named Rising Star at 2025 Tennis Black List Awards
The Rising Star award aims to promote and display emerging player talent in the UK and internationally for players up to 21 years old, and Ngounoue was one of two names to receive the award, alongside Kenyan Angella Okutoyi, at this year's Tennis Black Awards, presented in association with Dante Talent and held during the HSBC Championships at The Queen's Club, London on the 11th of June, supported by the LTA.
'I'm so honoured to receive a prestigious award like this one alongside such inspiring and impactful individuals,' said Ngounoue.
'As an African American female athlete, it's so important to me that we continue to celebrate initiatives like this one that have such an impact on so many people by breaking down barriers in sports.'
Tennis Black List is the global celebration of Black and mixed black excellence across the game — spotlighting the unsung, the visionary and the next generation of changemakers.
Taking place in the run up to The Championships at Wimbledon, the Tennis Black List recognises the contributions of individuals and organisations from grassroots level up to the professional game in Britain and internationally.
It follows the example set by the successful and respected Football Black List, created by Leon Mann MBE and Rodney Hinds, and Rugby Black List which have demonstrated the power that celebrating black excellence can achieve in sport.
The event was an opportunity to inspire the next generation in the tennis community, with the commitment shown by the winners on and off the court.
Awards were handed out in ten categories across the evening at the ceremony, with several recipients present at the The Queen's Club.
Ngounoue added: 'A heartfelt thank you to the Tennis Black List founders Richard and Anne-Marie for this initiative in particular.
I'm so grateful that you guys continue to uplift and celebrate excellence in black and mixed black communities in tennis both on and off the court.'
Founders Anne-Marie Batson and Richard Sackey Addo said: 'This movement is about legacy. Tennis Black List is creating space for Black and mixed-black heritage excellence to be seen, honoured and remembered across all areas of tennis. We are building a global legacy that makes space for what is next.'
Launched in 2022; Tennis Black List is the only global platform dedicated to celebrating and documenting Black and mixed-black impact in tennis — from grassroots organisers to elite players. A movement rooted in recognition, legacy, and cultural celebration.
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The Guardian
7 hours ago
- The Guardian
‘People see themselves in me': Frances Tiafoe on being a tennis trailbazer in a mainly white sport
Frances Tiafoe is in his element when he talks passionately about the growing presence of black and mixed heritage players at the highest levels of men's tennis. During a stroll on tournament grounds he reels off the names of players he competes with regularly on the tour. 'Now they're at a position where I have wars with them and go back and forth. So this is great, man. It's great to see,' he says. 'And then you have Giovanni [Mpetshi Perricard], you have Gaël [Monfils], who I looked up to.' Seconds after Tiafoe mentions his name, Monfils suddenly appears from around a corner as if magically summoned by the American's utterance. His arrival naturally leads to a pause in this interview as an excited Tiafoe greets Monfils by heaping praise on his new haircut, particularly focusing his attention on the Frenchman's sleek fade. Monfils responds with a compliment of his own: 'You're looking like a wedding day,' he says, laughing. This encounter perfectly encapsulates the dynamic between two different generations of black players in a sport where their success immediately marks them as trailblazers. Although they step on to the court with the sole intention of beating each other, there is also a deep understanding between them and they are extremely supportive. 'He texts me all the time,' says Tiafoe. 'He tells me, like: 'Yo, you can do this.' Don't get it twisted, when he plays he still wants to beat my ass and so do I, but it's just a lot of love.' Tiafoe, at No 14 in the rankings is the third-highest ranked US man behind Taylor Fritz, the world No 4, and Ben Shelton, who won the Toronto Masters 1000 on Thursday night, but in terms of name recognition the 27-year-old has become the most prominent US male tennis player in years. His matches attract NBA stars like Kevin Durant, he breaks bread with Taylor Swift and has earned a fan in Michelle Obama. In recent weeks Tiafoe has been name-dropped in songs from the rap duo Clipse and the rapper Wale. 'I still think he's the player on tour with the most clout, like every celebrity knows him, or he knows every celebrity. He's mentioned in two rap songs, so he's pretty iconic,' says Coco Gauff, laughing. Tiafoe, for his part, believes his burgeoning profile underlines the importance of tennis reaching beyond its traditional audience: 'Just to be able to be in a position where I get crossover, people want to be a part of things I'm doing in a predominantly white sport. They see themselves in me, in the sport, and they want to get behind me. Hopefully I'm able to get that done,' he says. There is also simply nobody like Tiafoe. His extroverted character and bluntness can be abrasive to some spectators, but he is kind, warm and has time for everyone. Laughter is never far from his lips, which makes his energy infectious. He has also deliberately made a point of using his platform to promote female athletes. When he is not playing, he is often at WNBA games and he wears player jerseys throughout the tennis season during practice. He is friends with many female basketball players. 'I think [female athletes] just need to get their flowers,' says Tiafoe. 'They put in the work, just like we do. They just need to be getting their love, their notoriety, their compensation. Let them smell their flowers. That's kind of what it is. And I think more women should support women, to be honest with you, because it's a beautiful thing. It's not just me showing up and supporting it. It's me showing up and watching a good product.' In addition to his support for women's sport, Tiafoe has also actively tried to help certain female tennis players follow in his path. His success has paved the way for others at the Junior Tennis Champions Center (JTCC), his childhood tennis club near Washington DC, particularly the WTA players Hailey Baptiste and Robin Montgomery. This year, while also working with Franklin Tiafoe, Frances's twin brother, Baptiste has enjoyed a breakout season, reaching the top 50. Both players cite Tiafoe as a mentor they have constantly sought advice from and he has tried to be on hand to help them in any way he can. He takes great pride in their success. 'I'm still young – I've still got a lot more to achieve. I still haven't scratched the surface of my career. But with them, I've already won in so many ways,' says Tiafoe. 'So it's kind of how you look at the glass, but it's amazing to be in that seat. It's a blessing.' Sign up to The Recap The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend's action after newsletter promotion During tournaments, Tiafoe can sometimes be found training with other female players, which is still an unusual sight. He describes Jessica Pegula as his favourite training partner on the WTA: 'She hits the ball so pure and right in pocket every time,' he says. 'She's pretty relaxed as well. But she doesn't want to hit with me any more. She's made some finals now in some slams, 1000s, and she doesn't want to talk to me as much any more. She got too big time for me. She forgot about the little people.' Such is his jovial nature, Tiafoe is often the butt of jokes among his friends on the tour. They tease him for his questionable organisational skills, his lack of punctuality and his general unseriousness. His driving has also come under fire. Offered a platform to defend himself against his friends' scorn, Tiafoe smiles. 'I just recently got my license, so I was definitely shaky in the early days, probably when they were saying it,' says Tiafoe. 'But I'm definitely nice [at driving]. I'm definitely [Lewis] Hamilton 2.0 behind the wheel so I don't worry too much about it.' The story of Tiafoe's past has already been told countless times, but it can never be repeated enough. The son of Sierra Leonean parents who immigrated to the United States, Tiafoe spent much of his formative years at the JTCC, where his father worked as a janitor. He has defied almost impossible odds to establish himself as one of the best tennis players in the world. After reaching his second grand slam semi-final at the US Open last year, when he lost to Fritz in five sets in heartbreaking fashion, this year Tiafoe will attempt to rediscover the magic on courts that have regularly inspired his best. Regardless of what awaits him as he enters the prime years of his career, however, it is obvious that in many ways Tiafoe has already won. 'I'd tell guys from the [club] that I'd want to be a pro,' says Tiafoe. 'They would just clown and not take it seriously. I was always like: 'Don't worry, man. I'm going to be the last person laughing.' Here we are today.'
The Guardian
14 hours ago
- The Guardian
‘People see themselves in me': Frances Tiafoe on being a tennis trailbazer in a mainly white sport
Frances Tiafoe is in his element when he talks passionately about the growing presence of black and mixed heritage players at the highest levels of men's tennis. During a stroll on tournament grounds he reels off the names of players he competes with regularly on the tour. 'Now they're at a position where I have wars with them and go back and forth. So this is great, man. It's great to see,' he says. 'And then you have Giovanni [Mpetshi Perricard], you have Gaël [Monfils], who I looked up to.' Seconds after Tiafoe mentions his name, Monfils suddenly appears from around a corner as if magically summoned by the American's utterance. His arrival naturally leads to a pause in this interview as an excited Tiafoe greets Monfils by heaping praise on his new haircut, particularly focusing his attention on the Frenchman's sleek fade. Monfils responds with a compliment of his own: 'You're looking like a wedding day,' he says, laughing. This encounter perfectly encapsulates the dynamic between two different generations of black players in a sport where their success immediately marks them as trailblazers. Although they step on to the court with the sole intention of beating each other, there is also a deep understanding between them and they are extremely supportive. 'He texts me all the time,' says Tiafoe. 'He tells me, like: 'Yo, you can do this.' Don't get it twisted, when he plays he still wants to beat my ass and so do I, but it's just a lot of love.' Tiafoe, at No 14 in the rankings is the third-highest ranked US man behind Taylor Fritz, the world No 4, and Ben Shelton, who won the Toronto Masters 1000 on Thursday night, but in terms of name recognition the 27-year-old has become the most prominent US male tennis player in years. His matches attract NBA stars like Kevin Durant, he breaks bread with Taylor Swift and has earned a fan in Michelle Obama. In recent weeks Tiafoe has been name-dropped in songs from the rap duo Clipse and the rapper Wale. 'I still think he's the player on tour with the most clout, like every celebrity knows him, or he knows every celebrity. He's mentioned in two rap songs, so he's pretty iconic,' says Coco Gauff, laughing. Tiafoe, for his part, believes his burgeoning profile underlines the importance of tennis reaching beyond its traditional audience: 'Just to be able to be in a position where I get crossover, people want to be a part of things I'm doing in a predominantly white sport. They see themselves in me, in the sport, and they want to get behind me. Hopefully I'm able to get that done,' he says. There is also simply nobody like Tiafoe. His extroverted character and bluntness can be abrasive to some spectators, but he is kind, warm and has time for everyone. Laughter is never far from his lips, which makes his energy infectious. He has also deliberately made a point of using his platform to promote female athletes. When he is not playing, he is often at WNBA games and he wears player jerseys throughout the tennis season during practice. He is friends with many female basketball players. 'I think [female athletes] just need to get their flowers,' says Tiafoe. 'They put in the work, just like we do. They just need to be getting their love, their notoriety, their compensation. Let them smell their flowers. That's kind of what it is. And I think more women should support women, to be honest with you, because it's a beautiful thing. It's not just me showing up and supporting it. It's me showing up and watching a good product.' In addition to his support for women's sport, Tiafoe has also actively tried to help certain female tennis players follow in his path. His success has paved the way for others at the Junior Tennis Champions Center (JTCC), his childhood tennis club near Washington DC, particularly the WTA players Hailey Baptiste and Robin Montgomery. This year, while also working with Franklin Tiafoe, Frances's twin brother, Baptiste has enjoyed a breakout season, reaching the top 50. Both players cite Tiafoe as a mentor they have constantly sought advice from and he has tried to be on hand to help them in any way he can. He takes great pride in their success. 'I'm still young – I've still got a lot more to achieve. I still haven't scratched the surface of my career. But with them, I've already won in so many ways,' says Tiafoe. 'So it's kind of how you look at the glass, but it's amazing to be in that seat. It's a blessing.' Sign up to The Recap The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend's action after newsletter promotion During tournaments, Tiafoe can sometimes be found training with other female players, which is still an unusual sight. He describes Jessica Pegula as his favourite training partner on the WTA: 'She hits the ball so pure and right in pocket every time,' he says. 'She's pretty relaxed as well. But she doesn't want to hit with me any more. She's made some finals now in some slams, 1000s, and she doesn't want to talk to me as much any more. She got too big time for me. She forgot about the little people.' Such is his jovial nature, Tiafoe is often the butt of jokes among his friends on the tour. They tease him for his questionable organisational skills, his lack of punctuality and his general unseriousness. His driving has also come under fire. Offered a platform to defend himself against his friends' scorn, Tiafoe smiles. 'I just recently got my license, so I was definitely shaky in the early days, probably when they were saying it,' says Tiafoe. 'But I'm definitely nice [at driving]. I'm definitely [Lewis] Hamilton 2.0 behind the wheel so I don't worry too much about it.' The story of Tiafoe's past has already been told countless times, but it can never be repeated enough. The son of Sierra Leonean parents who immigrated to the United States, Tiafoe spent much of his formative years at the JTCC, where his father worked as a janitor. He has defied almost impossible odds to establish himself as one of the best tennis players in the world. After reaching his second grand slam semi-final at the US Open last year, when he lost to Fritz in five sets in heartbreaking fashion, this year Tiafoe will attempt to rediscover the magic on courts that have regularly inspired his best. Regardless of what awaits him as he enters the prime years of his career, however, it is obvious that in many ways Tiafoe has already won. 'I'd tell guys from the [club] that I'd want to be a pro,' says Tiafoe. 'They would just clown and not take it seriously. I was always like: 'Don't worry, man. I'm going to be the last person laughing.' Here we are today.'
Telegraph
a day ago
- Telegraph
Thank goodness football has abandoned its slavish devotion to cult of Stonewall
It will never be admitted publicly, but football is finally coming to terms with the fruitlessness of gesture politics. In one fell swoop, the Football Association and the Premier League have ended their acquiescence to Stonewall, ditching the Rainbow Laces campaign, and reduced the rote enactment of taking a knee to just two rounds of fixtures over an entire season. Just five years ago, both these actions would have been unthinkable. In 2020, trumpeting of the laces was so de rigueur that the Football Association would issue a checklist to ensure blanket compliance, while kneeling was such a core element of the repertoire of piety that ' Black Lives Matter ' replaced players' names on the backs of shirts. Five years on, the pushback against such compelled speech has begun. Not that the game, addicted for so long to the cosmetic projection of its own virtue, can quite bring itself to go cold turkey just yet. The world's wealthiest league is vowing to launch an in-house inclusion campaign to coincide with LGBTQ+ History Month in February and to persevere with taking the knee on two separate occasions during Black History Month in October, in stark contrast to the Lionesses' decision to abandon the ritual altogether. That still leaves plenty of room for it to mark Pride Month, or Transgender Awareness Week, or International Transgender Day of Visibility, or any of the innumerable dates where performative shows of solidarity somehow acquire greater importance than sincere conviction. There is relief, though, in the fact that the FA and the Premier League – and even rugby's Premiership – have at last seen fit to jettison Stonewall. For far too long, football has acted meekly at Stonewall's behest, treating the charity's instruction as a form of holy order. When the FA and Stonewall forged a formal partnership in 2018, Stonewall FC, an LGBTQ+ club competing at the lowly level of Middlesex Division One, were invited to play at Wembley. From there, the governing body's status as a Stonewall 'Diversity Champion' ensured its unquestioning adherence to every aspect of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion gospel, where it felt comfortable only nine months ago to release a preachy video about the supposed power of rainbow laces. 'We've seen a real shift from it being something that football should do to being something that football has to do, and so you're getting actual business decisions being predicated on equality, diversity and inclusion,' gushed Liz Ward, a 'women's talent and senior game Equality, Diversity and Inclusion consultant coach developer' at the FA – and also, hardly without coincidence, a former officer at Stonewall. Note the use of language here: 'something that football has to do', as if the donning of some multi-coloured laces should be an article of faith, to be blindly accepted without scrutiny or dissent. Except many fans bombarded with tokenistic rainbow iconography every November feel no such thing. After the ludicrous charade last year – where football twisted itself in so many knots that Crystal Palace's Marc Guehi was admonished for writing 'I Love Jesus' on his rainbow armband, just as Ipswich's Sam Morsy used his Muslim faith as a legitimate excuse for not wearing one at all – this enforced conformity now invites derision rather than support. That is why the FA and the Premier League no longer feel the same compulsion to amplify Stonewall's messaging. Why keep parroting the diktats of an organisation that has asked for the word 'mother' to be replaced with 'parent who has given birth', at the same time as arguing that men should be allowed into women's bathrooms simply if they identify as female? For a sense of what Stonewall has become, look at its 2021 document that declares: 'Trans people should be able to choose with the facilities that align with their gender identity.' In 2025, we inhabit a greatly different world. The pernicious fallacies of radical trans ideology have been upended by the Supreme Court's ruling that the legal definition of a woman is based on biological sex, not chosen gender. And sport, just like every other sphere of society, needs to fall into line. Respecting the immutability of sex is no longer some luxury extra, but the law of the land. As such, sporting institutions are shelving their once slavish devotion to the self-ID cult to protect themselves from legal jeopardy. Look, for example, at how dramatically the FA has changed tack. In 2015, it felt able to write as official guidance: 'Trans people should have access to the toilets, showers and changing rooms of their self-identified gender. It is good practice to ask a trans person what would work best to accommodate their preferred option.' A decade on, it opted, mercifully, to uphold the rights of half the population above the wishes of a tiny minority, banning biological men from playing women's football at every level of the game. It is in a similar vein that the separation from Stonewall has happened. It is not so much the rainbow laces that are the problem, but more the extreme belief systems of the people fronting the campaign. You cannot seriously claim to be inclusive while supporting those who think nothing of excluding women from their own sporting category. A similar naivete has been evident throughout football's agonising over taking the knee. What it believed was a straightforward anti-racism gesture turned instead into a tacit endorsement of the BLM fanatics who advocated defunding the police and dismantling the nuclear family. As the game starts to correct course, it would do well to learn a salutary lesson: be careful of the company you keep.
