ZIMBABWE tennis legend Cara Black was yesterday declared the winner of the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s Class of 2022 Fan Vote taking one step towards being inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame.
In the final fan vote count, Black came first while Italian Flavia Pennetta and Ana Ivanovic from Serbia came in second and third, respectively.
The other three legends who were also in the running but were swept by the wayside in the fan vote are Spaniards Carlos Moya and Juan Carlos Ferrero. They both won Roland Garros and became World number one in 1998 and 2003 respectively.
Former doubles world number one and six-time doubles grand slam winner an American, Lisa Raymond, was part of the six shortlisted candidates for the fan vote.
The Tennis Hall of Fame was created to preserve tennis history and share the stories of its great champions to inspire future tennis players.
Black becomes the first Zimbabwean and the first African-born woman to be nominated for the International Tennis Hall of Fame by winning the fan vote. To date, there is just one other Player Category inductee from the African continent in the Hall of Fame – Frew McMillan of South Africa, a five-time major champion in doubles.
Cara, born and raised in Harare, comes from a family with a strong tennis tradition, with her older siblings, Byron and Wayne, having competed on the tennis circuit with her for over a decade.
They horned their skills at the grass courts of their Mandara home in Harare. Their father, the late Don, was their first coach and their mother, Velia, was equally supportive.
Cara has earned her place at the table of legends after a glittering career that saw her win 60 doubles titles, won six grand slam times in seven years and was Doubles World Champion for 163 weeks.
She won five mixed doubles grand slam titles; one of them was with her brother, Wayne.
Only the Roland Garros grand slam title has eluded her in the doubles, having won three titles at Wimbledon and trophies at the Australian Open and the US Open.
Cara also won five mixed doubles notable titles and is one of three women in tennis history (Open Era, since 1968) to have achieved a career in Grand Slam in mixed doubles.
The ITHF Player Voting Group, comprised of approximately 140 tennis journalists, historians, and Hall of Famers, will next month submit their vote.
For Cara to become the 263rd tennis great and Zimbabwe, become the 28 nation to have a tennis hall Famer. She will have to garner 75 per cent or higher of votes cast. Instead, in her case, she needs 72 per cent from the voting to add to her three per cent from the fan vote to join legends like Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert, Pete Sampras, Björn Borg, Kim Clijsters, and Martina Hingis, among others.
Being voted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame is the ultimate honour for a tennis player. It represents the sum of their career achievements as being among the greatest in tennis history.
She was speaking to the media after being announced as the winner of the fan vote. Black thanked all the fans but made a special mention of the Zimbabweans who voted for her.
“I’m incredibly humbled, honoured, and appreciative for the support I’ve received in the Fan Vote. It’s amazing to receive this feedback from tennis fans right around the world, and I’m particularly grateful for the support I’ve felt from Zimbabwe,” she said.
“Being considered for the International Tennis Hall of Fame is not something you ever think about when you are competing. But to look back now and to know that what I accomplished in my career is now being acknowledged in this way, it’s just an amazing honor.”
The fans have spoken, now it is up to the voting group to elect Black into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
