‘Leaders’ Ons Jabeur, Coco Gauff and Naomi Osaka lauded for ‘making a noise’
Tennis doyenne Judy Murray has heaped praise on Ons Jabeur, Coco Gauff and Naomi Osaka for “using their voices” to help effect change not only in tennis, but in society in general.
Women’s tennis players have always been at the forefront when it comes to fighting for change with the great Billie Jean King leading the way in the 70s and 80s in terms of gender equality and social justice.
The legendary King was one of the first public figures to push for parity for women, not just in terms of equal pay, but various other aspects on and off the tennis court.
The current generation of tennis stars has taken over the mantle from the American with Jabeur being proactive when it comes to giving women from Africa and the Arab world a voice in tennis.
Meanwhile, rising stars Gauff and Osaka have not shied away from making their voices heard when it comes to the Black Lives Matter movement or calls for improvement in terms of mental health.
Murray, who coached her Grand Slam-winning sons Andy and Jamie early in their careers, urged players to “speak up” about important matters during TNT Sports and discovery+’s “A Seat At The Table” roundtable discussion to mark Black History Month.
Speaking of Jabeur, Murray said: “There’s your role model. For that area, for her country in particular, for me all major change has to come from the top. It has to come from the leader.
“If I look at Tunisia, immediately when Ons Jabeur starts to come through there are enormous initiatives to get more young girls, particularly playing tennis, but to open the sport up to many more people, and also to bring in WTA events and ATP events.
“Somebody has got to make that happen. Somebody has got to sense the opportunity and make it happen.”
Murray added: “If I look at Coco and Naomi Osaka, they’re both young women who’ve spoken out and used their voices really well, whether it’s Black Lives Matter, whether it’s mental health, pressures of being in the public eye and so forth.
“I think that’s one of the things that we have to do on the female side, is to encourage women and girls to speak up, because you wouldn’t get any change if you don’t talk about it.
“I remember Billie Jean King saying to me, ‘if you don’t make a noise, nobody will hear you’. And still she’s always doing things. She’s made a lot of noise over the years.
“I think if the right people use their positions to make great things happen, people will follow because people follow a leader before they follow a vision, so you need strong people.”
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