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Where's All The Latino Tennis Players?

Where's All The Latino Tennis Players?
Roque Planas
By 

National Reporter, HuffPost

5 Sep 1999: Mary Jo Fernandez of the USA returns the ball during a match in US Open at the USTA National Tennis Courts in Flushing Meadows, New York. Mandatory Credit: Jamie Squire /Allsport
5 Sep 1999: Mary Jo Fernandez of the USA returns the ball during a match in US Open at the USTA National Tennis Courts in Flushing Meadows, New York. Mandatory Credit: Jamie Squire /Allsport

Rafael Nadal is one of the most revered athletes in the world, and his recent U.S. Open victory was celebrated by Spanish-speaking fans from Spain to Argentina to Colombia to Chile to Miami. Tens of thousands of Hispanic fans show up in Key Biscayne every March for the Sony Open.

Nevertheless, Hispanic-American tennis players are virtually nonexistent on the professional tours. Not since the days of Mary Joe Fernandez, born in Dominican Republic and raised in Miami, has there been a prominent Hispanic player in this country. In fact, Fernandez, now an ESPN commentator, was the only recognizable Hispanic-American tennis figure at the recent U.S. Open.

Read more on The Miami Herald

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53 Million

Census: Latinos By The Numbers

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