It seems inevitable now, but it was not. Venus, out front, alone, was followed by Serena, and behind her Sloane Stephens, Madison Keys, Taylor Townsend, Naomi Osaka and Coco Gauff. Venus was the lead rider breaking the headwinds in the peloton, the rabbit pulling the runners behind her to world-record pace. Venus allowed young women, “African-American women especially, to feel there’s a pathway for them to the top of the tennis world,” Pam Shriver, who won 22 Grand Slam doubles titles between 1981 and 1991, told me.
