Rising star, Asia Muhammad

It's hard to look past the history of Venus and Serena Williams, that sense that 'if they can do it, I can do it,'" USTA executive Patrick McEnroe said, explaining the surge of young blacks into a game that was once the almost exclusive domain of whites.

"I don't know whether it's coaches or neighborhood programs that is getting all these kids involved, and it really doesn't matter. Let's just get them out there as much as we can. This is a game that all kids can succeed at. Why not African-Americans?"

Certainly, the Williams sisters are a prime reason for the influx. So is James Blake, the Harvard-educated top-10 star and highest-ranked black American man since Arthur Ashe.

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And, of course, there is Ashe himself, who died in 1993 but who probably inspired young black adults, once they began families, to get their children into tennis.

Since Ashe, and Althea Gibson before him, there has been a slow trickle of black tennis professionals, but never in the numbers there are today.

Among the best prospects:

Madison Keys

Boca Raton

She turned 13 in February, having won both the Eddie Herr and Orange Bowl 12s championships in December. She trains with the USTA at its development center in Boca. For many, she's the No. 1 American prospect among junior girls.

Sachia Vickery

Miramar

She just turned 13 and in late April won the Gator Bowl 16s, playing "up" two age groups to beat Duval in the final. Also in April, she won the Easter Bowl 14s. She's probably not going to be physically imposing, but she's an extraordinary athlete and very quick.

Victoria Duval

Delray Beach

She won't be 13 until November and she will be physically imposing. She won the Copper Bowl 14s in Tucson in January and the Winter Nationals 12s in December.

Sloane Stephens

Boca Raton

Comes from a very athletic family. Her mother was a 1988 All-American swimmer at Boston University and her father is former New England Patriots running back John Stephens, a first-round draft pick in 1988. Last year she led her U.S. 14s team to a world championship in the Czech Republic. She was promising enough to be a wild card in March at the Sony Ericsson Open qualifying tournament.

A year ago, there wasn't a U.S. women's prospect who could be forecast to step into the void that will be left when the Williams sisters and Lindsay Davenport retire. Suddenly, there's a glut.

There aren't nearly as many male junior prospects, but there is Donald Young, the No. 1 junior in the world. While he no longer plays junior tennis and is at a career-best No. 73 on the ATP tour, he's still 18 and the vanguard of the expansion of black U.S. juniors.

There's a drop-off after Young, though Jenkins, who trains with the USTA at Boca, and Phillips, of Macon, Ga., probably will have pro careers and, because male pros develop later than females, they're more or less on schedule. Both are 17. Phillips won the Gator Bowl 18s in April and Jenkins is just now testing the waters against pros ranked in the 700s