Althea Gibson
Althea Gibson 1927 - 2003
“I always wanted to be somebody. If I made it, it’s half because I was game enough to take a lot of punishment along the way and half because there were a lot of people who cared enough to help me.” – Althea Gibson
Althea Gibson was more than just "somebody," and she didn't just cross over the color line in international tennis, she broke through and devastated the sport's elite players. Gibson won and kept on winning. In 1950, Gibson became the first Black tennis player to compete in the U.S. National Championships. Her debut on one of the sport's highest stages was extraordinary. She defeated her opponent Barbara Knapp in straight sets (6-2, 6-2) in the first round. By winning the French Championships in 1956, Gibson became the first Black player to win a grand slam tournament.
Gibson proved that the historic French Championships tournament run was no fluke. She followed it up by winning the Wimbledon and U.S. Nationals the following year and then won those two tournaments again in 1958. Gibson's dominance in 1957 and 1958 earned her the title Female Athlete of the Year, as voted by the Associated Press.
New York Journal-American sportswriter David Eisenberg described Gibson's second-round match in her first U.S. Nationals tournament where she faced Louise Brough, the defending Wimbledon champion:
“In her match against Brough, Gibson was jittery and nervous, dropping the first set 6-1. She found her stroke and her power in the second set and tied the match with a 6-3 win. In the third set, Gibson broke Brough three times to take a 7-6 lead when torrential rain and a massive thunder and lightning storm rolled in, postponing the match until the following day. When it was resumed, Brough won the next three games for a 9-7 third-set victory.”
Gipson’s Grand Slam Championship Titles:
• French Open Singles – 1956
• French Open Doubles – 1956
• Wimbledon Doubles – 1956
• Australian Open Doubles – 1957
• U.S. Open Singles – 1957
• Wimbledon Singles – 1957
• Wimbledon Doubles – 1957
• U.S. Open Mixed Doubles – 1957
• U.S. Open Singles – 1958
• Wimbledon Singles – 1958
• Wimbledon Doubles – 1958
Outside of these 11 grand slam championships titles, Gibson reached the finals on eight other occasions. Deservedly and expectedly, Gibson was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s Class of 1971.
