Althea Gibson

Althea Gibson

Country (sports)	United States
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Singles
Career record	0–0
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	F (1957)
French Open	W (1956)
Wimbledon	W (1957, 1958)
US Open	W (1957, 1958)
Doubles
Career record	0–0
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	W (1957)
French Open	W (1956)
Wimbledon	W (1956, 1957, 1958)
US Open	W (1957)

Althea Gibson (August 25, 1927 – September 28, 2003) was a former World No. 1 American sportswoman who became the first African-American woman to be a competitor on the world tennis tour and the first to win a Grand Slam title in 1956. She is sometimes referred to as "the Jackie Robinson of tennis" for breaking the "color barrier." Gibson was a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.

Biography

Born in Silver, South Carolina, Gibson was the daughter of sharecroppers and was raised in Harlem, New York City. She and her family were on welfare. Gibson had trouble in school. She ran away from home quite frequently. She excelled in horsemanship but also competed in golf, basketball, and table tennis. Her talent for and love of table tennis led her to win tournaments sponsored by the Police Athletic League and the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. Musician Buddy Walker noticed her playing table tennis and introduced her to tennis at the Harlem River Tennis Courts. Dr. Walter Johnson, a Lynchburg, Virginia, physician who was active in the black tennis community, helped with her training.

With the assistance of a sponsor, Gibson moved to Wilmington, North Carolina in 1946 for tennis training, and in 1947 at the age of 20, she won the first of 10 consecutive national championships run by the American Tennis Association, then-governing body for black tournaments. Forced to play in what was basically a segregated sport, at age 23 Gibson was finally given the opportunity to participate in the 1950 U.S. Championships after Alice Marble had written an editorial for the July 1, 1950, edition of American Lawn Tennis Magazine. Gibson continued to improve her tennis game while pursuing an education. In 1953, she graduated from Florida A&M University on a tennis and basketball scholarship and moved to Jefferson City, Missouri to work as an athletic instructor at Lincoln University.

A wall-mounted quote by Althea Gibson in The American Adventure in the World Showcase pavilion of Walt Disney World's Epcot.

Gibson was now able to compete against the best players from around the world because the color barrier had been broken. Gibson's game improved to where she won the 1955 Italian Championships. The following year, she won her first Grand Slam titles, capturing the French Championships in singles and in doubles with her partner, Jewish Englishwoman Angela Buxton. Buxton had run into discrimination from other players and the tennis establishment along the same lines as those experienced by Gibson, so the two joined forces and achieved great success. Buxton was the first Jewish champion at Wimbledon, and Gibson was the first champion of African descent. An English newspaper reported their victory at Wimbledon under the headline "Minorities Win."

She followed up by becoming the first black person to win a title at Wimbledon, again capturing the doubles title with Buxton. At the U.S. Championships that year, she reached the singles final where she lost to Shirley Fry Irvin.

In 1957, Gibson lost in the singles final of the Australian Championships, again to Irvin. The two women, however, teamed to capture the doubles title, as Buxton had retired prematurely at the age of 22 due to a serious hand injury.

At Wimbledon, Gibson won her first of two consecutive singles championships and, upon returning to the United States, was given a ticker-tape parade in New York City and an official welcome at New York City Hall. She responded by winning the U.S. Championships. For her accomplishments that year, Gibson earned the No. 1 ranking in the world and was named the Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year.

In 1958, after successfully defending her Wimbledon singles title and winning her third consecutive Wimbledon women's doubles title, Gibson again won the singles title at the U.S. Championships. She was named the Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year for the second consecutive year. That year, Gibson retired from amateur tennis. Before the open era began, there was no prize money, other than an expense allowance, and no endorsement deals. To begin earning prize money, tennis players had to give up their amateur status. As there was no professional tour for women, Gibson was limited to playing in a series of exhibition tours.

According to Lance Tingay of The Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail, Gibson was ranked in the world top ten from 1956 through 1958, reaching a career high of World No. 1 in those rankings in 1957 and 1958. Gibson was included in the year-end top ten rankings issued by the United States Tennis Association in 1952 and 1953 and from 1955 through 1958. She was the top ranked U.S. player in 1957 and 1958. In 1958, she appeared as the celebrity challenger on the TV panel show "What's My Line?".

In retirement, Gibson wrote her autobiography and in 1959 recorded an album, Althea Gibson Sings, as well as appearing in the motion picture, The Horse Soldiers. In 1964, she became the first African-American woman to play in the Ladies Professional Golf Association. However, she was too old to be successful and only played for a few years.

In 1971, Gibson was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame, and in 1975, she was appointed the New Jersey state commissioner of athletics. After 10 years on the job, she went on to work in other public service positions, including serving on the governor's council on physical fitness. In later years, she suffered two cerebral aneurysms and a stroke.

Tennis players made no money in the 1950s, and Gibson’s finances worsened over the years. In 1992, she suffered a stroke. A few years later, Gibson called Buxton and told her she was on the brink of suicide. Gibson was living on welfare and unable to pay for rent or medication. Buxton arranged for a letter to appear in a tennis magazine. Buxton told Gibson nothing about the letter, but Gibson figured it out when her mailbox started to bulge with envelopes full of checks from around the world. In total, nearly US$1 million came in.

In 2003, at the age of 76, Gibson died in East Orange, New Jersey due to respiratory failure and was interred there in the Rosedale Cemetery.

On the opening night of the 2007 US Open, the 50th anniversary of Gibson's victory at the U.S. Championships in 1957 (now the US Open), Gibson was inducted into US Open Court of Champions. She is a 2009 inductee of the New Jersey Hall of Fame.

Golf

Gibson became the first African American woman to join the Ladies Professional Golf Association tour. She joined the tour in 1963. Her best finish on the tour was a tie for second after a three-way playoff at the 1970 Lem Immke Buick Open. Gibson retired from professional golf at the end of the 1978 season.

Grand Slam finals

Singles (7)

Wins (5)

Year	Championship	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1956	French Championships	Angela Mortimer Barrett	6–0, 12–10
1957	Wimbledon	Darlene Hard	6–3, 6–2
1957	U.S. Championships	Louise Brough Clapp	6–3, 6–2
1958	Wimbledon (2)	Angela Mortimer Barrett	8–6, 6–2
1958	U.S. Championships (2)	Darlene Hard	3–6, 6–1, 6–2

Runner-ups (2)

Year	Championship	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1956	U.S. Championships	Shirley Fry Irvin	6–3, 6–4
1957	Australian Championships	Shirley Fry Irvin	6–3, 6–4

Women's doubles (11)

Wins (6)

Year	Championship	Event	Partner	Opponents in Final	Score in Final
1956	French Championships	Women's doubles	Angela Buxton	Darlene Hard Dorothy Head Node	6–8, 8–6, 6–1
1956	Wimbledon	Women's doubles	Angela Buxton	Fay Muller Daphne Seeney	6–1, 8–6
1957	Australian Championships	Women's doubles	Shirley Fry Irvin	Mary Bevis Hawton Fay Muller	6–2, 6–1
1957	Wimbledon (2)	Women's doubles	Darlene Hard	Mary Bevis Hawton Thelma Coyne Long	6–1, 6–2
1957	U.S. Championships	Mixed doubles	Kurt Nielsen	Darlene Hard Bob Howe	6–3, 9–7
1958	Wimbledon (3)	Women's doubles	Maria Bueno	Margaret Osborne duPont Margaret Varner Bloss	6–3, 7–5

Runner-ups (5)

Year	Championship	Event	Partner	Opponents in Final	Score in Final
1956	Wimbledon	Mixed doubles	Gardnar Mulloy	Shirley Fry Irvin Vic Seixas	2–6, 6–2, 7–5
1957	Wimbledon	Mixed doubles	Neil Fraser	Darlene Hard Mervyn Rose	6–4, 7–5
1957	U.S. Championships	Women's doubles	Darlene Hard	Louise Brough Clapp Margaret Osborne duPont	6–2, 7–5
1958	Wimbledon	Mixed doubles	Kurt Nielsen	Lorraine Coghlan Green Bob Howe	6–3, 13–11
1958	U.S. Championships	Women's doubles	Maria Bueno	Darlene Hard Jeanne Arth	2–6, 6–3, 6–4

Grand Slam singles tournament timeline

Tournament	1950	1951	1952	1953	1954	1955	1956	1957	1958	Career SR
Australia	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	F	A	0 / 1
France	A	A	A	A	A	A	W	A	A	1 / 1
Wimbledon	A	3R	A	A	A	A	QF	W	W	2 / 4
United States	2R	3R	3R	QF	1R	3R	F	W	W	2 / 9
SR	0 / 1	0 / 2	0 / 1	0 / 1	0 / 1	0 / 1	1 / 3	2 / 3	2 / 2	5 / 15

A = did not participate in the tournament

SR = the ratio of the number of Grand Slam singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played

See also

• Althea Gibson Foundation
• List of African American firsts
• Performance timelines for all female tennis players who reached at least one Grand Slam final

External links

• Althea Gibson.com
• International Tennis Hall of Fame profile
• Sports Illustrated obituary
• United States Tennis Association
• Hickoksports.com (a short biography)
• Althea Gibson - Womens History.about.com
• Althea Gibson Biography
• Althea Gibson Biography (Short)
• WTA Tour
• U.S. Open mixed doubles page
• Wimbledon women's doubles page
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