Jessie Owens stunned Hitler in Germany in the 1936 Olympics, and Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in baseball in 1947, so you might have thought it would have been a man to break through that same barrier in tennis.
You’d be wrong:
Trailblazing athlete Althea Gibson became the first great African American player in women’s tennis. Raised primarily in Harlem section of New York City, she won a string of American Tennis Association titles on the African American circuit.
After being allowed entry to the major tournaments, she became the first Black player to win Wimbledon and the French and U.S. Open titles. Gibson turned professional in 1959, and made more history by becoming the first African American competitor on the women’s pro golf tour in the 1960s. She was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1971, and later served as Commissioner of Athletics for the state of New Jersey.
Wow. What a champion.
Open thread…
