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Sporting Shorts – Brief Biographies of the Legendary Ladies in Sport. 1 Althea Gibson: Tennis

© Katie Anne Gustafsson

On September 28th 2003 the tennis world lost one of its pioneers, Althea Gibson.

Women's tennis was established long before Althea Gibson brought her sparkle onto the court. However, as this was in the 1940s and 50s, Althea, being African American had to overcome racial prejudice and the system that supported it, to fight for her right to play in the big tournaments.

Born August 25th, 1927 in Silver, South Carolina, Althea's family soon moved to the Harlem District of New York City. She wasn't academically minded, and would often face the wrath of her father by cutting school. She did excel on the sports field however, first in basketball, then paddle tennis, until one day someone presented her with a tennis racket and the seeds of a champion were planted.

Having won tournaments for the American Tennis Association, she moved back to the South in 1946 under the guidance of two Drs who also played tennis. She would stay with Dr. Hubert Eaton in North Carolina during the school year, and with Dr Robert W. Johnson during the summer. Both of these families not only provided tennis tuition, they also encouraged her back into education. She would eventually graduate from Florida A&M University in 1953.

Although Althea was leading the field in the African American Tennis field, she wanted to move into the bigger tournaments, but the segregation issues of the time meant that she was ineligible to play. In 1950 she approached the authorities requesting that she be allowed to play in the US Nationals, and after Alice Marble - another successful tennis player of the era, and 4-time winner of the tournament - stepped in and commented in favour of allowing Althea entry, she was invited to take part. This was a victory for African American tennis players. It was only a tiny foothold, but it was enough to allow Althea's talent to open the doors to other big league tournaments.

Over the next few years she would go on to win championships in France, Australia, Italy, etc. The jewel in her professional crown would come in 1957 and 1958 when she took the trophies at both Wimbledon, England and the US Championship. In women's doubles, she completed a consecutive hat-trick of 3 wins! In both 1957 and 1958 she was voted Female Athlete of the year by the Associated Press. In total she would win 11 major titles in singles and doubles tennis. Despite these honours, she was still fighting the segregation issues, and often hotels would refuse to reserve a room for her.