Althea Gibson
Althea Gibson was the first Black player to win the French Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open singles championships.
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On July 6, 1957, Althea Gibson claimed the women’s singles tennis title at Wimbledon and became the first African American to win a championship at London’s All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club.
Althea Gibson broke the color barrier in tennis and dominated the sport in the late 1950s. She was the first Black player to win the French Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open singles championships.
In 1957 she was voted Female Athlete of the Year by the Associated Press, becoming the first African American to receive the honor, which she also won the following year.
There we all hard word achievements and she said once “no matter what accomplishment you make, somebody helped you”
Since there were few tennis tournaments and prizes for women, she took up professional golf and became the first African American member of the Ladies Professional Golf Association.
Her autobiography was entitled I Always Wanted to Be Somebody. In 1971 she was elected to the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
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