Born in 1927, the year after the historic "Match of the Century " featured in our previous two articles between the divine Suzanne Lenglen and the poker-faced Helen Wills, Althea Gibson is another of our Queens of the Court.
In 1956 Althea Gibson made history by becoming the first person of African descent, of any nationality, to win a tennis major (the French).
Ironically, Althea Gibson became the first woman to not only achieve major success in the world of professional tennis, but also to compete after leaving tennis as a professional golfer.
But her career in tennis was a tough row to hoe.
Unlike Suzanne Lenglen or Helen Wills, who both played their first tournaments as teenagers, and so began amassing statistics, Althea Gibson did not enter the world "tour" of tennis until the age of 23. Why?
As an African-American woman from Harlem, New York, Althea Gibson was not allowed to play the majors until in the fall of 1950, when she was allowed to enter the U.S. National Championships (later to become the U.S. Open), then played at Forest Hills.
After a half-decade spent playing in a Negro tennis league known as the American Tennis Association, adjusting to the more rigorous world of then current world-ranking players was a challenge.
In this, her first tournament in the majors, Gibson completed her first round in straight sets. But her second round match on the grass of Forest Hills would be against Louise Brough, who had won the previous three Wimbledons.
After being routed 6-1 in the first set, Gibson recovered to win the second set 6-3 and led 7-6 in the third when a thunderstorm struck, halting the match. When it resumed the next day, Gibson dropped three straight games to lose the match.
A tough debut, but Gibson continued to grow her game. By 1952, Gibson was the ninth ranked American woman on the tour, and by 1956, she was among the top five in the world.
Poverty as a Germinator
Over the history of tennis in general, boys and girls of modest means succeed, but none come from poverty.
In the 1920s and 1930s, tennis in Europe was played in elite tennis clubs by the upper classes. Von Cramm was a true aristocrat, from a titled family. Fred Perry’s father was a member of the British House of Commons, and Suzanne Lenglen’s father owned a large carriage company.
Don Budge, who in contemporary terms we might call a "surfer dude" learned to play tennis in Oakland California on public courts, and came from a family of modest means.
Helen Wills was from Fremont California, which at the time was a sleepy farming community. Bill Tilden was from a wealthy family in Philadelphia.
In 1927, when Althea Gibson was born, Harlem was in the midst of what would come to be called The Harlem Renaissance. That ended with the great crash of 1929, but Harlem nonetheless, while harboring great poverty, would play host to a bohemian society.
The likes of Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes, and Duke Ellington would continue to create great works of art well into the 1940s. In such an artsy, open environment, it is not inconceivable that tennis would be followed, and supported, by the African-American community of Harlem.
Althea Gibson’s family is reported to have been on public assistance, and she is reported to have been a runaway, and truant in her early years. But she excelled at sports, including basketball, horsemanship, golf, and table tennis.
At the age of 14 (when Suzanne Lenglen, Tracy Austin, Martina Hingis, and others started playing major tournaments), young Althea was introduced to tennis by a local Harlem musician and tennis fan named Buddy Walker.
Racism
As an amateur on the world tennis tour, Gibson remained unwelcome at some clubs where tournaments were held. Even while winning tournaments she was denied rooms at hotels. One refused to book reservations for a luncheon in her honor.
Zena Garrison, a WTA member in the top 20 in the '90s has been quoted as saying that younger tennis players have no idea what it meant for Gibson to not even be allowed "in the front door."
It had to have been tough to concentrate solely on playing the game.
Jackie Robinson, who similarly pioneered African-American participation in American baseball, was constantly required to block out racial slurs when he played. He had to endure a negative environment in which every mistake was held up as rationale for denying African-American’s the right to play.
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