When Did Althea Gibson Start Playing Tennis?

Althea Gibson was an African-American tennis player and professional golfer, and one of the first black athletes to cross the color line of international tennis. She started playing tennis at the age of eight.

Althea Gibson’s Early Years

Althea Gibson was born on August 25, 1927, in Silver, South Carolina. She was the youngest of seven children. Her father, Daniel, was a sharecropper, and her mother, Annie Bell, was a domestic worker. Gibson started playing tennis when she was just eight years old. She loved the game and quickly became quite good at it. In 1943, she won her first tournament.

Gibson’s family and early life

Althea Gibson was born on August 25, 1927, in the Harlem section of New York City. She was the fifth of seven children of Daniel and Annie Bell Gibson. Her father, a Baptist minister, drove a hack in Harlem. Her mother was a domestic worker. Gibson’s early life was one of poverty. The family often could not afford a tennis racket for her to practice with. She used hand-me-down clothes and played tennis on public courts in New York City parks.

In spite of the family’s poverty, Gibson had happy childhood memories. “We never went hungry,” she later told reporters. “And we always had fun.” Gibson’s father taught her to play baseball and stickball—street games popular among Harlem children in the 1920s and 1930s. She also loved to sing and dance around the house to records by Ethel Waters and Duke Ellington.

Gibson’s interest in tennis

Althea Gibson was born on August 25, 1927, in Silver, South Carolina. She was the fifth of seven children. Her father worked as a sharecropper, and her mother was a domestic worker. Gibson started playing tennis when she was 10 years old. She learned the game by hitting balls against the side of a house with a broomstick. When she was 13 years old, she moved to Harlem, New York, to live with an aunt. There, she joined the Harlem Cosmopolitan Club and began to compete in tennis tournaments.

In 1943, at the age of 16, Gibson won her first golf tournament, the New York State Championship. The following year, she won the American Tennis Association (ATA) National Championship for African American women. She went on to win that title six times in a row (1944-1949). In 1950 and 1951, she also won the Eastern Clay Court Championship and the Yankee Conference Tournament.

In 1950, Gibson became the first African American woman to compete in the U.S. National Tennis Championships (now known as the US Open). She lost her first match but went on to win the tournament in 1957 and 1958. In 1956, Gibson became the first African American to compete at Wimbledon. She won Wimbledon in 1957 and 1958.

Althea Gibson’s Amateur Career

Althea Gibson began playing tennis when she was just a young girl. She quickly began to dominate the local tennis scene in her home state of New Jersey. By the age of 15, she had won the American Tennis Association championship, which was open to African-American players only. This made her the first African-American to ever win a major tennis championship.

Gibson’s early success

Althea Gibson began playing tennis in the early 1940s and soon began to rack up amateur titles, becoming the first Black player to win a national championship in 1950. She won 11 major titles altogether, including five straight Grand Slams (a feat unequaled by any other amateur player), and became the first Black woman to be ranked No. 1 in the world. Despite her achievements, Gibson was often subjected to racism and was not allowed to play at many of the most prestigious tournaments until late in her career.

Gibson’s struggle to be taken seriously

Althea Gibson became the first African American woman to compete at Wimbledon in 1951, but her amateur career was marked by a struggle to be taken seriously as a black athlete. A day before her historic first match at Wimbledon, The Times ran an article about Gibson that included the line, “Miss Gibson is dark but handsome.” It was a sign of things to come; throughout her career, Gibson was constantly subjected to racial discrimination, both from within and outside the tennis world.

In the early 1950s, the United States Lawn Tennis Association (USLTA) refused to grant Gibson a membership, effectively banning her from competing in most of the country’s biggest tournaments. The USLTA relented in 1953 after public pressure, but by then Gibson had already decided to turn professional. She joined the professional circuit in 1959 and won her first major title, the French Open, in 1956. She would go on to win Wimbledon and the U.S. Open twice each, before retiring from competitive tennis in 1958.

Despite her successes on the court, Gibson always felt that she was treated as an outsider in the tennis world. In an interview with Ebony magazine in 1957, she said, “I’m not truly accepted by whites…I’m not completely accepted by Negroes either because I refuse to be fast.” Nevertheless, she remained a powerful voice for racial progress throughout her life; in 1971, she became the first black woman to be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

Althea Gibson’s Professional Career

Althea Gibson was an American sportswoman who became the first black player to cross the color line of international tennis. She won 11 Grand Slam titles, including six doubles titles, and was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame and the International Women’s Sports Hall of Fame. Let’s take a look at her professional career.

Gibson’s Grand Slam successes

Althea Gibson became the first African American woman to win a Grand Slam tournament when she took home the Wimbledon trophy in 1957. She went on to win the U.S. Open later that year, becoming the first black player of either gender to win a major tennis championship. In all, Gibson won 11 Grand Slam titles before retiring from competitive tennis in 1958.

Gibson’s retirement from tennis

Althea Gibson retired from tennis in 1957, following her loss in the second round at Wimbledon. After she retired, Gibson struggled with poverty and alcoholism. She received little support from the African-American community, who saw her as an “Uncle Tom” for her perceived subservience to whites. In retirement, Gibson became a professional golfer on the Men’s Professional Golf Association (PGA) tour; she was one of the first black women to play golf professionally. She also authored her autobiography, titled “I Always Wanted to Be Somebody.”

Althea Gibson’s Legacy

Althea Gibson was an African American athlete and tennis player who became the first black woman to compete on the world tennis tour. She was born in 1927 in Harlem, New York. She started playing tennis at age 13 and went on to win 11 Grand Slam titles. In 1957, she became the first black woman to win the Wimbledon singles championship.

Gibson’s impact on the sport of tennis

Althea Gibson was an African American tennis player and professional golfer, and the first black athlete to cross the color line of international tennis. In 1957, she became the first person of color to win a Grand Slam title when she won the French Open, and she went on to win Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in 1958.

Gibson’s success on the court helped break down racial barriers in tennis and other sports, and she is considered one of the pioneers of racial integration in sports. She was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1971, and the United States Tennis Association created an award in her honor in 1984.

Gibson’s legacy beyond tennis

In addition to being an amazing athlete, Althea Gibson was also a classically trained musician. She started playing the piano at age six and went on to play the violin and trumpet. Gibson even studied music at New York City’s Juilliard School.

While her accomplishments on the tennis court are certainly impressive, Gibson’s legacy goes far beyond her athletic achievements. She was a true pioneer, breaking down barriers for African American athletes and female athletes everywhere. She was also an incredibly talented musician, and her legacy continues to inspire people all over the world.