Althea Gibson Biography - Birth date, Achievements, Career, Family, Awards

Gibson did not like playing tennis at first because he felt the game was for the weak. But later he became interested in playing tennis. Gibson first became the New York City women's paddle tennis champion in 1939, at just 12 years old. In 1941, he entered the American Tennis Association (ATA) and won his first tournament at the New York State Championship. She won the ATA National Championships in the girls division in 1944 and 1945, and after losing the women's final in 1946, she won ten straight National American Tennis Association (ATA) women's titles in 1947. Gibson's ATA success attracted the attention of Walter Johnson, a Lynchburg, Virginia, physician who was active in the African American tennis community. Gibson gained access to important competitions, such as the United States Lawn Tennis Association, with more advanced instruction and strenuous work. In 1949 she became the first black woman and second black athlete to play in the USTA National Indoor Championships.

Despite his growing reputation as an elite level player, Gibson was effectively barred from entering the United States National Championship, the premier American tournament in Forest Hills, while USTA rules officially prohibited racial Or ethnic discrimination was prohibited, with players qualifying for nationals by accumulating points in sanctioned tournaments, most of which were held in white-only clubs. Gibson won his first international title in 1951, the Caribbean Championship in Jamaica, and later that year became one of the first black competitors at Wimbledon, where he was defeated in the third round by Beverly Baker. In 1952 she was ranked seventh nationally by the USTA. In July 1957, Gibson was fielded for the first time at Wimbledon, which was considered the World Championship of Tennis" at the time - and defeated Darlene Hard in the finals for the singles title. The first in the tournament's 80-year history Black was the champion, and the first champion to receive the trophy in person from Queen Elizabeth II.