In 1950, Althea Gibson becomes the first black player to compete in the U.S. Open. Gibson wins her first round match, defeating Barbara Knapp of Britain 6-2, 6-2 at Forest Hills in New York.

An excerpt from a new biography of Althea Gibson tells the story of her history-making run at Wimbledon in 1957, when she became the first Black player to ever win the tournament.

Althea Gibson’s legend deserves to be one of our biggest. Two new biographies capture the athletic greatness and the funny, exuberant personality of the undersung pioneering tennis champion.

ALTHEA: The Life of Tennis Champion Althea Gibson. By Sally H. Jacobs. St. Martin’s Press. 464 pages. $32. When Althea Gibson, born in South Carolina, was growing up in Harlem in the 1940s, her ...

Angela Buxton, Half of an Outcast Duo in Tennis History, Dies at 85. She was Jewish, and the great Althea Gibson was Black, and in the segregated world of 1950s tennis they forged a remarkable ...