USTA Honors Althea Gibson, First Black U.S. Open Champion
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The USTA will honor Althea Gibson with a special tribute tonight. Gibson, who died last year, was a forerunner of African-American players like Arthur Ashe, Zina Garrison, and the Williams sisters. She was the first African-American to win a U.S. Open championship, in 1957, and went on to collect 11 Grand Slam titles By comparison, Serena Williams has won six.
Gibson won her second U.S. championship in 1958, and Tuesday’s ceremony marks the 46th anniversary of that date. But this year’s tournament is a particularly appropriate time to honor Gibson. With the unexpected rise of Angela Haynes, a 19-year-old African-American wild card, to the third round, the U.S. Open had four African-American women at that level for the first time ever. (Besides the Williams sisters and Haynes, Chanda Rubin also advanced to the third round, where she was eliminated by Venus Williams.) Ms. Haynes is also notable for hailing from Compton, Calif., the same low-income neighborhood of Los Angeles where the Williams sisters began playing tennis.
Asked how she felt about a new generation of African-American players following in her footsteps, number-three seed Serena Williams remarked, “It’s good to see African-Americans coming up in tennis – not only just coming up, but actually doing well and getting some big wins, getting a little further in the tournaments. Myself and my sister, besides Althea, we were the first to win Slams over and over. Seeing it trickle down to other people, they want to come up and win Slams as well, and do well – even beat us. I feel that, wow, this is a first.”
The Gibson ceremony is scheduled to include appearances by Fed Cup captain Zina Garrison, John McEnroe, and David Dinkins.
“We look forward to celebrating the life of a remarkable woman who opened doors and opened minds,” the president of the U.S.T.A, Alan Schwartz, said in a statement. “More than recognizing her significant on-court accomplishments, we intend to pay tribute to the social impact of one of the seminal figures of the 20th century.”
The Althea Gibson Foundation, which provides financial support for young, urban athletes, will host a fundraiser in conjunction with the on-court ceremony.
