Althea gibson family
Althea Gibson
Gibson in | |
Country(sports) | United States |
---|---|
Born | ()August 25, [1] Silver, Clarendon County, South Carolina, US |
Died | September 28, () (aged76) East Orange, New Jersey, US |
Height | 5ft 11in (m)[2] |
Retired | |
Plays | Right-handed |
Int.Althea gibson birthdate Althea Neale Gibson (August 25, – September 28, ) was an American tennis player and professional golfer, and one of the first Black athletes to cross the. Tennis HoF | (member page) |
Careerrecord | 0–0 |
Highestranking | No. 1 () |
AustralianOpen | F () |
FrenchOpen | W () |
Wimbledon | W (, ) |
US Open | W (, ) |
Careerrecord | 0–0 |
AustralianOpen | W () |
FrenchOpen | W () |
Wimbledon | W (, , ) |
US Open | F (, ) |
AustralianOpen | SF () |
FrenchOpen | QF () |
Wimbledon | F (, , ) |
US Open | W () |
Althea Gibson (August 25, – September 28, ) was a World No.
1 American sportswoman who became the first African-American woman to be a competitor on the world tennis tour and the first to win a Grand Slam title in Gibson was a member of Alpha Kappa Alphasorority.
Biography
[change | change source]Althea Gibson was born at am EDT on August 25, in Silver, Clarendon County, South Carolina to Daniel and Annie Bell Gibson.
Althea had two siblings, a brother, Daniel Jr. (known as "Bubba") and a sister, Mildred.
Althea gibson facts
Althea Neale Gibson (August 25, – September 28, ) was an American tennis player and professional golfer, and one of the first Black athletes to cross the color line of international tennis. In , she became the first African American to win a Grand Slam event (the French Open).Gibson played tennis while going to school for an education. In , she moved to Wilmington, North Carolina, to work on her tennis game with Dr. Hubert A. Eaton and enrolled at Williston High School.
In , Gibson retired from amateur tennis. Before the open era of tennis began, there was no prize money, other than an expense allowance, and no endorsement contracts.
To begin earning prize money, tennis players had to give up their amateur status. As there was no professional tour for women, Gibson was limited to playing in a series of exhibition tours.
According to Lance Tingay of The Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail, Gibson was ranked in the world top ten from through , reaching a career high of No.
1 in those rankings in and [3] Gibson was included in the year-end top ten rankings issued by the United States Tennis Association in and and from through She was the top-ranked U.S. player in and [4] In Althea became the first African American woman to win Wimbledon. She won again in In , she appeared as the celebrity challenger on the TV panel show "What's My Line?".
Pictures althea gibson Althea Gibson was born on August 25th, , to sharecroppers Daniel and Annie Bell Gibson. The family lived in Silver, South Carolina, though Daniel would soon take his wife and child up north to Harlem, New York, in search of better opportunities.In retirement, Gibson wrote her autobiography and in recorded an album, Althea Gibson Sings, as well as appearing in the motion picture, The Horse Soldiers. In , she became the first African American woman to play in the Ladies Professional Golf Association. However, she was too old to be successful and only played for a few years.
In , Gibson was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame, and in , she was appointed the New Jersey state commissioner of athletics. After 10 years on the job, she went on to work in other public service positions, including serving on the governor's council on physical fitness. In later years, she suffered two cerebral aneurysms and, in , a stroke.
A few years later, Gibson called her former doubles partner Angela Buxton and told her she was considering suicide, as she was living on welfare and unable to pay for rent or medication. Buxton arranged for a letter to appear in a tennis magazine. Buxton told Gibson nothing about the letter, but the latter received nearly US $1 million from around the world.[5]
Gibson was married twice.
Her first marriage to William Darben took place on October 17, , but the couple was divorced in , eleven years later.
Althea gibson tennis champion: Althea Gibson (born August 25, , Silver, South Carolina, U.S.—died September 28, , East Orange, New Jersey) was an American tennis player who dominated women’s competition in the late s. She was the first Black player to win the French (), Wimbledon (–58), and U.S. Open (–58) singles championships.
Darben died in She was also married to Sydney Llewellyn on April 11, and was divorced from him in
On September 28, , at the age of 76, Gibson died in East Orange, New Jersey due to infections. She was buried there in the Rosedale Cemetery, at Orange, New Jersey.
On the opening night of the US Open, the 50th anniversary of Gibson's victory at the US Championships in (now the US Open), Gibson was inducted into US Open Court of Champions.[6][7] She was a inductee of the Sports Hall of Fame of New Jersey and inductee of the New Jersey Hall of Fame.
In September , the City of Wilmington, NC named its new community tennis complex the Althea Gibson Tennis Center.
Golf
[change | change source]Gibson became the first African American woman to join the Ladies Professional Golf Association tour, in [8] Her best finish on the tour was a tie for second after a three-way playoff at the Len Immke Buick Open.[9] Gibson retired from professional golf at the end of the season.[10]
Grand Slam finals
[change | change source]Wins (5)
[change | change source]Runner-up finishes (2)
[change | change source]Women's and mixed doubles (11)
[change | change source]Wins (6)
[change | change source]Runners-up (5)
[change | change source]Grand Slam singles tournament timeline
[change | change source]Tournament | Career SR | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Australia | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | F | A | 0 / 1 |
France | A | A | A | A | A | A | W | A | A | 1 / 1 |
Wimbledon | A | 3R | A | A | A | A | QF | W | W | 2 / 4 |
United States | 2R | 3R | 3R | QF | 1R | 3R | F | W | W | 2 / 9 |
SR | 0 / 1 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 1 | 0 / 1 | 0 / 1 | 0 / 1 | 1 / 3 | 2 / 3 | 2 / 2 | 5 / 15 |
A = did not participate in the tournament
SR = the ratio of the number of Grand Slam singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played
Related pages
[change | change source]References
[change | change source]- ↑"Althea Gibson".
- Althea gibson quotes
- How old is althea gibson
- Althea gibson accomplishments
- Althea gibson interesting facts
ITF Tennis. Archived from the original on November 16, Retrieved November 15,
- ↑"Althea Gibson". International Tennis Hall of Fame. Retrieved September 4,
- ↑Collins, Bud ().Arthur ashe US Mint unveils design for Ida B. Wells, Althea Gibson quarters • Dec. 19, , PM ET (The Hill) Show less Althea Gibson (born August 25, , Silver, South Carolina, U.S.—died September 28, , East Orange, New Jersey) was an American tennis player who dominated women’s competition in the late s.
The Bud Collins History of Tennis: An Authoritative Encyclopedia and Record Book. New York, N.Y.: New Chapter Press. pp., ISBN.
- ↑United States Tennis Association (). Official USTA Tennis Yearbook. Lynn, Massachusetts: H.O. Zimman, Inc. p.
- ↑Celebrity Jews in the news
- ↑"USTA To Honor Althea Gibson on Opening Night".
August 15, Archived from the original on December 4, Retrieved August 28,
- ↑Dillman, Lisa (August 27, ). "Williams sisters part of Gibson tribute".
- Althea gibson tennis champion
- Althea gibson biography
- Dr. walter johnson
Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on October 4, Retrieved August 28,
- ↑Honoring Pioneers - Althea Gibson
- ↑" Len Immke Buick Open results". Archived from the original on December 3, Retrieved June 21,
- ↑Althea Gibson career recordArchived at the Wayback Machine - at