Althea Gibson - first African American to win Wimbledon July 06,1957

On this day in 1957, Althea Gibson(DOB August 25, 1927) claims the women's singles tennis title at Wimbledon and becomes the first African American to win a championship at London's All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club.

Althea Gibson began playing tennis as a teenager and went on to win the national black women's championship twice.

 At a time when tennis was largely segregated, four-time U.S. Nationals winner Alice Marble advocated on Gibson's behalf and the 5'11" player was invited to make her U.S. Open debut in 1950.

 In 1956,Althea Gibson's tennis career took off and she won the singles title at the French Open--the first African American to do so--as well as the doubles' title there.

 In July 1957, Gibson won Wimbledon, defeating Darlene Hard, 6-3, 6-2.

In September 1957, she won the U.S. Open, and the Associated Press named her Female Athlete of the Year in 1957 and 1958.

After winning Wimbledon and the U.S. Open again in 1958, Gibson retired from amateur tennis

Althea Gibson died at age 76 from respiratory failure on September 28, 2003, at a hospital in East Orange, New Jersey.

Note

In 1975, Arthur Ashe became the first African-American man to win the men's singles title at Wimbledon, when he defeated Jimmy Connors