Today in History—July 6: Althea Gibson Wins Wimbledon

“At last! At last!” So said Althea Gibson when she won Wimbledon on this day in 1957.

In doing so, she became the first Black player to win the women’s singles title.

Born to sharecroppers in South Carolina and raised in Harlem, New York, Gibson lived in a world far from white country clubs or Black luxury. Yet she was a natural athlete, talented at every sport she tried, and she became a city champion in paddle tennis at age 12.

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With an athletic 5-foot 11-inch build, a dominating serve, and the support of the two wealthy Black physicians who sponsored her career, Gibson grew into a tennis powerhouse. She was one of the first Black players to consistently break color barriers in the white-dominated sport.

In 1950 she became the first Black player to compete in the U.S. Nationals. A year later she was the first Black player to compete at Wimbledon. Between 1956 and 1958 Gibson appeared in 19 major finals—including singles, doubles, and mixed doubles—and won 11 titles. By the time she entered the Wimbledon championship at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in 1957, she was a favorite.

She had won every match that week: 6-3, 6-4 against Sandra Reynolds in the quarterfinals, and 6-1, 6-1 against Christine Truman in the semifinals. Now facing her finals opponent and doubles partner, Darlene Hard, Gibson took less than an hour to win, 6-3, 6-2. The match was never particularly competitive. According to The New York Times, her serve “jumped so alarmingly off the fast grass” that Hard could do little but watch.

When the match ended, Queen Elizabeth II presented Gibson with the Venus Rosewater Dish.

Later that year Gibson became the first Black player to win the U.S. Nationals, and she repeated her Wimbledon and U.S. titles in 1958.

After retiring from tennis, Gibson wrote, “Shaking hands with the Queen of England was a long way from being forced to sit in the colored section of the bus going into downtown Wilmington, N.C.”

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