The US Open is celebrating the 75th anniversary of Althea Gibson Women’s Singles championship debut.
The avalanche of stories looking back on the historic moment has been sweeping… which is why I will offer a different perspective by weaving the recent passing of Angela Mortimer, at the age of 93 on August 25th, into the fabric of a rare Gibson quilt.
More on Mortimer in a moment…
The 1950 U.S. National Championships, as it was called in those days, took place on the grass courts at the exclusive West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills, New York. It was held from August 25th until September 5th… It is fitting that Gibson, the first African American to play the tournament, turned 23 the day the event began. Mortimer’s death substantiates the relevance of the date.
After defeating Britain’s Barbara Knapp, 6-2, 6-2, in the first round Gibson lost to Louise Brough 6-1, 3-6, 9-7. But the second round score doesn’t tell the full story… Gibson was ahead 7-6 when rain interrupted the contest… Brough, the No. 3 seed, came back the next day and won three straight games to bring the match to a close.
Gibson’s storied participation was the result of Alice Marble’s shaming… Had she not written an open letter that appeared in the July 1950 issue of American Lawn Tennis Magazine, Gibson, who was merely a Marble acquaintance, would not have played.
Marble, the 1936, ’38, ’39, and ’40 U.S. National Women’s Singles title holder, whose competitive career concluded in 1947, was widely respected. Her status was enhanced when the fact she had worked as spy for Military Intelligence in Switzerland during WWII became known. In her missive, she castigated the United States Lawn Tennis Association (before it became the USTA) for being disingenuous when it came to supporting inclusion… As a backstory, this was the same doctrinaire exclusion the organization had always practiced, and the reason the American Tennis Association was founded in 1919 because African Americans were not allowed to play USLTA tournaments.
Photo: Getty Images
Moving back to Mortimer… She was the 1955 Roland Garros and 1958 Australian Women’s Singles winner. In 1961, she captured the ultimate title, the Ladies championship at the All England Lawn Tennis. But more important, she was a finalist to Gibson at Roland Garros in 1956 and at The Championships in 1958.
(In 1967, Mortimer married John Barrett, the former British Davis Cup captain, author and renowned BBC commentator who was the voice of The Championships for ages. Thereafter she was known as Angela Mortimer Barrett. Completing the trio’s ties… Gibson was an International Tennis Hall of Fame inductee in 1971; Mortimer Barrett was honored in 1993, and John Barrett was a member of the 2014 class.)
Gibson completed back-to-backed Forest Hills trophy triumphs. In the first, she defeated Brough 6-3, 6-2 to win her initial US Women’s National Singles title on September 8, 1957. A day short of a year later, Gibson defended her title, downing Darlene Hard 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 on September 7, 1958.
I set out not to discuss what has been well been covered…specifics such as the anguish Gibson experienced growing up poor in Harlem, her street fighting as a youngster, winning ATA tournaments and attracting the attention of Doctors Walter Johnson and Hubert Eaton, patrons of African American tennis, being the second – Reginal Weir was the first – African American to play the USLTA National Indoor Championships…
My goal was simply to say… May Althea Gibson’s resolve and accomplishments be cherished forever…
Title photo Althea Gibson by Getty Images