ZINA GARRISON Zina Garrison won 14 singles titles during a distinguished professional career. At Wimbledon in 1990 she beat Steffi Graf, the world No 1, to become the first black woman to reach the final for 32 years before losing to Martina Navratilova. The first black coach of the United States Fed Cup team, she has supported the young and the homeless in Houston through her foundation, while her academy helps young tennis players.
ALTHEA GIBSON An outstanding talent from an early age, Althea Gibson found her initial progress halted because black players were not allowed to play at exclusively white locations. She finally became the first black player to compete in the US Nationals at Forest Hills in 1950, but it was another six years before she won her first Grand Slam title, in Paris. She won the singles titles at both Wimbledon and New York in 1957 and 1958. Gibson went on to play golf professionally, but some of her later years were spent in poverty. She died in 2003 at the age of 76.
141
Made with FlippingBook Digital Publishing Software