WHAT’S A GREATER STORY IN WOMEN’S TENNIS THAN VENUS & SERENA?

I would say the story of Althea Gibson and Alice Marble. 

It’s not as extensive a story but it is nonetheless an incredibly remarkable one to me.  Now I don’t claim to be a tennis historian but what I do know is that prior to August 28, 1950, tennis championships and tennis in general were segregated.  Althea Gibson was this awesome player who had achieved great success with the segregated American Tennis Association (ATA) which is still very much so operational today.   Alice Marble had achieved great success with the US Lawn Tennis Association, which was for white players only. 

On July 1,1950, Alice Marble publicly advocated for Althea Gibson to compete in the USLTA championships by submitting a written editorial which was published.  As a result of that advocacy (and others no doubt) Gibson played the first integrated national championship match of the US Lawn Tennis Association on August 28, 1950, BREAKING THE COLOR BARRIER ON THE COURT!  Our KitStarter Collection is a tribute to the 75th anniversary of these phenomenal events in tennis history.