""The most important part is that we are celebrating it and recognizing it because Althea accomplished so much," Williams said. "A lot of it has not been given the credit it deserves and the attention and the praise.""
""Personally, I feel like everybody's waited too long to really celebrate her," Billie Jean King told The Associated Press. "She was the first, and when you're the first, you should be celebrated the most.""
""(Organizers) put her on a very back court, No. 14. Hard to get to. The area for people to watch was tiny. And they changed the rules and sent photographers to take pictures of her match, which was never allowed for other people," said Sally Jacobs, author of "Althea: The Life of Tennis Champion Althea Gibson.""
Images and tributes to Althea Gibson appear across the U.S. Open as organizers mark 75 years since she became the first Black player at a major tennis tournament. The event's logo features layered artwork of her face, clips of her play run inside Arthur Ashe Stadium, and a Venus Williams–narrated tribute plays during breaks. A statue at Flushing Meadows has stood since 2019, and signage proclaims "Celebrating 75 years of breaking barriers" during two weeks centered on honoring her life. Gibson faced institutional obstacles in 1950, requiring Alice Marble's public letter to gain admission; organizers relegated her to back court No. 14 and restricted spectators and photography.
Read at Newsday
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