August 2020

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Main Posts Background Image

August 20, 2020

HALL OF FAMER ANGELA BUXTON HAS DIED AT 85

British tennis player Angela Buxton, left, and doubles partner Althea Gibson, right, are presented with the trophy for the 1956 Wimbledon Women's Doubles title by The Duchess of Kent.

 

 

In 1956, Angela Buxton made history by winning the French Woman’s Doubles Championship with Althea Gibson. She therefore played an important role in helping Althea Gibson become the first African American to win a Grand Slam tournament doubles championship. Buxton and Gibson went on to win the Wimbledon Women’s Doubles Championship that year as well. In 1953 and 1957, she won the Women’s Singles title at the Maccabiah Games for Jewish athletes. People of Jewish descent were not admitted to the All England Lawn Tennis Club where Wimbledon was played until 1952. In addition, they faced discrimination on the world tennis tour. The racism that Gibson experienced and the anti-Semitism that Buxton experienced brought them together on the tennis tour. When they won the Wimbledon Women’s Doubles Championship one British newspaper used the unfortunate headline “Minorities Win” to call attention to their victory.

Buxton was an excellent singles player who reached the 1956 Wimbledon Women’s Finals. Prior to that accomplishment, she won the English Indoor title, the London Grass Court singles championships and the English Hard Court Doubles title with Darlene Hard. She reached the semi-finals of the Women’s Singles division of French Championships in 1956 (the same year she and Gibson won the Women’s Doubles Championship). 

 

Black Tennis Hall of Fame inducted Ms. Buxton in 2015, and the International Jewish Sports Hall in Israel in 1981, as shared by The Jerusalem Post.


Ms. Buxton is accompanied by Billie Jean King.

 

 

On Monday, August 26, 2019, the first day of the U.S. Open and the historic occasion of the Althea Gibson Statue Unveiling, Ms. Buxton, shared memories of her long-time friend.  “We won both the French and Wimbledon doubles together with my arm around her both times at the closing ceremonies.”  “She slowly became the Jackie Robinson of tennis and I was soon referred to as the Pee Wee Reese, who without saying a word indicated, “This is my friend.” 

 


Ms. Buxton, seated far right, shared moments of her career and friendship with Althea Gibson.   


August 3, 2020

AFTER ACHIEVING A CENTURY OF LIFE, AND A LIFE FILLED WITH ACHIEVEMENTS, THE FIRST BLACK TENNIS PROFESSIONAL IN THE UNITED STATES HAS DIED. BLACK TENNIS HALL OF FAME MOURNS THE LOSS, AND CELEBRATES THE LIFE OF HALL OF FAMER ROBERT RYLAND JUNE 16, 1920 - AUGUST 2, 2020



 

In 1959, Ryland broke through barriers of race and class by becoming the first African American to become a tennis professional. His success in both American Tennis Association (ATA) and integrated amateur tournaments around the country made him one of the best known Black players in the US. His fame led sports promoter Jack Marsh to ask Ryland to make history by joining his professional tennis circuit which included legendary tennis players Pancho Gonzalez (who was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame (ITHF) in 1968), Lew Hoad (ITHF Inductee in 1990) and other top pro players. Ryland accepted, and another barrier of race and class was broken when he played his first pro match in Cleveland in 1959. Ryland started playing tennis at age nine. He was taught by his father and the iconic Mrs. C.O. “Mother” Seames (one of the first nationally known black tennis coaches) of the Chicago Prairie Tennis Club in Chicago, Illinois. Ryland had a talent for the sport and quickly rose to stardom by winning the Illinois State High School Championship in 1939, beating Jimmy Evert (Chris Evert’s father) on the way to the title. In addition, in 1939, he won the ATA Boys 18 and under Singles Championship. In 1944, he played in a historic exhibition tennis match at the Cosmopolitan Club with legendary player Alice Marble (1964 ITHF Inductee) against Dr. Reginald Weir and Mary Hardwick. Ryland and Marble won the match 10-8. In 1946, he won the Men’s Singles Championship in the Detroit Public Parks integrated tournament. In 1947, he lost to the number one ranked U.S. player Ham Richardson 4-6, 5-7 in the Pacific Southwest Championship. In 1952, he won the integrated Los Angeles Industrial City Championships. In 1955 and 1956 he won the ATA Men’s Singles Championship in addition to being a finalist four other times.

 

Playing for Wayne State University, Ryland was the first Black man to play in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) tournament, advancing to the quarterfinals in 1946. Ryland was so admired in the Black tennis community that a 14-year-old Arthur Ashe said his only dream was “to be good enough to beat Bob Ryland.” In 1955, Ryland received a nomination by the ATA to play in the USLTA Nationals at Forest Hills. At the age of 35, with no experience on grass, he lost in straight sets in the first round. Clearly, Ryland might have done well in the US Nationals if he had been allowed to play it in the prime of his tennis career. In the 1960’s, he worked briefly at the St. Albans Tennis Club in Washington, DC where he gave tennis lessons to some of Washington’s elite. He later coached Venus and Serena Williams when they were juniors, and touring pros Harold Solomon and Leslie Allen. In addition, he taught tennis to many celebrities including Bill Cosby, Dustin Hoffman, Barbara Streisand and Tony Bennett.

 

 

 


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