This Day in History: <br />Althea Gibson Becomes First <br />African-American on US Tennis Tour.<br />August 22, 1950.<br />Gibson was accepted <br />by the U.S. Lawn Tennis <br />Association into the annual <br />Forrest Hills championship.<br />Six days later, Gibson <br />would defeat Barbara Knapp <br />in straight sets to clinch <br />her first USLTA match.<br />It took Gibson a few years <br />to find her footing on the tour. <br />Her first major victory came <br />in 1956 at the French Open.<br />The next year, Gibson would <br />command at both Wimbledon <br />and the U.S. Open, winning the <br />tournaments at the age of 30.<br />In the 1960s, Gibson also became <br />the first African American to <br />compete on the women's golf tour.<br />Elected to the International <br />Tennis Hall of Fame in 1971, <br />Gibson died from illness in <br />2003 at the age of 76
