--- title: Google Doodle Honors Tennis Great Althea Gibson description: Althea Gibson was the first African-American to win the U.S. Nationals and Wimbledon tennis championships canonical: https://time.com/3173666/althea-gibson-google-doodle/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-08-25T12:39:22.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:48:40.675Z og:title: Google Doodle Honors Tennis Great Althea Gibson og:description: Althea Gibson was the first African-American to win the U.S. Nationals and Wimbledon tennis championships og:url: https://time.com/3173666/althea-gibson-google-doodle/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Google Doodle Honors Tennis Great Althea Gibson twitter:description: Althea Gibson was the first African-American to win the U.S. Nationals and Wimbledon tennis championships twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Google Doodle Honors Black Tennis Star Althea Gibson ## Video: How Google Makes its Doodles [Watch (HLS stream): How Google Makes its Doodles](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/upF0qp1E.m3u8) (3:23)  _Published 2018-07-07. Our videographer went to the Googleplex in Mountain View, California to meet some of the designers and coders who create the special, clever variations on the Google.com logo known as_ by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Aug 25, 2014 12:39 PM UTC by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Aug 25, 2014 12:39 PM UTC Monday’s [Google Doodle](https://www.google.com/) pays tribute to black tennis star and barrier breaker [Althea Gibson](http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,862710-2,00.html), who paved the way for tennis greats including Venus and Serena Williams. Gibson, who was born on Aug. 25, 1927, was the first black person to take the title at Wimbledon and the U.S. Nationals. The Harlem-raised Gibson was also the first African-American named the Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year in 1957; she won again in 1958. [TIME ](http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,862710-2,00.html)wrote of Gibson in 1957: “Lean, tall and well-muscled (5 ft. 10½, 144 Ibs.), Althea Gibson is not the most graceful figure on the courts, and her game is not the most stylish. She is apt to flail with more than the usual frenzy, and she often relies on ‘auxiliary shots’ (e.g., the chop and slice). But her tennis has a champion’s unmistakable power and drive.” Gibson died in [October 2003](http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,1005901,00.html) in East Orange, N.J. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3173666/althea-gibson-google-doodle/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3173666/althea-gibson-google-doodle/"},"headline":"Google Doodle Honors Black Tennis Star Althea Gibson","datePublished":"2014-08-25T12:39:22.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:48:40.675Z","description":"Gibson was the first African-American to win the U.S. Nationals and Wimbledon tennis championships","url":"https://time.com/3173666/althea-gibson-google-doodle/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Sports topic","Google","Appreciation","tennis","Google Doodle"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3173666/althea-gibson-google-doodle/","name":"Google Doodle Honors Black Tennis Star Althea Gibson"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"How Google Makes its Doodles","description":"Our videographer went to the Googleplex in Mountain View, California to meet some of the designers and coders who create the special, clever variations on the Google.com logo known as","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/upF0qp1E/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2018-07-07T16:09:57.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/upF0qp1E.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3173666/althea-gibson-google-doodle/","duration":"PT3M23S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3173666/althea-gibson-google-doodle/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```