In the l940’s and 50’s．it was not likely that a young black teenager from New York’s Harlem would ever have the chance to play in the world's biggest tennis tournaments．But Althea Gibson did play，and what's more，she won．
Althea was born in Silver，South Carolina，in l927．When Althea Was still a child，her family moved north to New York City．While Althea Was in junior high school，she became interested in paddle tennis．(1)_____________________________
One day，a Black musician named Buddy Walker saw Althea playing paddle tennis．He realized how good she was．So he bought her a real tennis racket and took her to a tennis court．Althea instantly fell in love with tennis．She started playing in the All Black American Tennis Association Tournaments．When she was just fifteen，Althea played in the New York State Girls’ Open Tennis Tournament and got as far as the finals．In l942，World War II came along，and there were no more tournaments for four years．But when the tournaments started again in l946，(2)__________________She won every American Tennis Association tournament from l946 t0 1957．
By l958 she had won the United States Championship twice．as well as winning twice more at Wimbledon．Althea (3)_____________________________________________________
