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Town & Country: 20 Best Tennis Books
“One of T&C’s most anticipated books for summer 2023, Sally Jacobs tells the story of tennis trailblazer Althea Gibson in this remarkable biography. Gibson was the first Black player to win a Grand Slam title (she would go on to win 11), and she would pave the way for generations of players, like Serena Williams and Sloane Stephens. Also, after she retired from tennis, she became the first Black player on the Women’s Professional Golf Tour. No big deal.”
Emily Burack, "20 Best Tennis Books to Read This Summer," Town & Country, June 3, 2023.
Publisher’s Weekly: Movingly Told
“Journalist Jacobs (The Other Barack) offers an affecting biography of Althea Gibson (1927–2003), the ‘first Black woman to be the number-one tennis player in the world.’ … Thoroughly researched and movingly told, this warts-and-all portrayal of Gibson’s life is a winner.”
“Althea: The Life of Tennis Champion Althea Gibson, Publisher’s Weekly, May 15, 2023.
Kirkus: Comprehensive and elegantly written
“A comprehensive and elegantly written life of Althea Gibson, one of the greatest athletes America has produced… An essential book about an incomparably authentic American pioneer and the times in which she lived.”
“ALTHEA,” Kirkus Reviews (starred review), April 3, 2023.