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4 unusual facts about American Tennis Association


American Tennis Association

The American Tennis Association continued to be the primary governing body for African-American tennis in the United States until the desegregation of the USLTA in the 1950s, after Althea Gibson became the first African-American player to compete in the U.S. National Championships at Forest Hills, NY.

Dr. Robert Walter Johnson House and Tennis Court

A successful college athlete, Johnson used his athletic skill and personal funds to found the Junior Development Program of the American Tennis Association during the 1950s.

Lucy Diggs Slowe

Slowe was also a tennis champion, winning the national title of the American Tennis Association's first tournament in 1917, the first African-American woman to win a major sports title.

Tally Holmes

This tournament is now a yearly production put on by the American Tennis Association.



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