Top ten tennis players honor Althea Gibson in local event

On a Friday afternoon, my sister vaguely mentioned the chance to meet professional tennis players. My first reaction was one of surprise, which quickly morphed into skepticism. The obvious question was, which ones? There are roughly over a thousand pros around the globe right now. I treasure my Sunday mornings, and I wasn’t about to waste one sitting at the back of a crowd, straining for a glimpse of someone’s distant ponytail.

When I pulled up the email, my hand shot out and clutched my sister’s arm in a near-death grip. Frustratingly, like all younger sisters, she had failed to mention the most important part: Amanda Anisimova and Jessica Pegula — ladies ranked world No. 4 and No. 6 respectively. Anisimova shot into the spotlight this year by making it to the finals of both the U.S. Open and Wimbledon, putting her in the spotlight at some of tennis’s biggest events. As a former No.1 doubles player, Pegula reached the doubles finals of the 2022 French Open with fellow American Coco Gauff and had a career high of No. 3 in singles. There was no chance I was going to miss this opportunity of a lifetime.

The meet-and-greet was slated to be hours before an exhibition match called “A Racket at the Rock” at Prudential Center. It was held in honor of the legacy of Althea Gibson, the first African American woman to win a Grand Slam. The event also featured world No.1 Carlos Alcaraz and 2022 U.S. Open finalist Francis Tiafoe in a series of matches, one mixed doubles and two singles.

A total of only ten girls were invited. My sister and I along with my co-editor Katie Qin wormed our way to the front until we were seated three feet away from the players. After finding my seat and spotting an opportunity, I got up and introduced myself to the moderator with a little smile. Our plan worked which earned me the chance to ask the very first question. Katie, who was sitting right next to me, took the second. With the players running late, the moderator declared only a total of four questions. I delivered a swift kick at my sister and she secured the final question. In the end, our trio asked three of the four questions. Later at the exhibition match, I watched a sea of fans clamor for autographs. As the rush grew stronger, I gave a smug, victorious smile. As presumptuous as it may sound, I had stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Pegula as they were reaching over barriers.

What does Althea Gibson’s legacy mean to you, and how has she inspired you as a tennis player?

Jessica Pegula: She’s such a legend of the sport, and I feel like she’s really paved the way for us as women and I think we owe her and Billy Jean King so much credit for doing that. To see how much the sport has grown since then is so incredible. And I feel like it just keeps growing and growing, which I think we all deserve and it’s incredibly special.

Amanda Anisimova: I think it’s cool that what she was able to do for the history of our sport, and then being able to also still to this day, even though it was a long time ago, honor her in such a really unique, cool way. Going back to the roots of our sport and how open centers really started, and to be able to still honor that to this day, I think [it] is really important to remember the history of it.

There’s been a lot of progress in inclusivity and diversity in the tennis court, but what is one thing that could be improved on?

Pegula: I think women’s sports are growing. I think we’ve seen a lot of that, a lot of different types of sports are growing for females. And I feel like it’s such an important time right now where it’s getting a lot of traction. It’s getting a lot of eyes on our sport. People, I think, are really supporting it. We’re starting to get paid a lot more. I think we’re starting to get better TV deals and better sponsors, and you’re seeing all of that happen, not just in tennis, but I think in a lot of other sports.

I’ve always been really proud to be part of the sport that has been at the top of women’s sports in general, but I think we just have to kind of keep pushing and building off of that. We have so many cool stories, so much diversity [and] it’s international. I mean, there’s a story I think everybody can relate to, and I think that’ll help continue to grow our sport. I’m proud that our kind is setting the bar and other sports are starting to follow, especially with basketball.

Anisimova: I feel like we are getting the recognition that we deserve, and it’s growing on social media and on TV. Women’s sports, not just in tennis, but also you’ve seen in the WNBA and involve that it’s growing tremendously, and it’s so great to see. We work so hard and every single player has their own story to tell. And I feel the equality bar is getting closer to what we want it to. Obviously, we’re not entirely there yet, but it’s been great to see how much women’s sports have progressed over the last few years. I think there’s still a lot of room for improvement, but I feel like we’ve been doing a really good job of that, not just as players, but also everyone who’s trying to promote women’s tennis.

If there was one tennis player in history you could switch places with, who would it be and why?

Pegula: Maybe Serena [Williams]. I wonder what it would be like to just dominate like every single slam, to be the best player, one of the best and [if] not the best of all time. I wonder what that feels like.

Anisimova: I would agree with that. To be so incredibly consistent, far better than anyone else, that would be an incredible feeling.