Angela Buxton

Angela Buxton (born August 16, 1934, in Liverpool, England) is an English tennis player. She won the women's doubles title at both the French Championships and Wimbledon in 1956 with Althea Gibson.

Tennis accomplishments

Buxton began playing tennis as a youngster at a boarding school in North Wales. Coach Bob Mulligan immediately recognized her talent and entered her into a junior tournament, where she won the under-14, under-15, and under-18 titles. After spending time in London and Los Angeles, in 1954 she earned the British No. 4 ranking.

Buxton then reached the 1955 Wimbledon singles quarterfinals and climbed to World No. 9 in the rankings. She played in Wightman Cup competition for the United Kingdom in 1954, 1955, and 1956.

Buxton had her most successful tennis year in 1956. She won the women's doubles title and reached the singles final at Wimbledon. She won the English Indoor and London Grass Court singles championships and the English Hard Court doubles crown (with Darlene Hard). At the French Championships, she reached the singles semifinals and won the women's doubles title with Althea Gibson, who was the first champion of African descent. An English newspaper reported their victory at Wimbledon under the headline "Minorities Win." Buxton was ranked World No. 5 by World Tennis Magazine.

Maccabiah Games

Buxton won the women's singles title at the 1953 Maccabiah Games for Jewish athletes, easily defeating # 8 world seed Anita Kanter of the United States. She won the singles title again in 1957.

Injury and retirement

After suffering a serious hand condition in late 1956 (tenosynovitis), Buxton was forced to retire following the 1957 season at the age of 22.

Tennis players made no money in the 1950s, and the finances of Buxton's former teammate, Althea Gibson, worsened over the years. In 1992, Gibson suffered a stroke. A few years later, she called Buxton and told her she was on the brink of suicide as she was living on welfare and unable to pay for rent or medication. Buxton arranged for a letter about Gibson's circumstances to appear in a tennis magazine. She told Gibson nothing about the letter, but Gibson knew something was up when her mailbox started to bulge with envelopes containing checks from around the world. Eventually nearly US$1 million came in. [ [http://www.jewishsf.com/content/2-0-/module/displaystory/story_id/923/edition_id/7/format/html/displaystory.html celebrity Jews in the news] ]

Judaism and anti-Semitism in her career

Buxton's Judaism played a role throughout her career. She is one of the six founders of the Israel Tennis Centres.

Her religious background prevented full acceptance within the tennis world from an early age. When Buxton and her mother moved to London to develop Angela's potential, she enrolled in a school in Hampstead whose headmistress introduced Buxton to the Cumberland Club. It was at Cumberland that Angela first ran into blatant -- and painful -- anti-Semitism.

In 1952, Angela and her mother traveled to the United States to continue her tennis development. Once again, Buxton ran into anti-Semitism, this time at the Los Angeles Tennis Club. She said, "The same thing happened as at the Cumberland. They told me I couldn't play because I was Jewish." Instead, she was forced to train across town at public courts, but this allowed her to practice under the watchful eye of the great Bill Tilden for six months. [Great Jews in Sports, Robert Slater (New York: Jonathan David Publishers, 2000)] [Encyclopedia of JEWS in Sports, Bernard Postal, Jesse Silver, and Roy Silver (New York: Bloch Publishing Co, 1965)]

Buxton said that because of anti-Semitism, even after her Wimbledon victory with Althea Gibson she was not invited to join the exclusive All England Lawn Tennis Club. ["A tennis friendship, well-served," "Philadelphia Inquirer", September 2, 2006]

In 2004, reflecting on the fact that the All England Club, almost 50 years after her Wimbledon triumph, had still not invited her to join, she remarked "I think the anti-Semitism is still there. The mere fact that I'm not a member is a full sentence that speaks for itself." Buxton told New York Post reporter Marc Berman that she had been on the "waiting list" since the 1950s, noting that her championship doubles partner Althea Gibson -- winner of five Grand Slam singles titles -- would be on the same "waiting list" if she were still alive (she died in September 2003). "I wish it still wasn't such an elite sport," Angela told Berman. "I wish we could bring it down to a common baseline. It's going that way. It's still not there." ["The New York Post", June 13, 2004]

Writing

Since she retired from playing tennis Buxton has written tennis books, including "Tackle Tennis This Way," "Starting Tennis," and "Winning Tennis and Doubles Tactics."

International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame

Buxton was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1981. ["Ibid."]

Grand Slam singles final

Runner-up (1)

Grand Slam singles tournament timeline

A = did not participate in the tournament.

SR = the ratio of the number of Grand Slam singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played.

Miscellaneous

*Buxton maintained her friendship with Gibson (who died in 2003) through the years, and helped promote the Althea Gibson Foundation.

See also

* Performance timelines for all female tennis players who reached at least one Grand Slam final

References

External links

* [http://www.jewsinsports.org/profile.asp?sport=tennis&ID=57 Jews in Sports bio]
* [http://www.jewishsports.net/BioPages/AngelaBuxton.htm Jewish Sports bio]
* [http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-150826095.html "Recalling a tennis pioneer: Angela Buxton pays a visit," 9/3/06]