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Previously on All-American.

Back in 01, in Indian Wells, in Coachella Valley,

weren't that many people that looked like Venus and Serena and Richard Williams in the

crowd. And the crowd, an American crowd, booing an American family. And you have to say that it

does smack of a little bit of racism. Hey, Cessle.

Hey, Jordan.

So today's episode is all about Althea Gibson, the greatest tennis player that most people

probably have never heard of. And she was the first black player to ever compete in a Grand Slam

event. I'm going to know you are a huge fan of Althea's, and so is Serena. And you actually

had a chance to talk with Serena about Althea Gibson, right?

That's right. At the 2006 U.S. Open, I was working on my first tennis book,

charging the net, a history of blacks in tennis, from Althea Gibson and Arthur Ash to the Williams sisters.

And I found out that Serena and Venus were huge fans of Althea Gibson.

And there was even talk at the time that Serena was interested in playing Althea Gibson in a movie.

Right. The New York Times had come out with an article that said that Serena wanted to make an Althea biopic.

And that Althea was Serena's idol?

Yeah, Serena was doing quite a bit of acting at that time, a sitcoms, a dramatic series,

and she was interested in portraying Althea Gibson.

So I asked her about that after her match in the interview room, and that's when she gave me the quote that she would like to do anything to let people know about Althea and what a tremendous person she was, definitely.

And I asked her how she knew about Althea.

And she did mention that her parents told her in Venus about Althea and how important she is in tennis history and how Serena and Venus are not the first.

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