Fiend at Court Special Edition
Today is Kindness Wins Day, which is a celebration of kindness in sports. Today I am sharing one of the greatest acts of sportsmanship in the history of women’s tennis. It is a story about Angela Buxton and Althea Gibson.
In 1956, Buxton and Gibson met in the semi-finals of the French Open. At that moment in history, neither woman had ever reached the finals of a Grand Slam event. Consequently, it was a very important match for both women. In fact, it may have been the moment that defined the subsequent trajectories of their tennis careers.
In the first game of the deciding third set, Gibson suffered a “wardrobe malfunction” as the strap of her bra broke. The French crowd responded with hoots and catcalls. Buxton rushed to Gibson’s assistance, embracing her friend and ushering her into the locker room where Gibson changed her bra.
When the two players returned to the court, the tournament officials wanted to default Gibson for code violations. Specifically, Gibson had left the court without permission and had received assistance from another person during the match. Buxton refused to accept the default and insisted that she should also be defaulted since she also left the court and was the one who rendered the assistance. The tournament officials had no choice but to allow the match to proceed.
Gibson went on to win the match and prevailed in the Finals winning what would be the first of many Grand Slam championships. For Buxton, it turned out to be the start of the waning moments in her tennis career.
It was a moment of pure sportsmanship, empathy, and yes… kindness on the part of Buxton. On the precipice of that would have been the greatest achievement of her career, she chose kindness over her own self interest. I can think of no greater example of sportsmanship in women’s tennis. Kindness Wins.
