I have a great fondness for doubles tennis. I would go so far as to admit that I tend to generally enjoy doubles more than most singles matches.

There is something about the high-speed, lunge-dive, high-five, scurry-hurry nature of doubles tennis that is such good fun to watch. Also, with the weight of individual expectations taken off their shoulders, the players always seem to emote and laugh and smile and goof around a little more.

So it was last week when we watched Sania Mirza and Leander Paes win Wimbledon titles in doubles events. And how they won! Martina Hingis and Mirza, in particular, provided nearly as many thrills, chills and pulse-pounding moments as Mohanlal’s 1995 blockbuster Spadikam.

The only thing that left a bitter taste in the mouth was the disturbing levels of racism targeted at Serena Williams, especially online and on social media. I am not sure how many Indians were involved in this sad business. I am hoping not too many. After all, India did once have a black athlete win the women’s national championship in tennis.

No. I am not making some kind of comment on skin colour. So calm down please. Merely conveying the truth. An African-American woman, and later winner of 11 Grand Slam titles, was once the national champion of women’s tennis in India. And that victory became part of the turning point in the player’s career.

The story begins in 1955 when the US state department decided to organize a goodwill tennis tour of Asia. The plan was to take a a group of two male and two female tennis players on a six-week trip including India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Burma, Ceylon and Thailand, where they could play exhibition matches and perhaps participate in local tournaments. Ham Richardson, Bob Perry and the stunningly beautiful Karol Fageros were chosen. The fourth pick was an unusual one. Not just because she was a black tennis player, but also because she had all but retired.

“As sure as I’m alive today I would have been a second lieutentant by Christmas 1955," Althea Gibson wrote in her 1958 memoirs I Always Wanted To Be Somebody.

When the call from the state department came, Gibson was just about ready to join the Women’s Army Corps.

By the summer of 1955, Gibson had convinced herself that her career had plateaued. While she was no doubt one of the best players in the US, and ranked in the top 20 worldwide, Gibson was frustrated by her lack of Grand Slam success and her desperately poor finances. On top of all that, she was deeply frustrated by the racial segregation she faced in the state of Missouri, where she taught physical education at Lincoln University. She began to avoid tournaments and slip down the rankings.

The 1955 US Nationals at Forest Hill were supposed to be, according to biographer Tom Biracree, her farewell appearance. Which is when the call from the state department came through. Gibson agreed immediately.

It was to be a brilliant decision that rejuvenated her career. Because Gibson swept across the globe, taking part in every possible tournament and winning everything.

The Milwaukee Sentinel newspaper of 5 May 1956 reports, “She won the all-India women’s singles at New Delhi, and the Asian championship at Calcutta, the German indoor championship at Cologne, the French indoor title at Paris, the Lyons and Cannes titles and the Monte Carlo crown."

Gibson also won the doubles in Delhi.

Throughout the tour the issue of race did come up. But Gibson remembers it fondly.

“Because I was a Negro, the Asians not only were particularly interested in me, they also were especially proud of me." She also quickly picked up on an age-old technique for tourists: “Any time you’re worried about whether or not it’s safe to eat… resolve the problem by asking for curry. If you’re worried about bugs, you can forget it; nothing can survive in curry."

By the end of the tour, Gibson had won 11 tournaments, and ranked 8th in the world. She roared back into life in the 1956 season, becoming the first black athlete to win a Grand Slam at the French Open. She was a hot favourite to win Wimbledon. But for that title she had to wait another year.

In 1957, Gibson had a breakout season. Most importantly, she won the title she coveted the most: the Wimbledon women’s singles. Gibson wrote of the victory and the ensuing Wimbledon Ball for champions with such moving fondness.

“It seemed a long way from 143rd Street," she wrote. “Shaking hands with the Queen of England was a long way from being forced to sit in the colored section of the bus going into downtown Wilmington, North Carolina."

“I didn’t think she would," Gibson’s mother later told The New York Post. “I didn’t think a Negro girl could go that high."

But she did. With a little help from her proud Asian fans in New Delhi and Calcutta and elsewhere.

Don’t change my friends. Never change.

Every week, Déjà View scours historical research and archives to make sense of current news and affairs. Comment at views@livemint.com. To read Sidin Vadukut’s previous columns, go to www.livemint.com/dejaview

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