More on Althea Gibson, the Jackie Robinson of tennis.

Althea was born poor. She also died poor -- in part because she played during an era before big money, in part, perhaps, because the world wasn't ready to pay a black woman athlete to plug products. She was unhappy with her inability to gain endorsements, and the end of her career -- like the end of her life -- can only be described as bittersweet.

As the first African-American woman to win a grand slam, it's hard not to think of her as a player who blazed the trail that Venus and Serena are now on. But Althea lived out her life in obscurity, maintaining only minimal contact with the game, and only from a distance.

"There would be no Venus and Serena Williams had Gibson not torn apart the color barrier nearly a half-century before, and yet when Gibson died yesterday, at 76, neither sister had ever met her."

Said Venus today: "Her accomplishments set the stage for my success, and through players like myself, Serena, and many others to come, her legacy will live on."