The amateur years
Great Britain · born Liverpool, 1934 · died 2020 · Wimbledon doubles champion with Althea Gibson in 1956 and singles finalist the same year
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1956
Wimbledon doubles champion with Althea Gibson, 6-1, 8-6
1956
Wimbledon singles finalist, the first British woman in a final for 17 years
2
Major titles, both in 1956: the French and Wimbledon doubles with Gibson
22
Her age when a hand injury ended her career, at the end of 1957
Angela Buxton was born in Liverpool on 16 August 1934 to a family of Russian Jewish descent whose surname had been anglicised from something like Bakstansky. She began playing in South Africa, where her mother took the children during the Second World War, and on returning to England won the under-14, under-15 and under-18 titles at the same Hightown tournament. She met hostility as a Jewish player throughout her career and was refused membership by clubs.
She won the English indoor championship and the London grass court title, and in 1956 had her best year. With the American Althea Gibson, whom she had met on a tour of India at Christmas 1955, she won the doubles at the French Championships and at Wimbledon, and she reached the Wimbledon singles final, losing to Shirley Fry. A hand injury soon afterwards ended her top-level career, and she retired at the end of 1957, aged 22.
She became a tennis journalist, wrote several coaching books and founded the Angela Buxton Tennis Centre in north London. She was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1981 and, for her friendship with Gibson, into the Black Tennis Hall of Fame in 2015. She died in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on 14 August 2020, two days before her 86th birthday.
| Wimbledon singles final 1956 | Seeded sixth, she lost to the fifth seed Shirley Fry 6-3, 6-1 in 50 minutes on Centre Court |
|---|---|
| Wimbledon doubles final 1956 | With Althea Gibson, seeded third: beat the unseeded Australians Fay Muller and Daphne Seeney 6-1, 8-6 |
| Wimbledon 1954 | Lost 6-0, 6-0 to Maureen Connolly, one of the whitewashes listed in the Wimbledon record books |
| Queen's Club | Won the London grass court title, the women's singles of the Queen's Club Championships, in 1956 |
| Wimbledon | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1956 | Women's doubles | with Althea Gibson |
| Queen's Club | ||
| 1956 | Women's singles†| |
Leading grass titles only: the grass majors, tour-level grass events since 1968 and the leading grass championships before 1968. †single source; ‡ sources disagree. Roll of champions
"And then we came together and beat everybody."
The person behind the player.
Hampstead
When her application to the Cumberland Lawn Tennis Club in Hampstead went unanswered, she asked her coach whether it was because she was not good enough. "No, it's because you're Jewish," he told her. She later won the Cumberland Club's tournament two years running, which she said was a way to "rub their noses in it".
Source: The Jewish Chronicle obituaryIndia, 1955
She met Althea Gibson while both were playing tournaments in India at Christmas 1955, and the two bonded over films and music. In spring 1956 her coach suggested they team up for the French Championships; they won it, then Wimbledon. The friendship lasted almost 40 years.
Source: WTA; The Jewish ChronicleWimbledon, 1956
After their doubles title one newspaper headline read "Minorities Win", which did not impress her. When she and her mother were told the Wimbledon Ball was sold out, her mother threatened to keep her at home on finals day; a ticket manager then found two more tickets.
Source: The Jewish Chronicle obituary1956 to 1957
A wrist injury at a tournament in New Jersey shortly after Wimbledon effectively ended her top-level career. She still won the Maccabiah Games singles for the third time, and played some smaller events left-handed.
Source: The Jewish Chronicle obituaryNew York, 2019
She spent decades keeping her old partner's achievements in view, co-produced the 2014 documentary Althea, and in 2019 was at the US Open for the unveiling of Gibson's statue. Billie Jean King's tribute on her death read: "Rest In Peace to a true champion."
Source: The Jewish Chronicle; ITF obituaryFree membership: player news, the grass court Atlas, the rankings and the grass season calendar.
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