Althea Gibson

"Being the Queen of Tennis is all well and good, but you can't eat a crown. Nor can you send the Internal Revenue Service a throne clipped to their tax forms...I reign over an empty bank account, and I'm not going to fill it by playing amateur tennis."

"Suddenly it dawned on me that my triumphs had not destroyed the racial barriers once and for all, as I had—perhaps naively—hoped. Or if I did destroy them, they had been erected behind me again."

"People thought I was ruthless, which I was. I didn't give a darn who was on the other side of the net. I'd knock you down if you got in my way."

"I was lean, mean, and hungry."

"It takes a lot to become a champion. You need to be a killer. If you can't look over that net and see Public Enemy Number One, then you aren't going to be a champ.""

"She is one of the greatest players who ever lived. . . Martina couldn't touch her. I think she'd beat the Williams sisters."