Before there was Venus and Serena Williams, there were other Black female tennis stars who shined on the national spotlight. Many people know of Althea Gibson’s success as the first Black woman to win a Grand Slam tennis championship. But there were others, like Zina Garrison and Lori McNeil, who achieved success at the highest level of tennis before the Williams sisters.

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Lori McNeil was born on December 18, 1963 in San Diego, Ca. Her mother was a tennis aficionado so McNeil grew up playing. Raised in Houston, Texas she would share public courts with Garrison, who went on to become a tennis champion herself. In 1986, she and Garrison made history as the first two African-Americans to face each other in a major professional tennis championship at the Eckerd Open. McNeil won it in three sets

Source: Little Known Black History Fact: Lori McNeil