I don't want to be put on a pedestal. I just want to be reasonably successful and live a normal life with all the conveniences to make it so.

Most of us who aspire to be tops in our fields don't really consider the amount of work required to stay tops.

I think I've already got the main thing I've always wanted, which is to be somebody, to have an identify. I'm Althea Gibson, the tennis champion. I hope it makes me happy.

I was nervous and confident at the same, nervous about going out there in front of all those people, with so much at stake, and confident that I was going to go out there and win.

I don't consciously beat the drums for any cause, not even the negro in the United States.

In sports, you simply aren't considered a real champion until you have defended your title successfully. Winning it once can be a fluke; winning it twice proves you are the best.

In the field of sports you are more or less accepted for what you do rather than what you are.