Angela Buxton (16 August 193414 August 2020) was a British

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball cov ...

player. She won the women's doubles title at both the

French Championships The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ve ...

and Wimbledon in 1956 with her playing partner

Althea Gibson Althea Neale Gibson (August 25, 1927September 28, 2003) was an American tennis player and professional golfer, and one of the first Black athletes to cross the color line of international tennis. In 1956, she became the first African American ...

Early life

Buxton was born in Liverpool on 16 August 1934, one of two children born to Harry and Violet (Greenberg) Buxton. Her grandparents on both sides were Jewish and had immigrated to England from Russia, fleeing from the pogroms in the early 1900s. She was raised partly in South Africa. Buxton's father owned a successful cinema chain in northwestern England, which allowed her to attend boarding school at

Gloddaeth Hall Gloddaeth Hall originated as a large country house in Llandudno, Caernarfonshire (now Conwy), Wales. It is designated by Cadw as a Grade I listed building. It stands on land which had been owned by the Mostyn family since the 15th ce ...

. While there, a coach noticed her tennis ability and urged her to acquire more training.

Career

Buxton began playing tennis at a young age. After spending time undergoing training in London and Los Angeles, in 1954 she earned the British No. 4 ranking. Buxton then reached the 1955 Wimbledon singles quarterfinals and climbed to World No. 9 in the rankings. She played in

Wightman Cup The Wightman Cup was an annual team tennis competition for women contested from 1923 through 1989 (except during World War II) between teams from the United States and Great Britain. History U.S. player Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman wanted to generate ...

competition for the United Kingdom in 1954, 1955, and 1956. Buxton had her most successful tennis year in 1956. She won the women's doubles title and reached the singles final at Wimbledon, the first Briton to do so in 17 years. She won the English Indoor and London Grass Court singles championships and the English Hard Court doubles crown (with

Darlene Hard Darlene Ruth Hard (January 6, 1936 – December 2, 2021) was an American professional tennis player, known for her aggressive volleying ability and strong serves. She captured singles titles at the French Championships in 1960 and the U.S. Champ ...

). At the French Championships, she reached the singles semifinals and won the women's doubles title with

, who was the first African-American champion. Buxton was ranked World No. 5 by ''World Tennis'' and World No. 6 by

Lance Tingay Lance Tingay (15 July 1915 – 10 March 1990) was a British sports journalist, historian, and author of several tennis books. For many years his annual ranking of top tennis players was "the only one that counted" before ATP rankings were introduc ...

. Buxton also won the women's singles title at the

1953 Maccabiah Games Eight hundred ninety athletes representing 23 countries competed in the 1953 4th Maccabiah Games, held September 20 to 29, in 18 branches of sports. Israeli President Itzhak Ben-Zvi opened the Games at Ramat Gan Stadium in Tel Aviv District, in fr ...

in Israel. After suffering a serious hand condition in late 1956 (

tenosynovitis Tenosynovitis is the inflammation of the fluid-filled sheath (called the synovium) that surrounds a tendon, typically leading to joint pain, swelling, and stiffness. Tenosynovitis can be either infectious or noninfectious. Common clinical manifest ...

), Buxton was forced to retire following the 1957 season at the age of 22. Buxton's Judaism played a role throughout her career. Her religious background prevented full acceptance within the tennis world from an early age. Regarding her experience at the Cumberland, an elite lawn tennis club in London, she said: Buxton repeatedly was refused access to training facilities because of her ethnicity. From the mid-1950s, she was able to practise at the private indoor court of

Simon Marks Simon Marks, 1st Baron Marks of Broughton (9 July 1888 – 8 December 1964), was an English retail businessman and baron, the son of Michael Marks, the co-founder of major British multinational company Marks & Spencer. Biography Early life M ...

, the Jewish owner of department store chain

Marks and Spencer Marks and Spencer Group plc (commonly abbreviated to M&S and colloquially known as Marks's or Marks & Sparks) is a major British multinational retailer with headquarters in Paddington, London that specialises in selling clothing, beauty, home ...

, who had become aware of the difficulties which Buxton faced. After Buxton won the women's doubles title at Wimbledon with an African-American partner

, one English newspaper reported the event with a story titled "Minorities Win". "It was in very small type", said Buxton, "lest anyone should see it". Contradictory information surrounds the issue why Buxton was never a member of the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club in Wimbledon. In one interview she recalled that she herself had refused an offer of hononary membership to the club, whereas in another she stated she had not refused it. She was a guest of the club at the Championships in 2014 with seating in the Royal Box. On another occasion, Buxton claimed the reason for not being a member of the club was antisemitic prejudice. Buxton said in 2004: "I think the

anti-Semitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

is still there. The mere fact that I'm not a member is a full sentence that speaks for itself." The chairman of the club said he could not comment until he investigated further and it was reported in 2019 that the club explained that membership was a private matter and strongly refuted that race or religion play a factor. In 2009, Buxton remarked that "I wish

ennis Ennis () is the county town of County Clare, in the mid-west of Ireland. The town lies on the River Fergus, north of where the river widens and enters the Shannon Estuary. Ennis is the largest town in County Clare, with a population of 25,27 ...

still wasn't such an elite sport", Buxton said. "I wish we could bring it down to a common baseline. It's going that way. It's still not there.""Buxton, Angela," ''Jews in Sports''
, accessed 12 March 2014.

Later life and legacy

Buxton was inducted into the

International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame The International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame ( he, יד לאיש הספורט היהודי, translit=Yad Le'ish HaSport HaYehudi) was opened July 7, 1981 in Netanya, Israel. It honors Jewish athletes and their accomplishments from anywhere around ...

in 1981. In 2014, she was inducted into the

National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame The National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and Museum, in Commack, New York, is dedicated to honoring American Jewish figures who have distinguished themselves in sports. Its objective is to foster Jewish identity through athletics, and to commemo ...

. In 2015, the Black Tennis Hall of Fame inducted Buxton, honoring her for her doubles partnership and friendship with Althea Gibson as well as her efforts to raise funds for the ailing Gibson near the end of her life. Buxton wrote the tennis books ''Tackle Lawn Tennis This Way'' (1958), ''Starting Tennis'' (1975), and ''Winning Tennis: Doubles Tactics'' (1980). Buxton founded the Angela Buxton Tennis Centre in

Hampstead Garden Suburb Hampstead Garden Suburb is an elevated suburb of London, north of Hampstead, west of Highgate and east of Golders Green. It is known for its intellectual, liberal, artistic, musical and literary associations. It is an example of early twentie ...

. In later years, she divided her time between

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester city centre, southwest of Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2011 Census, it had a population o ...

and Florida, where she kept a winter home and regularly attended tournaments and mentored players. She died on 14 August 2020, two days short of her 86th birthday, at her home in

Fort Lauderdale A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facer ...

Grand Slam finals

Singles (1 runner-up)

Doubles (2 titles)

Grand Slam singles tournament timeline

References

External links

Jewish Sports bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Buxton, Angela 1934 births 2020 deaths English female tennis players English Jews English people of Russian-Jewish descent French Championships (tennis) champions Jewish tennis players Maccabiah Games gold medalists for Great Britain Sportspeople from Liverpool Maccabiah Games medalists in tennis Competitors at the 1957 Maccabiah Games Wimbledon champions (pre-Open Era) Grand Slam (tennis) champions in women's doubles British female tennis players Tennis people from Merseyside