AMERICAN MASTERS: "ALTHEA"
PBS, 9:00 p.m. ET
This documentary film biography of tennis champion Althea Gibson is presented in cannily timely fashion, just as Serena Williams is trying to accomplish some amazing feats in women’s tennis at the current U.S. Open Championship. What Gibson did, as an African-American tennis player in the years after WWII and beyond, is a special story indeed. Watch her face her first opponent in a major tennis final. Watch her, later, winning it all at Wimbledon, and later at the U.S. Open. Watch her as a guest on What’s My Line? and singing on The Ed Sullivan Show – and then ask yourself, Why don’t I know more about this woman? Now you will. Check local listings.