Before the Williams’ sister dominated the world of tennis, Alice Marble paved the way for the future of women in the sport.
In her latest book, author Madeleine Blais latest book Queen of the Court: The Many Lives of Tennis Legend Alice Marble, she goes in depth the importance of the tennis legend to the sport and culture.
Blais will be at the Miami Book Fair 2023 to discuss her book, which will also be in on sale. The Miami Book Fair starts November 12.
“At one point she was the it girl,” she said in an interview with The Roman Show. “She was more famous or at least as famous as sea biscuit the horse.”
She later added, “She was friends with movie stars. She designed clothing line and wrote a memoir and wrote for a magazine. But with time she faded from the limelight. I was interested in half the third of her life as a regular civilian woman single at a time where women opportunity was limited,” she said.
Marble won 18 Grand Slam championships between 1936 and 1940: five in singles, six in women’s doubles and seven in mixed doubles. In 1939, she was ranked number one. But not she excelled as an athlete and more.
“Marble, according to Billy Jean King, she was the first female sports activist. I don’t think she was the first sports activist, but she argued for equal pay back in the 30’s and 40’s and argued for her own money. As an amateur she wasn’t paid anything under the table,” she said. “She didn’t make much money and she was the greatest female athlete at the time.”
Hear the complete interview now on this week’s episode.
