Althea Gibson defeated

Angela Mortimer Florence Angela Margaret Mortimer Barrett, Order of the British Empire, MBE (née Mortimer; born 21 April 1932) is a British former world No. 1 tennis player. Mortimer won three Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam singles titles: the 1955 French Cham ...

in the final, 6–0, 12–10 to win the women's singles tennis title at the 1956 French Championships. It was her first Grand Slam tournament title, and Gibson became the first

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

to win a Grand Slam tournament.

Seeds

The seeded players are listed below. Althea Gibson is the champion; others show the round in which they were eliminated. #

''(finalist)'' # Dorothy Knode ''(third round)'' # Althea Gibson ''(champion)'' #

Mary Hawton Mary Renetta Hawton (née Bevis; 4 September 1924 – 18 January 1981) was a tennis player from Australia. Her career ranged from the 1940s to the 1950s. Hawton won the women's doubles title at the Australian Open, Australian Championships five ...

''(first round)'' # Zsuzsi Körmöczy ''(semifinals)'' # Shirley Bloomer ''(quarterfinals)'' #

Christiane Mercelis Christiane Mercelis (5 October 1931 – 14 June 2024) was a Belgian tennis player. She was active from 1947 to 1969 and won 47 career singles titles. Mercelis died on 14 June 2024, at the age of 92. Career In 1949, Mercelis won the Girls' Singl ...

''(second round)'' # Barbara Davidson ''(second round)'' # Suzanne Le Besnerais ''(third round)'' # Edda Buding ''(quarterfinals)'' # Thelma Long ''(third round)'' # Darlene Hard ''(third round)'' # Annalissa Bellani ''(third round)'' #

Ginette Bucaille Ginette Bucaille (née Jucker; 25 January 1926 – 19 January 2021) was a tennis player from France. She reached the singles final at the 1954 French Championships in which she was defeated by Maureen Connolly in straight sets. She reached the q ...

''(third round)'' # Angela Buxton ''(semifinals)'' # Myrtil Dubois ''(third round)''

Draw

Key

* Q = Qualifier * WC = Wild card * LL =

Lucky loser A lucky loser is a sports competitor (player or team) who loses a match in a knockout tournament or loses in qualifying, but who then enters the main draw. This can occur when another competitor withdraws during the tournament because of illness ...

* r =

Retired Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload. Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...

Finals

Earlier rounds

Section 1

Section 2

Section 3

Section 4

References

External links

* on the French Open website {{DEFAULTSORT:French Championships - Women's Singles,1956 1956 in women's tennis

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan after 57 years. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, E ...

1956 in French women's sport 1956 in French tennis