Joe Cabri, Althea Gibson, Bonnie Vandegrift selected for Southern Tennis Hall of Fame

The Southern Tennis Foundation (STF), the charitable affiliate of United States Tennis Association (USTA) Southern Section, announces three tennis luminaries have been selected for induction into the Southern Tennis Hall of Fame Class of 2026: Joe Cabri, Althea Gibson and Bonnie Vandegrift.

They will be inducted during the Lucy Garvin Southern Tennis Hall of Fame Banquet,  scheduled for Jan. 24, 2026, in Atlanta. 

A summary of their accomplishments, along with a link to the complete bios on SouthernTennisFoundation.org, is below.

JOE CABRI, Greenwood, S.C. Joe Cabri coached Lander University men’s tennis team to a record-breaking eight straight NCAA Division II championships. He was named NCAA Division II Coach of the Decade in 2000. He also holds 10 national Coach of the Year Awards from NAIA and NCAA Division II. He is the recipient of the Order of the Palmetto, the highest honor a citizen of South Carolina can receive.

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ALTHEA GIBSON, Silver, S.C. (posthumous) Heralded as the first Black athlete to break barriers in tennis, Althea Gibson won 11 Grand Slam titles, five in singles, five in doubles and one in mixed doubles. She was the first Black athlete to compete at the U.S. National Championships (now known as the US Open) in 1950 and at Wimbledon in 1951. She was ranked No. 1 in the world in 1957 and was the first Black woman to appear on the covers of Time and Sports Illustrated. She was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1971. 

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BONNIE VANDEGRIFT, Asheville, N.C. A former USTA Southern President & CEO and former Southern Tennis Foundation Chair, Bonnie Vandegrift has been a tennis leader at the local, state, sectional and national levels of the USTA. She is the recipient of the following honors: the USTA Barbara Williams Service Award, the USTA Southern Gerrie Rothwell Award and the USTA League Award. 

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