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Brienne Minor made history last month when she won the NCAA Women’s tennis singles championship, achieving the feat as an unseeded player. The 19-year-old University of Michigan sophomore knew going in that she would be the first Wolverine to win the title, but it took days for her to realize she made history on another front as well.

Minor, who is from Mundelein, Illinois, a Chicago suburb, needed her sister to call and inform her of the historic win in Georgia. In a chat with The Washington Post, Minor shared how she came to learn she is the first Black woman to win the NCAA Division I singles tennis title.

“I didn’t even realize it until my sister said something to me a couple days later,” Minor said to the Post.

She adds, “It’s such an honor, and I hope I can be a good role model for other African-American tennis players, because there’s not a lot in this game.”

Hailing from a tennis family, Minor’s father did some digging to find out more about his daughter’s win. In his research, he discovered that USTA president Katrina Adams was the first Black woman to win the NCAA doubles tournament in 1987 but couldn’t locate another Black woman who won the singles championship.

The last time a Black player won the NCAA Division I singles title, man or woman, was Arthur Ashe in 1965.

PHOTO: YouTube screenshot

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Little Known Black History Fact: Brienne Minor  was originally published on blackamericaweb.com