Arthur Ashe
Arthur Ashe was a pioneering American tennis player and a prominent advocate for social issues. Born in Richmond, Virginia, in 1943, Ashe began playing tennis at a young age, benefitting from his father's role as a caretaker of a local park that included tennis courts. He made history as the first African American to earn a U.S. Lawn Tennis Association ranking and to win a national title in 1960. Ashe attended UCLA, where he became a standout player and the first African American selected for the U.S. Davis Cup team. His tennis career included significant achievements, such as winning the U.S. Open in 1968 and Wimbledon in 1975, both groundbreaking victories for an African American athlete. Beyond sports, Ashe was a devoted humanitarian who advocated for education, protested against apartheid in South Africa, and raised awareness about AIDS after disclosing his own diagnosis in 1992. Ashe's legacy is marked by both his athletic prowess and his commitment to social justice, making him a significant figure in both sports and civil rights history. He passed away on February 6, 1993.
Subject Terms
Arthur Ashe
Tennis Player
- Born: July 10, 1943
- Birthplace: Richmond, Virginia
- Died: February 6, 1993
- Place of death: New York, New York
Tennis player and activist
The first African American tennis player to win Grand Slam titles, Ashe also came to be recognized for his support for causes ranging from civil rights to AIDS. His 1992 announcement that he had contracted AIDS through a blood transfusion led to public campaigns to raise awareness and correct misconceptions about the disease.
Areas of achievement: Social issues; Sports: golf and tennis
Early Life
Arthur Robert Ashe, Jr., was born to Mattie and Arthur Ashe, Sr., in Richmond, Virginia. Ashe’s mother died of heart disease when he was five. Left with only his father, Ashe Jr. benefited from his father’s occupation—that of caretaker for the Brook Field Park in North Richmond. The park included three baseball fields, a pool, and most importantly, four tennis courts. The family lived on the park’s grounds and Ashe began playing tennis at the age of six.
A bit of good fortune came in the introduction of Dr. R. Walter Johnson, an African American doctor from Lynchburg, Virginia, who coached tennis prospects each summer. While Johnson drilled his pupils with a certain military zeal, he also sought to introduce the concept of sportsmanship, instilling a respect for opponents and prohibiting cheating. Ashe incorporated these values into his game, which began to flourish during his high school career. He showed promise in playing as a junior member in American Tennis Association tournaments and was the first African American to receive a U.S. Lawn Tennis Association (USLTA) ranking. Ashe also was the first African American to win a USLTA national title, in 1960. The University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) offered him a scholarship, and Ashe took the opportunity.
Life’s Work
While Ashe was at UCLA, his tennis skills continued to improve and he became one of his team’s foremost figures. The same year that he began his collegiate career, Ashe also became the first African American ever selected for the U.S. Davis Cup team, which faces international competition. Two years later, Ashe again made history by winning both the singles and doubles National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) national titles. Those efforts helped lead UCLA to a national championship in tennis.
After Ashe graduated from UCLA with a degree in business administration, he served in the U.S. Army, which made concessions so that he could compete in tennis tournaments. When he left the Army in 1968, he had reached the rank of first lieutenant; with regard to his tennis career, however, he was still an amateur. This fact led to a double significance when Ashe participated in the U.S. Open tournament that year. When Ashe beat Tom Okker in the final, in a five-set match, he became not only the first African American to win the title but also the first amateur to win it.
With his career on the rise, Ashe started the Association for Tennis Professionals (ATP). The goal of the ATP is to ensure that the players are earning money commensurate with the growth of the sport. This organization also helps provide guidelines for tennis competition. For the 1969 season, Ashe turned professional and became the sport’s top money winner. The next year, Ashe won his second Grand Slam singles title at the Australian Open, besting Dick Crealy in the final. This victory served to cement Ashe’s status as one of the top players on the tour and drew more media attention to both him and the sport.
For the next few years, Ashe enjoyed success, but nothing like the heights he had reached by winning the two Grand Slam titles. His most historic victory may be the one that he earned in 1975. Considered a long shot to win the Wimbledon title, Ashe met fellow American Jimmy Connors in the final. At the time, Connors was the player to beat and the media gave Ashe little chance to better his countryman. However, Ashe defeated Connors in four sets, 6-1, 6-1, 5-7, 6-4.
That victory would prove to be the last memorable one of Ashe’s career. While Ashe could still play a solid game of tennis, he was not progressing as far in tournaments. In 1979, heart surgery essentially ended his career. After a failed attempt to return to tennis, Ashe was forced again to have heart surgery in 1983. Five years later, Ashe underwent brain surgery, during which doctors found abscesses on his brain that indicated acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS).
In 1992, Ashe publicly announced that he had AIDS. For the remaining months of his life, Ashe devoted himself to raising awareness of the disease and raising money to search for a cure. He died in New York City on February 6, 1993.
Significance
Ashe was an excellent tennis player and a man willing to set precedents. Besides his accomplishments on the court, Ashe founded a tennis program for inner-city youths, captained the U.S. Davis Cup Team, protested against apartheid in South Africa, became an advocate for higher education, wrote, and also raised awareness of heart disease on behalf of the American Heart Association.
Bibliography
Ashe, Arthur, and Arnold Rampersad. Days of Grace. New York: Random House, 1994. Ashe completed this account of his life just weeks before his death. It offers a firsthand account of his life and offers insights into tennis and his activism.
Harris, Cecil, and Larryette Kyle-DeBose. Charging the Net: A History of Blacks in Tennis from Althea Gibson and Arthur Ashe to the Williams Sisters. Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, 2007. Provides context for the racial divide that existed when Ashe began playing and examines how race affected the sport of tennis over several decades.
Jenkins, Sally. “Another Battle Joined.” Sports Illustrated, April 20, 1992, 24-25. Details Ashe’s announcement that he had AIDS and his plans for fighting it and raising public awareness.
Steins, Richard. Arthur Ashe: A Biography. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2005. This updated look at Ashe’s life is intended for students but is an excellent source for any reader and provides details of how Ashe overcame segregation in tennis.