Black History,  Sports

Arthur Ashe

Arthur Ashe

Arthur Ashe biography

Synopsis

Born on July 10,1943, in Richmond, Virginia, Arthur Ashe became the first, and still only, black player to win the men’s singles at Wimbledon, the U.S. Open, or the Australian Open. Always an activist, when Ashe learned that he had contracted AIDS via a blood transfusion, he turned his efforts to raising awareness of the disease, before finally succumbing to it in 1993.

Early Life

Tennis player. Born Arthur Robert Ashe, Jr. on July 10,1943, in  Richmond, Virginia. The oldest of Arthur Ashe, Sr. and Mattie  Cunningham’s two sons, Arthur Ashe, Jr. blended finesse and power to  forge a groundbreaking tennis game. He became the first, and currently  only, African-American to win the men’s singles at Wimbledon, the U.S.  Open, or the Australian Open.

Ashe’s childhood was marked by  hardship and opportunity. Under his mother’s direction, Ashe was reading  by the age of four. But his life was turned upside-down two years  later, when Mattie passed away.

Ashe’s father, fearful of seeing  his boys fall into trouble without their mother’s discipline, began  running a tighter ship at home. Ashe and his younger brother Johnnie  went to church every Sunday, and after school were required to come  straight home. Arthur, Sr. even clocked the distance: “My father…kept  me home, out of trouble. I had exactly 12 minutes to get home from  school, and I kept to that rule through high school.”

Tennis Fame

About a year after his mother’s death, Arthur discovered the game of  tennis, picking up a racket for the first time at the age of seven, at a  park not far from his home. Sticking with the game, Ashe eventually  caught the attention of Dr. Robert Walter Johnson, Jr., a tennis coach  from Lynchburg, Virginia, who was active in the black tennis community.  Under Johnson’s direction, Ashe excelled.

In his first  tournament, Ashe reached the junior national championships. Driven to  excel, he eventually moved to St. Louis to work closely with another  coach, winning the junior national title in 1960 and again in 1961.  Ranked the fifth best junior player in the country, Ashe accepted a  scholarship at UCLA, where he graduated with a degree in business  administration.

Ashe continued to refine his game, gaining the  attention of his tennis idol, Pancho Gonzales, who further helped Ashe  hone his serve-and-volley attack. The training all came together in  1968, when the still-amateur Ashe shocked the world by capturing the  U.S. Open title. Two years later, he took home the Australian title, and  in 1975 registered another upset by beating Jimmy Connors in the  Wimbledon finals.

For Ashe, however, success also brought  opportunity and responsibility. He didn’t relish his status as the sole  black star in a game dominated by white players, but he didn’t run away  from it either. With his unique pulpit, he pushed to create inner city  tennis programs for youth; helped found the Association of Men’s Tennis  Professionals; and spoke out against apartheid in South Africa—even  going so far as to successfully lobby for a visa so he could visit and  play tennis there.

Health Problems

Ashe’s causes were shaped by both his own personal story and his  health. In 1979, he retired from competition after suffering a heart  attack, and wrote a history of African-American athletes: A Hard Road to Glory (3 vols, 1988). He also served as national campaign chairman of the American Heart Association.

Ashe was plagued with health issues over the last 14  years of his life. After undergoing a quadruple bypass operation in  1979, he went under the knife again in 1983 for a second bypass. In  1988, he underwent emergency brain surgery after experiencing paralysis  of his right arm. A biopsy taken during a hospital stay revealed that  Ashe had AIDS. Doctors soon figured out that Ashe had become positive  for H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS, from a transfusion of bad blood  during his second heart operation.

Political Activism

Initially, Ashe kept the news hidden from the public. But in 1992, Ashe came forward with the news after he learned that USA Today was working on a story about his health battle. Finally free from the  burden of trying to hide his condition, Ashe poured himself into the  work of raising awareness about the disease. He delivered a speech at  the United Nations, started a new foundation, and laid the groundwork  for a $5 million fundraising campaign for the institution.

He  continued to work, even as his health began to deteriorate, making it  down to Washington D.C. in late 1992 to participate in a protest over  the U.S. treatment of Haitian refugees. For his part in the  demonstration, Ashe was taken away in handcuffs. It was a poignant final  display for a man who was never shy about showing his concern for the  welfare of others.

 

Death and Legacy

On February 6, 1993, Arthur Ashe passed away.  Four days later he was laid to rest in his hometown of Richmond,  Virginia. Some 6,000 people attended the service.

Ashe, who was  inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1985, was married  to Jeanne Moutoussamy from 1977 until his death. They have one  daughter, Camera.

Source Biography.com