Arthur Ashe
 Arthur Ashe greets President Reagan in 1982 |
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| Country |  United States |
|---|---|
| Residence | Petersburg, Virginia |
| Date of birth | July 10, 1943 |
| Place of birth | Richmond, Virginia, USA |
| Date of death | February 6, 1993 (aged 49) |
| Place of death | New York City, New York, USA |
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) |
| Weight | 160 lb (73 kg; 11 st) |
| Turned pro | 1969 |
| Retired | 1980 |
| Plays | Right-handed; one-handed backhand |
| Career prize money | US$1,584,909 (according to the ATP) |
| Int. Tennis HOF | 1985 (member page) |
| Singles | |
| Career record | 818-260 (at Grand Prix tour, WCT tour, and Grand Slam level, and in Davis Cup) |
| Career titles | 33 |
| Highest ranking | No. 1 (1969) |
| Grand Slam results | |
| Australian Open | W (1970) |
| French Open | QF (1970, 1971) |
| Wimbledon | W (1975) |
| US Open | W (1968) |
| Doubles | |
| Career record | 323-176 (at Grand Prix tour, WCT tour, and Grand Slam level, and in Davis Cup) |
| Career titles | 18 (14 according to the ATP) |
| Highest ranking | 15 (30 August, 1977) |
| Grand Slam Doubles results | |
| Australian Open | W (1977) |
| French Open | W (1971) |
| Wimbledon | F (1971) |
| US Open | F (1968) |
Arthur Robert Ashe, Jr. (July 10, 1943 – February 6, 1993) was a professional tennis player, born and raised in Richmond, Virginia. During his career, he won three Grand Slam titles, putting him among the best ever from the U.S. Ashe, an African American, is also remembered for his efforts to further social causes.
Early life and tennis career
Ashe was coached by Ronald Charity, and later coached by Robert Walter Johnson. Tired of having to travel great distances to play Caucasian youths in segregated Richmond, Ashe accepted an offer from a St. Louis tennis official to move there and attend Sumner High School.[1] Young Ashe was recognized by Sports Illustrated for his playing.[2]
Ashe was awarded a tennis scholarship to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1963. That same year, Ashe became the first black player ever selected to the United States Davis Cup team.
In 1965, Ashe won the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) singles title and contributed to UCLA's winning the team NCAA tennis championship. While at UCLA, Ashe was initiated as a member of the Upsilon chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity.
In 1968, Ashe won the United States Amateur Championships and the inaugural US Open and aided the U.S Davis Cup team to victory. He is the only player to have won both of these amateur and open national championships in the same year.[3] Concerned that tennis professionals were not receiving winnings commensurate with the sport's growing popularity, Ashe supported formation of the Association of Tennis Professionals. That year would prove even more momentous for Ashe when he was denied a visa by the South African government, thereby keeping him out of the South African Open. Ashe used this denial to publicize South Africa's apartheid policies. In the media, Ashe called for South Africa to be expelled from the professional tennis circuit.
In 1969, Ashe turned professional. In 1970, Ashe won his second Grand Slam singles title at the Australian Open.
In 1975, Ashe won Wimbledon, unexpectedly defeating Jimmy Connors in the final. He played for several more years, but after being slowed by heart surgery in 1979, Ashe retired in 1980.
Ashe remains the only African American man to ever win the singles title at Wimbledon, the US Open, or Australian Open. He is one of only two men of black African ancestry to win a Grand Slam singles title, the other being France's Yannick Noah, who won the French Open in 1983.
In his 1979 autobiography, Jack Kramer, the long-time tennis promoter and great player himself, ranked Ashe as one of the 21 best players of all time.[4]
Grand Slam singles tournament timeline
| Tournament | 1968 | 1969 | 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 19771 | 1978 | 1979 | Career SR | Career Win-Loss | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | A | A | W | F | A | A | A | A | A | QF | A | SF | A | 1 / 4 | 16–3 |
| French Open | A | 4R | QF | 4R | 4R | A | 4R | A | 4R | 3R | A | A | 0 / 8 | 25–8 | |
| Wimbledon | SF | SF | 4R | 3R | A | A | 3R | W | 4R | A | 1R | 1R | 1 / 9 | 27–8 | |
| US Open | W | SF | QF | SF | F | 3R | QF | 4R | 2R | A | 4R | A | 1 / 10 | 38–9 | |
| Win-Loss | 11–1 | 13–3 | 15–3 | 15–4 | 6–1 | 5–2 | 9–3 | 10–1 | 7–3 | 3–1 | 10–4 | 2–2 | N/A | 106–28 | |
| SR | 1 / 2 | 0 / 3 | 1 / 4 | 0 / 4 | 0 / 1 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 3 | 1 / 2 | 0 / 3 | 0 / 1 | 0 / 4 | 0 / 2 | 3 / 31 | N/A | |
1The Australian Open was held twice in 1977, in January and December.
A = did not participate in the tournament
SR = the ratio of the number of Grand Slam singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played
Activities after retirement from professional tennis
After his retirement, Ashe took on many new tasks, including writing for Time magazine, commentating for ABC Sports, founding the National Junior Tennis League, and serving as captain of the U.S. Davis Cup team. In 1983, Ashe underwent a second heart surgery. He was elected to the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1985. He also founded the Arthur Ashe Foundation for the Defeat of AIDS.[5]
Personal life
Ashe served in the U.S. Army from 1966–68, reaching the rank of first lieutenant. On February 20, 1977, Ashe married Jeanne Moutoussamy, a photographer he had met four months earlier. Andrew Young, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, performed the ceremony at the U.N. chapel in New York. Arthur and Jeanne adopted one child together, a daughter, who was born on December 21, 1986. She was named Camera after her mother's profession. Camera was only six years old when her father died
In 1979, Ashe suffered a heart attack, an event that surprised the public in view of his high level of fitness as an athlete. His condition drew attention to the hereditary aspect of heart disease. Ashe underwent a quadruple bypass operation, performed by Dr. John Hutchinson on December 13, 1979.[6] A few months after the operation, Ashe was on the verge of making his return to professional tennis. However, during a family trip in Cairo, Egypt, he developed chest pain while running. Ashe stopped running and returned to see physician and close friend Douglas Stein, who had accompanied the family on the trip. Stein urged Ashe to return to New York City so he could be close to his cardiologist and surgeon.[6]
In 1983, Ashe underwent a second round of heart surgery to correct the bypass surgery he received back in 1979. In 1988, Ashe fell ill and discovered he had apparently contracted HIV during the blood transfusions he had received during his second heart surgery. He and his wife kept his illness private until April 8, 1992, when reports that the newspaper USA Today was about to publish a story about his health condition because of his increasingly gaunt physical appearance forced him to make a public announcement that he had the disease. In the last year of his life, Ashe did much to call attention to AIDS sufferers worldwide. Two months before his death, he founded the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health to help address issues of inadequate health care delivery and was named Sports Illustrated magazine's Sportsman of the Year. He also spent much of the last years of his life writing his memoir Days of Grace, finishing the manuscript less than a week before his death.
Ashe died from complications from AIDS on February 6, 1993. He had toxoplasmosis, an infection related to AIDS. Whether this contributed to his death is unknown.[7]
Civil rights leader
Ashe, the first African-American male to win a Grand Slam event, was an active civil rights supporter. He was a member of a delegation of 31 prominent African-Americans who visited South Africa to observe political change in the country as it approached racial integration.
He was arrested on January 11, 1985, for protesting outside the South African embassy in Washington, D.C. during an anti-apartheid rally. He was also arrested again on September 9, 1992, outside the White House for protesting on the recent crackdown on Haitian refugees.
Honors
- After his death, Arthur Ashe's body lay in state at the governor's mansion in his home state of Virginia. The last time this was allowed was for Stonewall Jackson of the Confederate Army during the Civil War.
- The city of Richmond posthumously honored Ashe's life with a statue on Monument Avenue, a place traditionally reserved for statues of key figures of the Confederacy. This decision led to some controversy in a city that was the capital of the Confederate States during the American Civil War.
- In 1993, Ashe was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Bill Clinton.
- The main stadium at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows Park, where the US Open is played, is named Arthur Ashe Stadium in his honor. This is also the home of the annual Arthur Ashe Kids' Day.
- In 2002, Ashe's achievement at Wimbledon in 1975 was voted 95th in Channel 4's 100 Greatest Sporting Moments.
- In 2002, scholar Molefi Kete Asante listed Arthur Ashe on his list of 100 Greatest African Americans.[8]
- In 2005, the United States Postal Service announced the release of an Arthur Ashe commemorative postal stamp, the first stamp ever to feature the cover of a Sports Illustrated magazine.
- Also in 2005, TENNIS Magazine put him in 30th place in their list of the 40 Greatest Players of the TENNIS Era.[9]
- His wife wrote a book, Daddy and Me, a photographic journey told from the perspective of his young daughter. Another book, Arthur Ashe and Me, also gives young readers a chance to learn about his life.
- ESPN's annual sports awards, the ESPY Awards, hands out the Arthur Ashe for Courage Award to a member of the sports world who best exhibits courage in the face of adversity.
- Philadelphia's Arthur Ashe Youth Tennis and Education Center and Richmond's Arthur Ashe Athletic Center are named for Ashe.
- The Arthur Ashe Student Health and Wellness Center at Ashe's alma mater, UCLA, is named for him. The center opened in 1997.
- He was inducted into the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Hall of Fame in 1983.[10]
Schools
There are a number of schools honoring Arthur Ashe.
- In Henrico County, Virginia (adjacent to Richmond), an elementary school in his honor was opened in the fall of 1994 as Henrico County's first volunteer uniform school, with grades kindergarten through five, a PEDD program, and a Head Start program.[11]
- The Arthur Ashe Charter school in New Orleans, Louisiana.[12]
- P.S. 161 - Arthur Ashe school within New York School district #28 is located in Jamacia, NY.[13]
- The Arthur Robert Ashe, Jr Middle School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.[14]
- The Arthur Ashe Academy in Michigan is part of the Southfield School district offering sixth through eleventh grades.[15]
Grand Slam finals
Singles: 7 finals (3 titles, 4 runner-ups)
| Outcome | Year | Championship | Surface | Opponent in the final | Score in the final |
| Runner-up | 1966 | Australian Championships | Hardcourt |  Roy Emerson |
6–4, 6–8, 6–2, 6–3 |
| Runner-up | 1967 | Australian Championships | Hardcourt | Roy Emerson |
6–4, 6–1, 6–4 |
| Winner | 1968 | US Open | Hardcourt |  Tom Okker |
14–12, 5–7, 6–3, 3–6, 6–3 |
| Winner | 1970 | Australian Open | Hardcourt | Dick Crealy |
6–4, 9–7, 6–2 |
| Runner-up | 1971 | Australian Open | Hardcourt | Ken Rosewall |
6–1, 7–5, 6–3 |
| Runner-up | 1972 | US Open | Hardcourt |  Ilie Năstase |
3–6, 6–3, 6–7(1–5), 6–4, 6–3 |
| Winner | 1975 | Wimbledon | Grass | Jimmy Connors |
6–1, 6–1, 5–7, 6–4 |
Grand Slam, Grand Prix and WCT Tour finals
Singles
Wins (33)
| 1. | August 1, 1968 | U.S. Amateur Championships, Boston MA, USA | |||
| 2. | August 29, 1968 | US Open, New York City, USA | Grass | Tom Okker |
14–12, 5–7, 6–3, 3–6, 6–3 |
| 3. | January 19, 1970 | Australian Open, Melbourne, Australia | Grass | Dick Crealy |
6–4, 9–7, 6–2 |
| 4. | 1970 | Berkeley, California | |||
| 5. | 1970 | Paris, France | |||
| 6. | 1971 | Charlotte, USA | |||
| 7. | 1971 | Paris, France | |||
| 8. | 1971 | Stockholm, Sweden |
- 1972 – Louisville WCT, Montreal WCT, Rome WCT, Rotterdam WCT
- 1973 – Chicago WCT, Washington
- 1974 – Barcelona WCT, Bologna WCT, Stockholm
- 1975 – Barcelona WCT, Dallas WCT, Los Angeles, Munich WCT, Rotterdam WCT, San Francisco, Stockholm - WCT, Wimbledon
- 1976 – Columbus WCT, Indianapolis WCT, Richmond WCT, Rome WCT, Rotterdam WCT
- 1978 – Colombus, Los Angeles, San Jose
Quotations
- "Success is a journey, not a destination."[16]
- "True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost."[17]
- "You are never really playing an opponent. You are playing yourself, your own highest standards, and when you reach your limits, that is real joy."[18]
- "If one's reputation is a possession, then of all my possessions, my reputation means most to me."[19]
- "I respected the way they stood tall against the sky and insisted on being heard in matters other than Track and Field -- on matters of Civil Rights and social responsibility. I couldn't help but admire them." --- on the Olympic athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos when they did the Black Power Salute at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City (as quoted by Samuel L. Jackson at the 2008 Espys)
- "From what we get, we make a living; what we give, however, makes a life." (paraphrasing Winston Churchill -"You make a living by what you get; you make a life by what you give")[20]
- "I believe I was destined to do more than hit tennis balls"[21]
- “If I were to say, God, why me? about the bad things, then I should have said, God, why me? about the good things that happened in my life.”[22]
- When he received a letter from a fan which conveyed:”Why did God have to select you for such a bad disease?” Ashe replied: "Listen. 50 million children around the world start playing tennis. 5 million learn to play tennis. 500,000 learn professional tennis. 50,000 come to the circuit. 5000 reach The Grand Slam. 50 reach Wimbledon. 8 reach the Quarterfinals. 4 to the Semifinals. 2 to the Finals. When i was holding the Cup i never asked God: Why me? So why now in pain should I be asking Him: WHY ME? [23]
Video
- Wimbledon 1975 Final: Ashe vs. Connors Standing Room Only, DVD Release Date: October 30, 2007, Run Time: 120 minutes, ASIN: B000V02CTQ.
See also
- Arthur Ashe Stadium, New York, NY
- Arthur Ashe Athletic Center, Richmond, VA
- Arthur Ashe Courage Award
- Arthur Ashe Kids' Day
- Levels of the Game, a 1969 book by John McPhee, exploring the 1968 U.S. Open semifinal match between Clark Graebner and Arthur Ashe
Further reading
Books by Arthur Ashe.
- Ashe, Arthur; Clifford George Gewecke (1967). Advantage Ashe. University of Michigan: Coward-McCann. pp. 192. http://books.google.com/books?id=UcqBAAAAMAAJ&source=gbs_navlinks_s. Retrieved 2009-09-09.
- Ashe, Arthur; Neil Amdur (1981). Off the court. New American Library. pp. 230. ISBN 0453004008. http://books.google.com/books?id=&source=gbs_navlinks_s. Retrieved 2009-09-09.
- Ashe, Arthur; Rampersad, Arnold (1993). Days of Grace: A Memoir. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 0-679-42396-6.
- Ashe, Arthur (1993). A Hard Road to Glory: A History of the African-American Athlete. New York, NY: Amistad. ISBN 1567430066, 1567430074, 1567430082. http://lccn.loc.gov/93007395.
Books about Arthur Ashe, by date published.
- Robinson, Louie (1969). Arthur Ashe: tennis champion. Washington Square Press. pp. 135. ISBN 0671292781. http://books.google.com/books?id=LqRPAAAACAAJ&dq=arthur+ashe&ei=kW6oSuXTIIPYNc_P6K4K. Retrieved 2009-09-09.
- Deford, Frank; Ashe, Arthur (1975). Arthur Ashe: Portrait in Motion. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0-395-20429-1.
- Weissberg, Ted; Coretta Scott King (1991). Arthur Ashe--tennis great. Demco Media. pp. 109. ISBN 0791011151. http://books.google.com/books?id=wi-CNgAACAAJ. Retrieved 2009-09-09.
- Collins, David (1994). Arthur Ashe: against the wind. Dillon Press. pp. 128. ISBN 0875186475. http://books.google.com/books?id=wgeSAAAACAAJ&source=gbs_navlinks_s. Retrieved 2009-09-09.
- Towle, Mike (2001). I Remember Arthur Ashe: Memories of a True Tennis Pioneer and Champion of Social Causes by the People Who Knew Him. Cumberland House Publishing. ISBN 1-58182-149-2.
- Steins, Richard (2005). Arthur Ashe:a biography. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 103. ISBN 0313332991.
- Mantell, Paul (2006). Arthur Ashe: Young Tennis Champion. Simon and Schuster. pp. 224. ISBN 0689873468. http://books.google.com/books?id=TOgIQMjFE8QC&dq=arthur+ashe+school.
References
- ↑ "TRAVEL ADVISORY; Black History in St. Louis", The New York Times, May 10, 1992. Accessed December 11, 2007. "Sumner High School, the first school west of the Mississippi for blacks, established in 1875 (among graduates are Grace Bumbry, Arthur Ashe, and Tina Turner)..."
- ↑ Arthur Ashe picture
- ↑ "Arthur Robert Ashe, Jr.". TennisFame.com. http://www.tennisfame.com/famer.aspx?pgID=867&hof_id=45. Retrieved 2009-09-09.
- ↑ Kramer considered the best ever to have been either Don Budge (for consistent play) or Ellsworth Vines (at the height of his game). The next four best were, chronologically, Bill Tilden, Fred Perry, Bobby Riggs, and Pancho Gonzales. After these six came the "second echelon" of Rod Laver, Lew Hoad, Ken Rosewall, Gottfried von Cramm, Ted Schroeder, [[Jack Crawford (tennis player)|]], Pancho Segura, Frank Sedgman, Tony Trabert, John Newcombe, Arthur Ashe, Stan Smith, Björn Borg, and Jimmy Connors. He felt unable to rank Henri Cochet and René Lacoste accurately but felt they were among the very best.
- ↑ "Arthur Ashe Biography". CMG WorldWide. http://www.cmgww.com/sports/ashe/about/bio2.htm. Retrieved 2009-09-09.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Rampersad, Arnold; Arthur Ashe (1993). Days of Grace: A Memoir. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. p. 35. ISBN ISBN 0-679-42396-6..
- ↑ "Arthur Ashe, Tennis Star, is Dead at 49". AIDS Education Global Information System. 1993-02-08. http://www.aegis.com/news/ads/1993/ad930239.html. Retrieved 2009-09-09.
- ↑ Asante, Molefi Kete (2002). 100 Greatest African Americans: A Biographical Encyclopedia. Amherst, New York: Prometheus Books. pp. 400. ISBN 1-57392-963-8. http://www.amazon.com/100-Greatest-African-Americans-Biographical/dp/1573929638. Retrieved 2009-09-09.
- ↑ "40 Greatest players of the TENNIS Era (29-32)". TENNIS Magazine. http://www.tennis.com/features/40greatest/40greatest.aspx?id=622. Retrieved 2009-09-09.
- ↑ "ITA Men's Hall of Fame". ITA. http://www.itatennis.com/AboutITA/HOF/Mens.htm. Retrieved 2009-09-09.
- ↑ "Arthur Ashe, Jr. Elementary School". Henrico County School District. http://www.henrico.k12.va.us/es/arthurashe/. Retrieved 2009-09-09.
- ↑ "Arthur Ashe Charter School". http://ashecharterschool.org/. Retrieved 2009-09-09.
- ↑ "P.S. 161 Arthur Ashe school". New York School District. http://www.newyorkschools.com/schools/ps-161-arthur-ashe-school.html. Retrieved 2009-09-09.
- ↑ "The Arthur Robert Ashe, Jr Middle School". Broward County School district. http://www.broward.k12.fl.us/arthurashe/arthurashe/Welcome.html. Retrieved 2009-09-09.
- ↑ "Arthur Ashe Academy". http://www.homes101.net/michigan-schools/southfield-public-school-distric-d1858/arthur-ashe-academy-s37698/. Retrieved 2009-09-09.
- ↑ "QuoteWorld:Arthur Ashe". QuoteWorld. http://www.quoteworld.org/quotes/636. Retrieved 2009-09-09.
- ↑ "Arthur Ashe quotes". QuotesLand.com. http://www.quoteland.com/author.asp?AUTHOR_ID=1366. Retrieved 2009-09-09.; Attributed to Ashe on over 1,000 web sites.
- ↑ "The best sports moments of 2007". jpost. http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1198517209430&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull. Retrieved 2009-09-09.
- ↑ Rampersad, Arnold; Arthur Ashe (1993). Days of Grace: A Memoir. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. p. 3. ISBN ISBN 0-679-42396-6..
- ↑ "Quotations:Arthur Ashe". http://quotationsbook.com/quote/16871/. Retrieved 2009-09-09.
- ↑ "Ashe So Much More Than A Tennis Legend". The Seattle Times. 1992-04-12. http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19920412&slug=1485964. Retrieved 2009-09-09.
- ↑ http://thinkexist.com/quotation/if_i_were_to_say--god-why_me-about_the_bad_things/297067.html
- ↑ http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:vlSCyaU7vSkJ:shekharkapur.com/blog/2010/06/sorrow-to-a-friend-facing-tragedy/+arthur+ashe+said+now+in+pain+i+don%27t+ask+why+me%3F&cd=10&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-a
External links
- Arthur Ashe Learning Center (AALC) Website
- Sign Up for Arthur Ashe Learning Center (AALC) Newsletter
- Official Arthur Ashe website
- Arthur Ashe at the Association of Tennis Professionals
- International Tennis Hall of Fame
- Sports Illustrated Arthur Ashe tribute website
- Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health
- FBI files—Arthur Ashe is mentioned within six references of records maintained within FBIHQ main files concerning the Black Panther Party, the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, the Revolutionary Union and two newspaper articles.
- The Game — My 40 Years in Tennis (1979) — Jack Kramer with Frank Deford (ISBN 0-399-12336-9)
- Arthur Ashe Youth Tennis and Education Manayunk, PA
- Finn, Robin. "Arthur Ashe, Tennis Star, Is Dead at 49," The New York Times, February 8, 1993.
- UCLA Arthur Ashe Student Health & Wellness Center
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