Arthur Ashe, Tennis Star, Is Dead at 49, is a biography.
Arthur Robert Ashe Jr. won three Grand Slam singles titles.He was the first black player selected to the United States Davis Cup team and the only black man ever to win a singles title.He retired in 1980.He was the world's top ranked man.Lance Tingay of The Daily Telegraph and World Tennis Magazine wrote 1 in 1975.He peaked in the computer rankings.In May 1976.[5]
He is believed to have contracted HIV after receiving a blood transfusion.He began educating others about HIV and AIDS after publicly announcing his illness.He died from AIDS-related pneumonia at the age of 49 on February 6, 1993.The United States President Bill Clinton awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Ashe on June 20, 1993.
Arthur Ashe was born on July 10, 1943.Johnnie was five years younger than him.Both brothers were born into a family that claimed to be descended from a West African woman who was enslaved and brought to America in 1735.The governor of North Carolina owned some of the family members.[8]
There was a toxemic pregnant woman who died at the age of 27.Ashe and his brother were raised by their father who worked as a handyman for the recreation department.[6]
Arthur was forbidden to play American football by his father due to his slight build, something that meant Arthur's childhood nickname was "the black man".In the grounds of the largest blacks-only public playground in the city, the caretakers' cottage had basketball courts, tennis courts and a pool, as well as three baseball diamonds.Ron Charity, who was the best black tennis player in the area at the time, began to teach Ashe the basic strokes and encouraged him after seeing him play tennis at seven years of age.
He continued to practice tennis after graduating from high school.Ron Charity brought him to the attention of Robert Walter Johnson, a physician, and the coach of Althea Gibson, who founded and funded the Junior Development Program of the American Tennis Association.At the age of 10, Ashe was coached by Johnson at his tennis summer-camp home in Lynchburg, Virginia.Johnson helped fine-tune Ashe's game and taught him the importance of racial socialization through sportsmanship, decorum and the composure that would later become an Ashe hallmark.He was told to return every ball that landed within two inches of the line and never argue with the umpire.Ashe was the first African American to play in the Maryland boys' championship.He had his first integrated tennis competition.
During the school year in 1960, the city's indoor courts were closed to black players and they were unable to compete against whites.He moved to St. Louis to attend Sumner High School, where he could compete more freely.The serve-and-volley game that Ashe's strength allowed was encouraged by Hudlin during the year he lived with him and his family.In 1961, after lobbying by Dr. Johnson, the school was granted permission to compete in the U.S. Interscholastic tournament.
In December 1960 and again in 1963, he was featured in Sports Illustrated's Faces in the Crowd segment.He was awarded a tennis scholarship to the University of California, Los Angeles in 1963, after becoming the first African American to win the National Junior Indoor tennis title.During his time at UCLA, he was coached by J. D. Morgan and practiced with his sporting hero, Pancho Gonzalez.After graduation, he was required to serve in the military in exchange for money for tuition.He joined the Upsilon chapter of the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity on campus.On August 4, 1966 he joined the United States Army after graduating with a degree in Business Administration.He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Adjutant General Corps after completing basic training in Washington.He was assigned to the United States Military Academy at West Point, where he worked as a data processor.During his time at West Point, he headed the academy's tennis program.He was temporarily promoted to 1st Lieutenant on February 23, 1968, and was discharged from the Army in February 1969 as a 2nd Lieutenant.He received a medal for his service.He was in the United States Army for 2 years.[13][12]
The United States Davis Cup team had never had a black player.In 1965, ranked the number 3 player in the United States, he won the singles title and the doubles title with Ian Crookenden of New Zealand, helping UCLA win the team NCAA tennis championship.
In 1966 and 1967, Ashe reached the final of the Australian Championship but lost to Roy Emerson.
The first US Open of the open era was held in 1968 and the only player to have won both the amateur and open national championship in the same year was Ashe.To maintain Davis Cup eligibility and have time away from army duty for important tournaments, Ashe was required to maintain his amateur status.Because of this, he could not accept the $14,000 first-prize money, which was instead given to runner-up Tom Okker.His brother Johnnie decided to serve an additional tour in Vietnam in Arthur's place so that he could compete in the championship.In December 1968, the U.S. team won the Davis Cup after defeating Australia in the final.After the U.S team had already won the Davis Cup, he lost in the last dead rubber game.The season ended with the winner of 10 of 22 tournaments.
The U.S. Davis Cup team won the cup in 1969 after defeating Romania in the final challenge round.After applying for a visa to play in the South African Open, he was denied because of the government's strict policy of racial segregation.The country denied him a visa after he applied for one.In protest, he used this example of discrimination to campaign for U.S. sanctions against South Africa and the expulsion of the nation from the International Lawn Tennis Federation.
At the Australian Open, Ashe won his second Grand Slam singles title.Ashe became the first non-Australian to win the title when he defeated Dick Crealy in straight sets in the final.The country was kicked out of the Davis Cup competition in 1970 due to South Africa's refusal to grant a visa to Ashe.In September 1970, shortly after helping the U.S Davis cup team defeat West Germany in the challenge round to win their third consecutive Davis Cup, Ashe signed a five-year contract with Lamar Hunt's World Championship Tennis.[17]
Ken Rosewall defeated Ashe in straight sets in the 1971 Australian Open final.In June of that year, Ashe and Riessen won the French Open men's doubles.
In 1972, due to a dispute between the ILTF and the WCT, one of the 32 contracted players was barred from taking part in any Grand Prix tennis circuit tournaments from January to July.The French Open and Wimbledon Grand Slam tournaments were affected by this ban.In September, he reached the final of the US Open for the second time.He lost in five sets after leading by 2 sets to 1 and with a break point in the fourth set.The biggest disappointment of the professional tennis career was the loss from such a winning position.At the post- match award ceremony, irritated by some of Nstase's on-court antics during the game, Ashe praised him as a tough opponent and "colourful" player, then suggested that he brush up on his court manners.The Association of Tennis Professionals was formed because of concerns that men's tennis professionals were not receiving winnings that were in line with the growth of the sport.He was elected president in 1974.
In June 1973, as a result of the boycott, 13 seeded players and 81 other players withdrew from the Wimbledon tournament to much public criticism.The catalyst for the boycott was that a Yugoslavian tennis player had been suspended for nine months by his federation for refusing to play in a Davis Cup tie against New Zealand.The ban was upheld but only for one month.Pili's participation at Wimbledon during the ban period was the subject of a lawsuit.The vote to boycott the tournament was narrowly passed when the chairman of the board abstained.Commentators thought that the boycott showed the tennis associations that professional players could no longer be dictated to.[18]
In November 1973, with the South African government seeking to end their Olympic ban and re-join the Olympic movement, Ashe was granted a visa to enter the country for the first time.He won the doubles with Tom Okker, but lost in the final.Despite boycotts against South African sport, Ashe believed that his presence could help break down stereotypes and that by competing and winning the tournament, it would be an example of integration, and help bring about change in apartheid South Africa.He lost in straight sets in the singles final for the second year in a row.In 1977 he addressed a small crowd of boycott supporters at the U.S. Open and admitted that he had been wrong to participate in South Africa and once again supported the boycott of South African players.South Africa should be kicked out of the professional tennis circuit and the Davis Cup competition, according to the media.
The season-ending WCT Finals were held in Dallas, Texas.
On July 5, 1975, in the first all-American Wimbledon final since 1947, Ashe, the sixth seed and just a few days short of his 32nd birthday, defeated the favourite and defending champion, Jimmy Connors.In all of their previous encounters, Ashe had never beatenConnors, but he had not dropped a set in any of the six earlier rounds.The relationship between the two players was already strained before the final.He was refused entry to the 1974 French Open as a contracted member of the World Team Tennis because of opposition from the ATP and French officials.Just two days before the start of the Wimbledon tournament, it was announced that a $5 million lawsuit had been filed by tennis great Jimmy Connors against the man who wrote the letter that criticized him.On the final day, he wore red, white and blue wristbands throughout the match and wore his U.S.A.-emblazoned Davis Cup warm-up jacket when walking out onto Centre Court.The libel suit was dropped after the final.
A foot injury that required surgery a month after he won the Australian Open doubles in 1977 dropped him to 257th in the world, but a remarkable comeback saw him rise back to 13th.On April 16, 1980, at the age of 36, Ashe officially retired after undergoing heart surgery in December 1979.He had a career record of 818 wins, 260 losses and 51 titles.
Only one black man has won the singles title at Wimbledon, the US Open, or the Australian Open.He is one of 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.The United States won the Davis Cup for three years in a row.
Jack Kramer was the long-time tennis promoter and a world no.One player ranked Ashe as one of the 21 best players of all time.[22]
Before his death, he founded the National Junior Tennis League, served as captain of the U.S. Davis Cup, and was a writer for Time magazine and The Washington Post.He was elected to the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1985.[23]
A Hard Road to Glory: A History of the African-American athlete was published in 1988 after six years of research by a team of researchers.The book was more important than tennis titles.[26]
Ken Burn's 1994 documentary Baseball discussed the impact ofJackie Robinson on the game.
He was a supporter of civil rights.A group of prominent African Americans went to South Africa to observe political change as it approached racial integration.On January 11, 1985, he was arrested for protesting outside the Embassy of South Africa in Washington, D.C.On September 9, 1992, he was arrested again for protesting outside the White House.
At a United Negro College Fund benefit in 1976, Ashe met photographer and graphic artist Jeanne Moutoussamy.Moutoussamy is the daughter of an architect.The couple were married at the Church Center for the United Nations in New York City on February 20, 1977.[28]
Camera was adopted by Ashe and his wife in December of 1986.[28]
At the age of 36, he suffered a heart attack while holding a tennis clinic in New York.In view of his high level of fitness as an athlete, his condition drew attention to the hereditary aspect of heart disease; his mother already had cardiovascular disease at the time of her death, and his father had suffered a first heart attack.One of the arteries was completely closed, another was 95 percent closed and a third was closed 50 percent.John Hutchinson operated on him on December 13, 1979.[29]
A few months after the operation, he was on the verge of returning to tennis.During a family trip to Cairo, Egypt, he developed chest pains while running.He went back to see a doctor with his friend Douglas Stein.Stein told him to return to New York City so he could be close to his doctors.He had a second round of heart surgery in 1983 to correct his previous surgery.After the surgery, he became the national campaign chairman for the American Heart Association.
He was hospitalized in September of 1988 because of a problem with his arm.He was diagnosed with toxoplasmosis after undergoing exploratory brain surgery and a number of tests.He was found to be HIV positive after a subsequent test.The doctors thought he contracted the virus from the blood transfusions he received.He and his wife decided to keep his illness a secret for the sake of their daughter.
A friend of the man who worked for USA Today called him to confirm that he was sick.The story about his illness was going to be published by USA Today, but on April 8, 1992, he publicly announced he had contracted HIV.He blamed USA Today for forcing him to go public, but he was relieved that he no longer had to lie about his illness.After the announcement, hundreds of readers called or wrote letters to USA Today complaining about their choice to run a story about Ashe that forced him to reveal his illness.[32]
The Arthur Ashe Foundation for the Defeat of AIDS was founded after he went public with his illness.He tried to clear up the misconception that only homosexual and bisexual men were at risk for contracting HIV by answering questions about his own diagnosis.He had a mild heart attack in September 1992.In a speech to the United Nations General Assembly on World AIDS Day, December 1, 1992, he addressed the growing need for AIDS awareness and increased research funding, saying: "We want to be able to look back and say to all concerned that we did what we had to do."