Arthur Ashe Jr.: An athlete that transcended sports

Emma Schirmer, Contributing Writer

From his childhood beginnings in Richmond’s Brook Field Park to becoming the first Black man to clinch the Wimbledon Singles title and later, an influential activist, Arthur Ashe’s legacy transcends the confines of the tennis court, resonating deeply in the realms of social justice and health advocacy. 

Ashe marked the start of his triple Grand Slam career at the 1968 U.S. Open after a magical run of winning his previous three matches in straight sets, Ashe defeated Dutchman Tom Okker, according to Tennis Frame.

He won the final in five sets, his only five-setter in the entire Open, and served a total of 26 aces against Okker, according to Tennis Frame. 

Ashe would go on to win the 1970 Australian Open, and, on July 5, 1975, he would win the Wimbledon Singles title against the heavily favored Jimmy Connors in four sets, making him the first Black man to win the prestigious Wimbledon tournament, and the first and only Black man to win three grand slam titles, according to Arthur Ashe’s Legacy Page.

Before Ashe became a tennis legend, he got his start in Richmond — just one mile north of VCU’s campus —  at Brook Field Park, one of the largest Black-only public spaces in the community and where his father, Arthur Ashe Sr., was a caretaker, according to Richmond Magazine.

It was at Brook Field Park that Ronald Charity, a part-time tennis coach and one of the best Black tennis players in the nation at the time, noticed seven-year-old Ashe playing and started to guide him, according to Arthur Ashe’s Legacy Page.

With coaching from Charity and later on Dr. Walter Johnson, Ashe’s lifelong mentor, he began to flourish into the player we know him as today, according to Arthur Ashe’s Legacy.

Arthur won junior competitions around the country, even though he only got to travel and play in these competitive tournaments during the summer, according to UCLA’s Legacy Page. During the school year, he was limited to playing only Black opponents from Richmond and on Black-only outdoor tennis courts. 

The 1960s were landmark years for Ashe. He graduated high school top of his class, attended UCLA with a full scholarship, was named to the U.S. Davis Cup team, won the NCAA championships, graduated college with a degree in business administration, served in the army at West Point and, of course, won the U.S. Open, according to his Legacy Page.

But what really marks the ‘60s as some of the most historic years of his life is not just his professional achievements, but also his activism, which would quickly become a large part of his legacy by the time he died in 1993, according to NPR.

Ashe began to use his influence to speak out about the racial inequity within the nation and the responsibilities of Black athletes to their communities, according to Advocate.

He also co-founded the National Junior Tennis League — the first of many organizations he would be involved in. The program helped give opportunities in tennis to underprivileged children, according to the United States Tennis Association.

Ashe got involved in human rights on a global scale as well. He pushed for the dismantling of apartheid after being denied a South African visa to compete in the South African Open and was one of the Vietnam War’s critics, as it had cost many Black men their lives, according to NPR.

Later in his life, after retiring from tennis in 1980, where he achieved a career record of 818 wins, 260 losses and 51 titles, Ashe would continue his career as an activist. 

Ashe started to write op-eds about race and athletes in the Washington Post, served as national chairman of the American Heart Association in 1981 and became a professor, teaching courses and writing books on race and sports, according to UCLA Legacy Page

Perhaps one of his most enduring legacies, though, is the work he did in the HIV/AIDS community, after being forced to announce that he had contracted the disease from a blood transfusion during bypass surgery for his heart attack, according to PBS.

In a time where HIV/AIDS was still deeply misunderstood, stigmatized and affecting the queer Black community disproportionately, Ashe became an advocate, according to CNN.

In his memoir, “Days of Grace,” Ashe wrote, “I do not like being the personification of a problem, much less a problem involving a killer disease, but I know I must seize these opportunities to spread the word.” 

Ashe did so by starting the Arthur Ashe Foundation for the Defeat of AIDS and later speaking to the U.N. General Assembly on World AIDS to increase funding and awareness, according to CNN.Just two months before his passing, Ashe additionally founded the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health to help address healthcare disparities in urban minority populations, according to Keeps.

Ashe passed from AIDS-related pneumonia on Feb. 6, 1993 at the age of 49 and his body was laid in state at the governor’s mansion in Virginia during which over 5,000 people visited, according to History.

A statue of Ashe was dedicated to him on July 10, 1996 — which would’ve been his 53rd birthday — on Monument Avenue, a road which, as a child, he would’ve never been able to visit because of the color of his skin, according to Sports Illustrated.

Sports journalist Ralph Wiley said after Ashe was diagnosed with AIDS, “ he was asked, ‘Is this the hardest thing you’ve ever had to deal with?’ And he said, ‘No, the hardest thing I’ve ever had to deal with is being a black man in this society,” according to ESPN.