Throwback Thursday: Ashe's triumph through adversity
This week's Throwback Thursday from the Wimbledon Museum recalls the inspirational story of Arthur Ashe...
Arthur Ashe was a tennis player competing in a period of political turmoil, both within the tennis world and globally. At Wimbledon, he is best known as one of the influential players of the 1970s. Not only is he the first and only African American to win the Gentlemen’s Single title at Wimbledon, the US Open and Australian Open, but he is also one of the most inspiring.
Prior to his success at Wimbledon, Ashe became the first African American to be selected for the United States’ 1963 Davis Cup team. Ashe and his fellow players went on to defeat the previous Champions, Australia, to win the tournament
Ashe competed at Wimbledon 12 times between 1963 and 1979, reaching the semi-final twice in 1968 and 1969. In both years his attempt to reach the final were thwarted by Rod Laver. However, on his ninth attempt in 1975 he succeeded. His opponent was the then reigning Champion Jimmy Connors. Seeded No.6, Ashe defeated the recent French Open Champion Bjorn Borg and the Australian Tony Roche to fight his way to the Final. The match against Connors, seeded No.1, saw Ashe dominate in four sets to win 6-1, 6-1, 5-7, 6-4. This was the first all-American final to occur at Wimbledon since 1947. His diary from this Championship is now in the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum collection. On the date Wimbledon starts, Ashe has made a small note reading ‘I hope to be there’.
Ashe was an avid civil rights campaigner and used his success in tennis to break down stereotypes, and highlight fairness and equality within the tennis community. Throughout his tennis career and beyond he became involved in several issues affecting the tennis community. Ashe was heavily involved in the 1973 ATP boycott of Wimbledon. This saw 81 players, 13 of whom were seeded, withdraw from The Championships in support of fellow ATP member, Yugoslavian player Nikola Pilić, after his nine-month suspension by the ITF for allegedly refusing to represent the country in the Davis Cup.
Ashe was also involved in several anti-apartheid protests after he was denied entry to play in South Africa in 1969. He used these protests to highlight discrimination and to campaign for US sanctions and South Africa’s expulsion from the International Lawn Tennis Federation.
Towards the end of his life Ashe campaigned for greater awareness of genetic heart defects and the HIV virus. Sadly, he died at the age of 49 of Aids related pneumonia caused from an earlier infected blood transfusion he received during a heart by-pass operation.
In the words of Arthur Ashe, ‘Success is a journey, not an outcome. The doing is often more important than the outcome’.
Want to learn more about Wimbledon's history? Why not visit the Museum...
