On Saturday, 5 July 1975, Arthur Ashe recorded his greatest triumph on a tennis court. With exclusive insight from Ashe's closest friends, James Buddell of ATPWorldTour.com recounts how the American lifted the Wimbledon trophy — one of the most significant wins in the sport’s history.

It started with a wager in the lobby of a Nice hotel, when actor Richard Burton met Arthur Ashe in February 1975 and culminated in victory over World No. 1 Jimmy Connors in the Wimbledon final, for one of the most significant moments in the sport’s history.

Sixth seed Ashe, who had last reached a Grand Slam championship final at the 1972 US Open, was widely considered to be cannon fodder on the morning of one of the biggest match of his career. Top seed Connors had thumped Roscoe Tanner in the semi-finals, but Ashe, who was coming to an end of his one-year stint as ATP President, had done his homework enlisting the help of players he trusted. He’d never beaten Connors in their three meetings.

With three confidants: Charlie Pasarell, his childhood friend and UCLA room mate, his playing companion over the past five months, Fred McNair, and his agent Donald Dell, a former U.S. Davis Cup captain, Ashe put together a five-point plan over dinner to beat Connors, who had gone 99-4 the year prior, when he won three major championship crowns.

As Connors and Ashe walked out onto Centre Court at 2 p.m. that Saturday, 40 years ago, it was the first all-American Wimbledon final since 1947. Ashe wore a navy blue jacket with U.S.A. in red lettering embroidery. The battle for the sport’s greatest prize had also added spice, as two days before the start of The Championships in 1974, London newspapers headlined with ‘Connors Sues Ashe’, in effect, for comments Ashe had made about Connors’ lack of participation in the Davis Cup.

Ashe was soon in the ascendancy. He looked up at the clock, it was 2:41 p.m. and he led 6-1, 6-1. Although Connors made a gritty attempt to comeback, Ashe held his nerve with a four-set victory in two hours and five minutes to become the African-American man to lift the singles trophy. He had followed in the footsteps of Althea Gibson, who had triumphed in the women’s singles of 1957-58.

Stan Smith, the 1972 Wimbledon champion, recalls, “Arthur’s particular strategy in that match was not particularly his style of playing power tennis and I think that it confused Jimmy. He hit heavy slice serves without much power on the deuce side and came into net and volleyed to the open side. He didn’t get into a hard hitting contest with Jimmy, but mixed up the pace keeping Jimmy off balance waiting for the hard shots to come. He had a plan and was able to execute the strategy, which was again not his normal style. And that was impressive.”

John Barrett, the BBC broadcaster, who spoke to Dell on the steps of the competitors’ restaurant the day before, admits, “The match itself was a revelation. Arthur carried out the master plan to perfection.” As he walked off Centre Court, his tennis legacy was assured. The next day, following breakfast in town, he returned to New York City, just a little bit richer.

With exclusive insight from Ashe's closest friends, read the full feature on ATPWorldTour.com