Arthur Ashe's - Action

Arthur Robert Ashe, Jr. (July 10, 1943 – February 6, 1993) was an American World No. 1 professional   tennis player. He won three Grand Slam titles, ranking him among the best tennis players from the United States.

Ashe was the first black player selected to the United States Davis Cup team and the only black man ever to win the singles title at Wimbledon, the US Open, or the Australian Open. He retired in 1980. He was ranked World No. 1 by Harry Hopman in 1968 and by Lance Tingay of The Daily Telegraph and   World Tennis Magazine in 1975. In the ATP computer rankings, he peaked at No. 2 in May 1976.

In the early 1980s, Ashe is believed to have contracted HIV from a blood transfusion he received during heart bypass surgery. Ashe publicly announced his illness in April 1992 and began working to educate others about HIV and AIDS. He founded the Arthur Ashe Foundation for the Defeat of AIDS and the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health before his death from AIDS-related pneumonia on February 6, 1993.

On June 20, 1993, Ashe was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by then United States President Bill Clinton.

Arthur Ashe was born in Richmond, Virginia, to Arthur Ashe Sr. and Mattie Cordell Cunningham Ashe on July 10, 1943. He had a brother, Johnnie, who was five years younger. In March 1950, Ashe's mother Mattie died from complications related to a toxemic pregnancy (now known as pre-eclampsia) at the age of 27. Ashe and his brother were raised by their father who worked as a handyman and salaried caretaker-Special Policeman for Richmond's recreation department.

Ashe Sr. was a caring father and strict disciplinarian who encouraged Arthur to excel in both school and in sports, but forbade him to play American football, a popular game for many black children, due to his son's slight build, something that meant Arthur's childhood nicknames were "Skinny" or "Bones". The Ashes lived in the caretaker's cottage in the grounds of 18-acre Brookfield Park, Richmond's largest blacks-only public playground, which had basketball courts, four tennis courts, a pool and three baseball diamonds. Ashe started playing tennis at 7 years of age and began practicing on the courts where his natural talent was spotted by Virginia Union University student and part-time Brookfield tennis instructor, Ron Charity, who as the best black tennis player in Richmond at the time, began to teach Ashe the basic strokes and encouraged him to enter local tournaments.

Ashe attended Maggie L. Walker High School where he continued to practice tennis. Ron Charity brought him to the attention of Robert Walter Johnson, a physician, and coach of Althea Gibson, who founded and funded the Junior Development Program of the American Tennis Association (ATA). Ashe was coached and mentored by Johnson at his tennis summer camp home in Lynchburg, Virginia from 1953 when Ashe was age 10, until 1960. Johnson helped fine-tune Ashe's game and taught him the importance of racial socialization through sportsmanship, etiquette and the composure that would later become an Ashe hallmark. He was told to return every ball that landed within two inches of a line and never to argue with an umpire's decision. In 1958, Ashe became the first African-American to play in the Maryland boys' championships. It was also his first integrated tennis competition.

In 1960, precluded from playing Caucasian youths in segregated Richmond during the school year and unable to use the city's indoor courts which were closed to black players, Ashe accepted an offer from Richard Hudlin, a 62-year-old St. Louis teacher, tennis coach and friend of Dr. Johnson, to move to St. Louis and spend his senior year attending Sumner High School where he could compete more freely. Ashe lived with Hudlin and his family for the year, during which time Hudlin coached and encouraged him to develop the serve-and-volley game that Ashe's, now stronger, physique allowed. Ashe was able to practice at the National Guard Armory indoor courts and in 1961, after lobbying by Dr. Johnson, he was granted permission to compete in the previously segregated U.S. Interscholastic tournament and won it for the school.

In December 1960 and again in 1963, Ashe featured in Sports Illustrated, appearing in their Faces in the Crowd segment. He became the first African-American to win the National Junior Indoor tennis title and was awarded a tennis scholarship to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1963. During his time at UCLA, he was coached by J.D. Morgan and practiced regularly with his sporting idol, Pancho Gonzales, who lived nearby and helped hone his game. Ashe was also a member of the ROTC which required him to join active military service after graduation in exchange for money for tuition. He was active in other things, joining the Upsilon chapter of the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity on campus. After graduating with a bachelor's degree in business administration, Ashe joined the United States Army on August 4, 1966. Ashe completed his basic training in Washington and was later commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Adjutant General Corps. 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, Ashe headed the academy's tennis program. He was promoted to 1st lieutenant on February 23, 1968 and was discharged from the Army in 1969.

On February 20, 1977, Ashe married Jeanne Moutoussamy, a photographer he met in October 1976 at a United Negro College Fund benefit. Andrew Young, the United States Ambassador to the United Nations, performed the wedding ceremony in the United Nations chapel, New York City. During the ceremony Ashe wore a cast on his left foot having had an operation on an injured heel ten days earlier.

On February 6, 1993, Ashe died from AIDS-related pneumonia at New York Hospital. His funeral was held at the Arthur Ashe Athletic Center in Richmond, Virginia, on February 10. Then-governor Douglas Wilder, who was a friend of Ashe's, allowed his body to lie in state at the Governor's Mansion in Richmond. More than 5,000 people lined up to walk past the casket. Andrew Young, who had performed the service for Ashe's wedding in 1977, officiated at his funeral. Over 6,000 mourners attended. Ashe requested that he be buried alongside his mother, Mattie, who died in 1950, in Woodland Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia.