Arthur Ashe

Arthur Ashe married photographer Jeanne Moutoussamy in 1977. They had one adopted daughter.

He suffered a heart attack in 1979 and underwent bypass surgery. He had another heart surgery in 1983. In 1988 it was discovered that he was HIV+; he had contracted the virus from a tainted blood transfusion during his previous surgery.

He went public with his illness in 1992 and began to work to raise awareness about AIDS. He founded the Arthur Ashe Foundation for the Defeat of AIDS.

Arthur was the elder of two sons born to Arthur Ashe Sr. and Mattie Cunningham. His father worked as a handyman. His mother died of pregnancy related complications when he was just six years old.

He started playing tennis from a young age and attended Maggie L. Walker High school. Upon his graduation from high school he was awarded a tennis scholarship to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1963.

He joined the U.S Army in 1966 taking breaks from time to time to pursue his tennis career. He was discharged from the army in 1969.

In 1968, while serving as 1st Lieutenant in the U.S army, he won the U.S Amateur Championship against Bob Lutz. He also won the U.S Open National Championship in the same year, becoming the only player to have won both the championships in the same year.

He won his second Grand Slam singles title at the Australian Open in 1970. The same year, he turned professional by signing a five-year contract with Lamar Hunt’s World Championship Tennis. In 1972, he helped to form the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP).

In 1975, Ashe played the Wimbledon Final against Jimmy Connors, who was 10-to-1 favorite in the final. But Ashe played brilliantly and defeated Jimmy to win the Wimbledon in an excitingly unexpected match.

The professional career of this exceptionally talented player was unfortunately cut short by health problems and a heart attack forced him to retire in 1980.

He played the U.S Open final against Tom Okker of Netherlands and defeated him to clinch the title in 1968. It was his first ever Grand Slam title.

He won the Australian Open against Dick Crealy in 1970. This was a major victory for him since he had lost the finals to Roy Emerson in 1966 and 1967. He became the first non-Australian to win the title in 11 years.

He played in the 1971 French Open-Men's Doubles with partner Marty Riessen to defeat Tom Gorman and Stan Smith to win the finals.

In 1975, he became the first black man to win the Wimbledon Singles’ championship by beating the defending champion Jimmy Connors three sets to one. What made this victory even more special for Ashe is the fact that it was the much younger Jimmy and not he, who was the favorite to win the match.

Ashe and his partner Tony Roche beat Charlie Pasarell and Erik Van Dillen to clinch the Australian Open-Men’s Doubles in 1977.