Arthur Ashe The First African American Essay

Arthur Ashe was the first, and only African American man to win the U.S. Open. He also was the first one to win Wimbledon. Arthur Ashe was also the first (and remains the only) African American tennis player to obtain the #1 Tennis ranking in the world.

Early Life

Arthur Robert Ashe Jr. was born on July 10, 1943, In Richmond, Virginia. He was the son of Arthur Ashe Sr. and Mattie Cunningham. At the age of 4, Arthur Ashe learned how to read, but 2 years later, Mattie passed away. Arthur’s dad feared seeing him get into trouble without their mother's discipline. At the age of 7, about a year after Mattie’s death, Ashe discovered tennis and started playing at a park not far from his home. Liking the game, he eventually found Dr. Robert Walter Johnson Jr., A tennis coach from Lynchburg, Virginia, who was also a black tennis player. Over time, Arthur Ashe got very good at tennis. In his first tournament, Ashe got into the junior national championships. Destined to succeed, he eventually moved to St. Louis to meet another coach. He won the

Davis Cup team. Eventually, Ashe got the attention of his tennis idol, Pancho Gonzales, who helped Ashe improve his serve and volley attack. The hard work paid off when in 1968, Arthur Ashe shocked the world by winning the U.S. Open title, becoming the first African American to do so, and he remains the only one to this day. 2 years later, he also won the Australian title. In 1975, Ashe demolished Jimmy Connors in the Wimbledon finals, another massive achievement for the African American community. Like his U.S. Open victory, it remains unmatched. That same year, Ashe was ranked the No. 1 tennis player in the world. 10 years later, in 1985, he was added to the international tennis hall of fame. As a kid, he noticed that it was very hard for people of black race to play tennis, so Arthur Ashe decided to create a tennis program for all people of