Arthur Ashe became a star in tennis as a legendary athlete and the first African-American to win Wimbledon, the sport's most coveted championship in the world. Ashe, born in Richmond, Va. on July 10, 1943, started playing tennis as a young boy before earning a scholarship to UCLA and becoming the first Black player selected for the United States Davis Cup team in 1963. He went on to win the U.S. Open in 1968, the Australian Open in 1970, before finally securing the win at Wimbledon on July 5, 1975, at the age of 31. After retirement, Ashe went on to fight against racism around the world as a civil rights activist. On Feb. 6, 1993, Ashe died of AIDS-related pneumonia, just a year after telling the world he had contracted HIV from blood transfusions during heart surgery.
American tennis star Arthur Ashe accomplished many firsts in the sport as the first Black man to play on the U.S. Davis Cup team, win a U.S. Open, win an Australian Open and win Wimbledon. Ashe went on to make history in tennis, fight for human rights and educate the public on AIDS and HIV before his death in 1993. Look back at his incredible life and career in photos.
Hubert Easton, second from right, and Arthur Ashe, right, shake hands with their opponents, John Botts, left, and Herbert Gibson, before their match in the Eastern Junior Tennis Championships at Forest Hills in Queens on July 18, 1959.
Arthur Ashe, 20-year-old student at UCLA, became the first African American named to the U.S. Davis Cup squad on Aug. 1, 1963.
American tennis player Arthur Ashe is congratulated by his father Arthur Ashe Sr. at center court at the West Side Tennis Club after winning the first ever U.S. Open in Forest Hills, New York on Sept. 9, 1968. Ashe, 25, is the first Black player to win a Grand Slam title, but due to his amateur status, he will not receive the $14,000 prize money.
American tennis player Arthur Ashe competes in London, England on June 17, 1968.
American tennis champion Arthur Robert Ashe Jr., the first black player to win a major men’s tennis tournament, plays on court at Wimbledon in July 1968.
American tennis player Arthur Ashe poses for a picture at Queen’s Club in London in 1970.
American famous tennis player Arthur Ashe shakes hands with his compatriot Martin Riessen after beating him in the Open of Paris finals on Nov. 16, 1970. Ashe was the first African-American on the U.S. Davis Cup, where he won 27 of 32-Cup single matches in fifteen years and winning the Davis Cup six times. Ashe’s greatest triumph was in 1975 when he defeated the game’s most dominant player, Jimmy Connors, in the Wimbledon finals.
American tennis star poses for a photo on Nov. 14, 1970, before his semi-final match during the men’s singles competition in the French tennis Paris Open.
Arthur Ashe runs for the ball during a match at Wimbledon in England in 1975.
Arthur Ashe runs for the ball during a match against R. Hewitt at Wimbledon in England on June 6, 1975.
Arthur Ashe holds his Wimbledon trophy up after defeating fellow American Jimmy Connors in the final match of the men’s singles championship at the All England Lawn Tennis Championship in Wimbledon, England on July 5, 1975.
Tennis star Arthur Ashe, second from left, shakes hands with Andrew Young, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, after Young married Ashe to photographer Jeanne Marie Moutoussamy at the U.N. chapel in New York City on Sunday, Feb. 20, 1977. Young, a friend of the couple, is a congregationalist minister. Standing at left is Johnnie Ashe, brother of the groom and best man. Ashe is on crutches because of a recent bursitis operation.
Former Wimbledon tennis champions, including Arthur Ashe (center, white suit), sing “Aulde Lang Syne” on Centre Court at a Centenary Presentation of medals by the Duke of Kent on June 20, 1977.
American tennis star Arthur Ashe trains in London on June 19, 1979, for the Wimbledon championships, which start June 25.
Tennis champion Arthur Ashe speaks to a news conference at the National Tennis Center in Queens, New York on Sept. 7, 1980. Ashe, who retired from tennis after a heart bypass operation, was named the new captain of the U.S. Davis Cup Team.
A handcuffed Arthur Ashe is led away from the South African Embassy by police in Washington, D.C. on Friday, Jan. 12, 1985. The retired tennis champion and 46 others were arrested near the embassy during their demonstration against apartheid policies of the South African government.
Former tennis great Arthur Ashe is flanked by Mary Frances Berry, left, and Sylvia Hill during a demonstration outside the White House in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 9, 1992. They are protesting the Bush administration’s policy on Haiti.
Former tennis champion Arthur Ashe is arrested and escorted by a police officer at a demonstration in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 9, 1992. The rally, sponsored by the NAACP and TransAfrica, is against President George Bush’s policy of returning Haitian refugees to Haiti.
Arthur Ashe, the first black man to win one of tennis’ Grand Slam tournaments, contains his emotions as he announces at a press conference on April 8, 1992, that he has contracted the AIDS virus.
Former tennis player Arthur Ashe speaks at a World Health Organization (WHO) meeting on World AIDS Day, Dec. 1, 1992. Ashe has spoken out on AIDS issues since revealing that he contracted the virus through a blood transfusion.
The casket bearing the body of tennis star Arthur Ashe is carried into the Governor’s Mansion in his hometown of Richmond, Va. on Tuesday, Feb. 9, 1993. Ashe’s widow Jeanne, right, a professional photographer, takes pictures as their daughter, Camera, stands next to her. Ashe, 49, died of AIDS-related pneumonia in New York. More than 5,000 mourners lined up to pay their respects. Ashe is the first person to lie in state at the mansion since Confederate general Stonewall Jackson in 1863.
Jeanne Ashe, wife of the late Arthur Ashe, points out to daughter Camera as the casket of Ashe is lowered into the ground on February 10, 1993, during internment ceremonies. Ashe died on Feb. 6 of complications from AIDS.
Johnnie Ashe (C), brother of the late tennis star Arthur Ashe, cries on his brother’s casket on Feb. 10, 1993, during Ashe’s burial. The women are unidentified members of the family.
Jeanne Ashe (L), widow of tennis star and human rights activist Arthur Ashe, looks at the Presidential Medal of Freedom awarded to her husband posthumously by U.S. President Bill Clinton (R) during the National Sports Award at Constitution Hall on June 20, 1993, in Washington, D.C. Ashe died earlier this year of AIDS.
A crowd gathers at the base of the Arthur Ashe Monument after the ceremony dedicating the statue on Monument Ave. in Richmond, Va. on Wednesday, July 10, 1996.
Former New York City Mayor David Dinkins (L), Camera Ashe (2nd L), daughter of tennis great Arthur Ashe, Jeanne Ashe (2nd R), wife of Arthur Ashe and USTA President Harry Marmion push the button to open the new Arthur Ashe Stadium on Aug. 23, 1997, in Flushing Meadows, N.Y. Tournament play in the U.S. Open starts in the new stadium on Aug. 25.
Singer Whitney Houston sings at the ceremony dedicating the new Arthur Ashe Stadium at the USTA National Tennis Center at the U.S. Open on Aug. 25, 1997, in Flushing Meadows, N.Y.
General view of ceremonies to dedicate the Arthur Ashe Stadium prior to the United States Open in Flushing, New York on Aug. 25, 1997.
