Arthur Ashe

First Name: Arthur
Middle Name: Robert
Last Name: Ashe
Body Build: Athletic
Occupation: Professional Tennis Player
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Brown
Skin Color: Dark
Nationality: American
Place of Death: New York City, New York, USA
Cause of Death: Complication of AIDS
Height: 185 cm

Arthur Robert Ashe Jr. was born on in Richmond, Virginia on July 10, 1943. He was a professional tennis player and political activist.

Why Famous?

Following his dreams of being a professional tennis player, he was the first African American junior to receive a U.S. Lawn Tennis Association (USLTA) national ranking. He competed at the highest level of the game and for being the first African American player to achieve that, he received a full scholarship as an award from The University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). Till date, Ashe remains the only African American player to win the men's singles at Wimbledon, the US Open or the Australian Open. In 1963, Ashe became the first black player ever selected to the United States Davis Cup team. He is also known for being one of the famous people that was HIV infected and died of AIDS.

Education

Arthur was coached by Ronald Charity and Robert Walter Johnson while studying at the Maggie L. Walker high school.

He then accepted an offer from St. Louis, moved there and attended the Summer High School. Tired of having to travel great distances to play Caucasian youths in segregated Richmond, Ashe accepted an offer from a St. Louis tennis official to move there and attend Sumner High School.

In 1963, Ashe was awarded a tennis scholarship to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

While at UCLA, Ashe was initiated as a member of the Upsilon chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity.

Ashe was a member of the UCLA Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant after completing camp at Fort Lewis, Washington in the summer of 1966.

Personal Life

Ashe was the first African-American male to win a Grand Slam event.

He was a civil rights activist and member of a delegation of 31 prominent African-Americans who visited South Africa to observe racial integration and political changes.

He was arrested on January 11, 1985 because of protesting at the South Afican embassy in Washington, D.C. He was arrested again on September 9, in 1992, because of protesting due to the recent crackdown on Haitian refugees.

Arthur suffered a heart attack In 1979, an event that surpised the public who always saw him in top shape as an athelete. The event dew more attention on the hereditary aspect of heart disease.

In 1979, he underwent a quadruple bypass operation, performed by Dr. John Hutchinson on December 13, 1979.He decided to make his return to professional tennis but he noticed chest pain when running. In 1983,

Ashe underwent a second round of heart surgery to correct the bypass surgery he received back in 1979 but shortly after, he discovered that he had apparently contracted HIV during the blood transfusions he had received during his second heart surgery. Over the next years, Ashe tryed to call attention to AIDS sufferers worldwide. In December 1993, he founded the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health to help address issues of inadequate health care delivery.

After undergoing a heart surgery, Ashe took retirement in 1980 and he died of AIDS on February 6, 1993 in New York City, New York, USA.