Arthur Ashe was a World No. 1 tennis player. He is the only African-American male tennis player to win the United States, Wimbledon and Australian Opens. He is the first black American to be ranked number 1 tennis player in the world. Ashe was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1985.
Arthur Robert Ashe was born in Richmond, Virginia, USA on July 10th 1943. He began playing tennis at the age of seven. Ashe, in 1963, became the first African-American to be a member of the United States Davis Cup team. He played with the Davis Cup team for ten years, winning in 1968, 1969 and 1970. He won the US Open in 1968, Australian Open 1970, French Open in 1970 and 1971 and Wimbledon in 1975.
In July 1979 Arthur Ashe suffered a heart attack. He had just completed a coaching session for underprivileged children in New York City. Ashe later underwent heart surgery during which he contracted HIV from a blood transfusion. He established programmes to raise awareness of, and to help fight the disease.
Arthur Ashe, who was the first African American number 1 tennis player in the world, contracted HIV from a blood transfusion in 1979 and died of Aids-related pneumonia aged 49 in the year 1993 On This Day.
US Open 2008 : Arthur Ashe stadium at Flushing Meadows, NY.