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Created | Updated Jul 10, 2003
With Wimbledon just past today I had a choice of Tennis and Wimbledon champions to chose from who's birthdays were today. One was the last Brit to win a singles title and that in Jubilee year, silver
that is. But seeing as there is predominance of black women players, or at least the Williams' sisters. This week I look at a black athlete who made the breakthrough in the whiter than whiteness of Tennis.
Arthur Ashe (1943-1993)
Born in segregated Virginia.
UCLA Tennis scholarship winning individual college title before graduating.
First African-American Davis Cup player.
Won US Open and last Wimbledon pre-Borg. Co-founder of ATP1.
South African visa denial resulted in anti-apartheid stance.
Heart surgeries resulted in AIDS and new lifelong campaign.
Professionals