Arthur Ashe Research Paper

Peterson 1

Over the years, many different individuals have broken the color barrier. They have done this in their sport and especially in the world. These people range from Jackie Robinson and Roberto Clemete, who changed baseball forever, Martin Luther King Junior who fought for the rights of African Americans in America in the 1950's and the 1960's, and Colin Powell, who changed the face of the military. There is one individual who changed the world of tennis; this man was Arthur Ashe. Ashe changed the idea of what the world thought the tennis community could be. Arthur Ashe impacted America because he was the first African- American to break the color barrier in tennis. He accomplished by winning all four grand slams and being number …show more content…
and Mattie C. Ashe. As a boy as lived in a world that was mainly all black and was dealing with many racial issues around the united states. In his neighborhood in Richmond he lived next to a very big park where there were tennis courts, he started his tennis journey when he was around four years old. In 1950 Arthur met Ronald Charity one of the best players and coaches in the Richmond area. He helped to train Arthur in his early years. Right before Arthurs 7th birthday, his mother died from complications in surgery. Fast forward to 1953 when Arthur met Dr. Walter Johnson who became Arthur's lifelong tennis coach and mentor; " Dr. Johnson was also the coach of the only African-American competing in world tennis at that time, Althea Gibson,"(Arthur Ashe Learning Center 2). He taught Arthur for a while until it came for the time for Arthur to play The Maryland Boys Championship, which was the first segregated boys tournament that Arthur would play. After having successful tennis career as a childhood, Arthur received a scholarship to play tennis for UCLA. While at UCLA he won the NCAA individual team championship, along with helping his team win the National Championship in Men's tennis. While playing at UCLA Arthur had the opportunity to play the Davis Cup, he was the first African American ever to win the Davis Cup. After becoming a tennis star in college, in 1966 Arthur graduated from UCLA …show more content…
Arthur Ashe was the first African-American Male to ever win the men's singles title at U.S. Open along with Wimbledon. In addition, he was the first African American male to be ranked number one in the world. This was how he impacted America and world most. Along with these he was also the first African-American to be on the U.S. Davis cup team, and he won the Australian Open. In 1971 Ashe won the French Open in doubles with his partner Marty Pressen. In addition to winning doubles he also won the South Africa open in doubles with Tom Okker in 1973.Previously stated Ashe Also achieved winning the NCAA men's championship individually and as a team. Adding to his college achievements he was an All-American form 1963-1965. After retiring from tennis in 1980 he had 818 wins, 260 loses, and 51 titles. Just before his retirement he became the president of the ATP in 1974. In 1985 Arthur Ashe was Inducted into the National Tennis Hall of Fame. While being one of the greatest tennis players ever he also served as the president of the American Heart Association starting in

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