2020 Black History Month: Ashe wins inaugural US Open, 1968

The long and storied history of tennis in the U.S. features a multitude of significant chapters authored by African-Americans. From the sport’s earliest days through its modern era, countless contributions to tennis’ growth and success have been made by players, coaches and administrators of color. Some helped tear down barriers; some have torn up record books. Several have transcended the sport they helped to build to become true American icons. All have been an inspiration, providing this sport, those who play it and those who revel in it, with myriad memorable moments.

As we celebrate Black History Month throughout February, USTA.com recalls some of the most memorable of those important moments; milestones that helped to change the face of this sport—literally and figuratively—and inspire us all to raise our game. Today, we look at Arthur Ashe winning the inaugural US Open in 1968.

It was a time of revolution; an era that turned this country upside down and inside out. In 1968, the U.S. was torn by war, tested by political and social strife, and taken over (and sometimes under) by the irresistible force of change that slammed hard against its population at every turn.

It was against that backdrop of unrest and revolution that a most revolutionary thing happened in tennis. The sport—which had until then prohibited professional players from competing in its major events—threw open its doors to those pros, ushering in a new era of “Open” tennis, and the U.S. National Championships segued somewhat uneasily into the US Open.

It seemed fitting, somehow, in that summer in which the country often seemed upside down, that this event, now featuring a host of outstanding professionals, would be won by an amateur, with U.S. Army Lt. Arthur Ashe Jr., an active-duty soldier on leave from West Point, capturing that very first US Open. An African-American Army lieutenant standing alone—higher than the rest—at the end of this tournament’s first fortnight of open admission. It was at once perfectly crazy—and crazily perfect.

That historic win made Ashe—just 25-years-old—the first African-American man to win a major title, and the first American to claim the U.S. crown since Tony Trabert in 1955. Also, having won the U.S. National Championships two weeks earlier at Longwood Cricket Club in Boston, Ashe became the first—and only—man to win the Amateur and Open titles in the same year. Because of his amateur status, Ashe wasn’t eligible to receive the $14,000 first prize—that went to runner-up Tom Okker instead. The history-making champion collected only a $20 per diem for the 14 days of the tournament, departing Forest Hills with a very impressive title, a very nice trophy—and a whopping $280 check.

But for all the record-book pages Ashe inscribed his name upon with the win, it was a victory that seemed to immediately and completely transcend the sport. Ashe, as cool and dignified off the court as he was fiery upon it, was the right man at the right time. In this year of unprecedented tumult and unrelenting racial strife, Ashe’s US Open win also won for him a place of prominence, and a platform that he would use to become a peerless advocate for racial equality, social justice and human rights.

Certainly, Ashe had a remarkable tennis career, posting a stellar resume that also includes the 1970 Australian Open title and the 1975 Wimbledon crown. He was a U.S. Davis Cup stalwart for years as both player and captain, and he compiled 76 career singles titles before retiring in 1980. In 1985, Ashe was enshrined in the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

He was a great champion, but more, he was a tireless champion of causes, an eloquent spokesman for those issues in which he believed. He was a quiet man with a loud voice, right up until his death in 1993.

Certainly, there are tennis players with more trophies, but there are few who possessed more passion; few who represented themselves or the sport with more grace and dignity than the US Open’s first men’s champion—Arthur Ashe.

Photo above: Arthur Ashe, along with his father, at the trophy ceremony after winning the 1968 US Open men's championships. (Credit: Russ Adams)