Arthur Ashe biography Synopsis Born on July 10,1943, in Richmond, Virginia, Arthur Ashe became the first, and still only, black player to win the men’s singles at Wimbledon, the U.S. Open, or the Australian Open. Always an activist, when Ashe learned that he had contracted AIDS via a blood transfusion, he turned his efforts to raising awareness of the disease, before finally succumbing to it in 1993. Early Life Tennis player. Born Arthur Robert Ashe, Jr. on July 10,1943, in  Richmond, Virginia. The oldest of Arthur Ashe, Sr. and Mattie  Cunningham’s two sons, Arthur Ashe, Jr. blended finesse and power to  forge a groundbreaking tennis game. He became the first,…