Mensch

In the September 26, 1964 issue of The New Yorker, readers were introduced to Arthur Ashe, who was described as “the tall, pleasant Negro boy from U.C.L.A.” A year later, in the October 9, 1965 issue of the magazine, Ashe, described as “a twenty-two-year-old U.C.L.A. senior who came on very fast,” was acknowledged as the only American tennis player to have distinguished himself in “the big championships.”

Ashe, a native of Richmond, Virginia, learned to play tennis at a segregated park. It  took a while, but eventually he was able to compete against white boys, and his game grew good enough that he won a tennis scholarship to U.C.L.A. And good enough to become a factor on the men’s tournament circuit. 

*

Arthur Ashe’s name was evoked yesterday in a New York Times article by sports columnist Kurt Streeter entitled “Where Have You Gone, Arthur Ashe? LIV Tour Golfers Need You.”* 

The LIV golf tour is a multi-million-dollar project funded by Saudi Arabian interests that is attempting to lure prominent golfers to its tournaments. While some club-swingers have been seduced by the big bucks being thrown around, most of the top names in the sport have turned their backs on LIV. 

Why are Saudis in this game? The consensus is that it is one of several recent attempts at sportswashing; that is, a diversionary tactic to deflect the eyes of the world away from the brutal policies of the Saudi government. (They have also recently purchased Newcastle United Football Club and are throwing their gelt around the English northeast.) 

The golfers who are taking the Saudi bucks have been challenged to respond to the actions of their benefactors. “Don’t hold your breath,” Streeter declares. 

None of the golfers who signed on to the LIV tour in exchange for staggering sums will speak up. They are too spineless and too compromised, working as they do for a tour funded by a government that tramples human rights.

It is here that Streeter brings up Arthur Ashe, who despite criticism from some quarters chose to visit apartheid South Africa in the 1970s, but then, as Streeter puts it,

used his celebrity and gravitas to shame the racist regime while playing the South African Open.

*

In his tennis-playing career, Arthur Ashe won 76 singles titles. But I best remember him for a singles match that he lost: the 1973 World Championship Tennis final in Dallas, Texas. The event was the culmination of the men’s professional circuit and was viewed as prestigious as the four major tournaments (Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, and the U.S. Open). 

Ashe, as I said above, did not win; he lost to fellow American Stan Smith in four sets. Interviewed after the match, Ashe was asked about a crucial point in the match when Smith went for a ball that had bounced either once (was “up”) or twice (was “not up”). Ashe replied (I’m paraphrasing here): Stan said it was up, and that’s good enough for me.

 ***

* https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/13/sports/golf/golf-liv-pga-saudi.html