He had already won the U.S. Open in 1968 and the Australian Open in 1970. But Arthur Ashe wanted tennis’s most coveted trophy — the grandest, oldest Slam title of them all — given to the winner of the Gentlemen’s Singles’ tournament at England's famed Wimbledon every year since 1887.
At the age of 31 in 1975, Ashe was nearing the end of his peak. His chances to glimpse the greatest glory in the sport might have all but dissipated. A brash, energetic young talent, Jimmy Connors —a fellow UCLA Bruin — was on the rise. Connors was the reigning Wimbledon champion, the world No. 1 and the odds-on favorite to repeat his 1974 victory.
Fate brought the two elite tennis titans together in the 1975 final. Interest and controversy were only intensified by the fact that Ashe and Connors’ relationship had thoroughly soured after exchanging a series of boycotts, barbs in the press and lawsuits over the previous few years. The action, the intrigue, the artistry; the stratagems, the drama, the aftermath. Witness it all — watch the animated documentary above to relive the unlikely underdog triumph of Wimbledon’s only Black male champion, a man who would go on to become both a Bruin, and civil rights, icon.
