NOTE: It's that time of the year again, as the dog days of summer have passed, and the end of summer in the Northern Hemisphere sneaks upon us yet again. The demarcation point for most people in the U.S. for the end of summer, is Labor Day, as the days and evenings usually begin getting shorter and cooler, with the majority of summer behind us in the rear view mirror.
Another key dividing line between Summer and Fall is the U.S. Open Tennis Tournament in Flushing Meadows, New York, where the finals take place in the Arthur Ashe Stadium. I always tend to associated the U.S. Open Tennis Tournament with 3 things:
-Rolex
-Great Tennis
-The End of Summer
This years U.S. Open began on August 9th and will conclude on September 9th, thus I thought it would be a great opportunity to hop in The Rolex Time Machine and take a look back at one of the great tennis players in history...
...Rolex Coolness...
Arthur Ashe
Arthur Ashe
Three-Time Tennis Grand-Slam Winner
A Lifetime Of Achievement With A Rolex President On His Wrist
Arthur Ashe is one of the greatest tennis players in history, and the only African American player to ever win the men's singles at Wimbledon, the U.S. Open, and the Australian Open. Arthur is pictured below sporting his yellow gold Rolex Day-Date. It is amazing how timeless and evergreen Rolex watches are, especially when you realize this photo was taken 54 years ago, in 1970, at the Queen's Club in London.
Arthur Ashe is the first black man in history to wear a Rolex President (Day-Date). I know Bill Cosby wore many Rolex Day-Dates and so did Pele, but I believe Arthur Ashe was the likely the first.
Arthur Ashe is the first black man in history to wear a Rolex President (Day-Date). I know Bill Cosby wore many Rolex Day-Dates and so did Pele, but I believe Arthur Ashe was the likely the first.
"I only wear Rolex." –Arthur Ashe
Arthur Ashe pictured above in 1970, at the Queen's Club in London, England
Tighten Up
I really like the photo of Arthur Ashe above and I think Arthur looks really tight and tough and you can tell by the way he is posing that he is extremely proud of his Rolex–which I really digg. For some reason, every time I look at the photo above of Arthur Ashe, the song "Tighten Up" by Archie Bell & The Drells starts playing in my head so I thought I would share the video below. Play it and look at the photo above of Arthur...
I first learned of Arthur Ashe wearing a Rolex President (Day-Date) from T. Walker Lloyd who told me a great story about how Arthur said that he only wore Rolex. In the photo below we see Arthur Ashe pictured on the cover of a 1966 issue of Sports Illustrated.
Winning Wimbledon 1975
Arthur Ashe is pictured below holding up the Wimbledon Trophy for having won the Men's Final Tournament in 1975. Arthur Ashe had previously attempted to win at Wimbledon eight times, before finally winning.
The video below features Arthur Ashe showcasing his Ashe Comp 2 tennis graphite tennis racket he used when he won Wimbledon in 1975. Arthur Ashe was not only an amazing tennis player, but an equally successful entrepreneur.
Arthur Ashe is pictured below in 1979, while promoting a prototype of his famous Arthur Ashe tennis racquet, which was made by Head. I used to have one of these Head tennis racquets which at the time was, considered the most state of the art racquet you could buy.
It is amazing that Arthur Ashe wore a yellow gold Rolex President his entire life. Arthur Ashe died way too young, but he inspired the tennis world like very few ever have or ever will. Arthur Ashe was a man of great achievement and he made it every step of the way with his trademark Rolex Day-Date on his wrist which kept the time of his life!!!
Arthur Asher is pictured below in 1992 in a famous shot of him hugging his Tennis Racquet while wearing his trademark Rolex Day-Date, which was taken three decades after the first image of him at the beginning of this story. It is fascinating to note Arthur Ashe proudly wore a Rolex Day-Date his entire adult life. A year after the picture below was taken, Arthur Ashe died from AIDS, which he contracted from a blood transfusion that contained the HIV virus in the early 1980s.
Have Rolex Will Travel
If you watch the BBC interview that takes place 36 minutes and 36 seconds into the video above, you will see Arthur Ashe rockin' his yellow gold Rolex Day-Date while being interviewed just after winning Wimbledon in 1975. This is interesting in that the interviewer asked Arthur Ashe if he was materialistic in any way? Arthur Ashe ironically answered:
"Right now I have very few possessions. Not because I don't want them, or wouldn't want to use them, but because there is no real need for them logically. I don't have a car because I am never in one place long enough."