Monday, September 05, 2022

Arthur Ashe Three Time Grand Slam of Tennis Winner


It's that time of the year again, and late summer in the northern hemisphere is time for the U.S. Open Tennis Championship tournament, so I thought it would be nice to take a look back at Arthur Ashe's amazing career achievement. 


...Rolex Coolness...

Arthur Ashe


Three-Time Tennis Grand-Slam Winner
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 43 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.



"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.





Arthur Ashe is pictured below in 1968 holding up his U.S. Open trophy he received after winning the U.S. Open.









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.


Arthur Ashe is pictured below shaking hands with the reigning Wimbledon Championship,  Jimmy Connors in 1975 after Ashe destroyed Connors to win the Wimbledon men's final championship. 








Arthur Ashe is pictured below in 1974 playing golf on a TV show where well-known sportsman competed against each other in a variety of events, and notice he is wearing his Rolex Day-Date while he is playing golf!!! This is something only a REAL Rolex Fanatic would do—play golf while wearing a Rolex President!!!





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.





Arthur Ashe is pictured below with the 1982 Davis Cup team which he was the caption of. John McEnroe is pictured next to Ashe.




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. 


Arthur Ashe is featured below in a video he made just before he passed away. Arthur Ashe passed away on February 6, 1993.


The documentary below on Arthur Ashe is AMAZING!!!! I highly recommend watching it! 




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."



So what makes Arthur Ashe's answer so ironic? The fact he has so few material possessions, but he is wearing his yellow gold Rolex Day-Date. Also, notice this Rolex Day-Date has a matching Champagne dial, where in the later photos of Arthur Ashe, his Day-Date has a dark dial. Another key takeaway point is that to the best of my recollection, Arthur Ashe is the first tennis player who won Wimbledon who wore a Rolex, and not just any Rolex, but he flagship 'Rolex Presidential' model.