EDGAR BROWN
Edgar Brown (pictured, right, with Eugene K Jones) was known as “the father of top spin” and was one of the first players to master the technique. He won the American Tennis Association men’s singles title four times in the 1920s. A political activist, he was a member of the so-called “Black Cabinet”, a group of African Americans who advised President Roosevelt in the 1930s and 1940s.
ARTHUR ASHE
Arthur Ashe, the first black player to represent the United States in the Davis Cup, won three Grand Slam singles titles: the US Open in 1968, the Australian Open in 1970 and Wimbledon in 1975. He retired in 1980 due to heart complications. Ashe helped to form the Association of Tennis Professionals and became its president in 1974. He was a tireless activist, campaigning against apartheid in South Africa and supporting minorities and the under-privileged. He died in 1993, having contracted Aids 10 years earlier, probably through a transfusion of tainted blood during a heart operation.
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