WEBVTT

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New York, a city of lights, of energy, of movement,

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and every summer for over 100 years, the home

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of the US Open. It was here that Arthur Ashe

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became the first African American man to win

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the title, then used his platform far beyond

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the court, against apartheid, against AIDS, for

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people without voices. And he was led first by

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Althea Gibson, the daughter of sharecroppers

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who became the first black player to win a Grand

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Slam. She went on to blaze a trail in professional

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golf too. And, I think you'll agree, she could

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sing a bit too. From there, Billie Jean King

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fought for titles and equality. Borg and McEnroe

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turned matches into theatre. Venus and Serena

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carried American tennis to new heights. The stage

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is the Arthur Ashe Stadium, the largest in the

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sport. a monument to a player whose influence

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stretched far beyond the baseline. Night matches

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run late, because in the city that never sleeps,

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tennis doesn't stop either. Crowds live every

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point, loud, smiling, proud. This tournament

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has given us super Saturdays, million -dollar

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mixed doubles, and the richest prizes in tennis.

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It's crowned legends, Federer, Everett, Sampras,

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Connors. But it's now watched American men wait,

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more than two decades and counting. for another

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champion from their ranks. The US Open is tennis

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played to the rhythm of New York. And this is

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the Sporting Almanac podcast. Hello Ben, how

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are you today? I know the answer to that. Yes

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you do, yes you do. I am very, very happy with

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an away win at Old Trafford. You are? No VAR

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controversy against Arsenal at least, this week?

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Not yet, not yet. This week, I said. It's only

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a matter of time. It was all Crystal Palace today.

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Ah, yes it was. First game in your game. Yes.

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So, OK, I'm going to say a couple of things.

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I'm apologising to all tennis fans joining this.

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We're going to start off with some VAR chat in

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football. But the issue I have with the Liverpool

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one, yes, it was a clear handball. Yes, it was

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stopping a goal scoring opportunity. You can

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debate on whether it was a red card or not, all

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you like. That's fine. That's a fair debate.

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The problem I have is the message that came out.

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Clearly, they missed the fact that there was

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a handball entirely. They missed the fact that

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he flailed at it. They took it as being the bounce

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off from his knee. towards his arm and they said

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there was no handball because it wouldn't be

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in that scenario they then failed to go on and

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check for the actual handball half a second later

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but then retrospectively at half time came out

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and said the VAR check was dismissed because

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it was deemed to not be denying a clear goal

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scoring opportunity but that's just bollocks

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that's not what they checked for in the first

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place so I've got no problem with the fact that

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they were incompetent and they missed the handball

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I do have a problem with them trying to lie about

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it immediately afterwards. That's what winds

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me up. Yeah, well, you know, strap in. Game one.

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First half of game one, you get your first scandal,

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and then you get that absurd decision in the

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Palace game, which is just a pointless technical

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infringement. It's like the kicking ball away

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thing last year. It drives me insane. So this

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always happens. They'll give messages to the

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officials, certain things they have to check,

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and they will check them for about the first

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four weeks of the season. then they'll forget

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all about them. I'm guessing checking positioning

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of players near the wall for free kicks is one

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of them. Yes, players have to be at least a yard

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away from a set wall for a free kick. Yes, Gray

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was within a yard of that wall because he was

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battling out with a Chelsea defender and they

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ended up within a yard of the wall when the free

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kick was taken. It had no bearing on that free

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kick going in, yet technically speaking, it was

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the correct decision. I'm just going to stand

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here and say, no football fan wants them to check

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that. No one. Yes, Chelsea fans might be relieved

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today that they got away with it and got a point

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out of that game instead of a defeat. Crystal

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Palace fans are equally furious as the Chelsea

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fans are relieved. But surely no football fan

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wants them to check that. Am I right, Ben? Yes,

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you are right. Everyone will be angry when they're

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on the receiving end of that. Exactly. And no

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one will be angry until they are, which is why

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these stupid things are allowed to persist, as

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we have whinged about in the past. I actually

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thought today in the Arsenal game, I was watching

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Martin Zubermendi quite carefully. And he looked

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genuinely perplexed by the way in which the game

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was officiated in England. I don't blame him.

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There were like robust tackles, you know, like

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being let go and like head clashes being let

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go. And then someone would make, you know, like

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someone would be booked for taking half a second

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too long taking a throw in. And he was just like,

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you could see the look on his face. He was like

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looking at the referee like, can you just explain

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the logic just so I can understand? there would

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have to be logic for them to explain it it's

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it's bonkers yeah that's what we have to deal

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with anyway we have been in the safe embrace

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of association football uh and rugby union for

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several weeks now but we're gonna we're gonna

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we're gonna transition we're gonna divert our

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attention back to the calendar in a way well

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we've always been following the calendar but

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we're following the calendar back wherever it's

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going and we're going to america for tennis We're

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going to Flushing Meadows. We love tennis, obviously.

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We have somewhat been in our comfort zone the

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past few weeks. Football, double helping, and

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then rugby. Tennis, again, it's not far out of

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our comfort zone, but probably US Open is something

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we know less about than Wimbledon. So, eh, good

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chance to learn and a good chance for me to dive

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into a couple of extremely interesting characters

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from the history of this tournament. Yeah. Which

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will come to no shock to anyone who I'm talking

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about who knows about this tournament. Yeah,

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and that's the thing. The reason this is such

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an interesting one to explore, actually, is because

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there is actually a lot of history behind it.

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There are a lot of interesting characters. I

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mean, it's in America, therefore you can assume

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that there's going to be politics involved and

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things like that. Race, yeah. Race, of course,

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a prominent feature of this episode, I suspect.

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Yeah, and it's just probably the third most watched

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slam. over here in the uk just because of time

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zone ahead of the australian i love australian

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sport because it's on in the morning in the uk

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um i might mention this before i love the afl

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and the nrl particularly because they're on it

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first thing in the morning that's obviously true

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as well the rugby championship that we're talking

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about to a certain extent when they're at home

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new zealand and australia depending on where

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the games are obviously if they're in if they're

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in argentina it's the opposite effect it's very

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late very early in the morning but it's it's

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quite hard to stay up to watch that especially

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because the games do go on late as well in new

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york which makes it four or five in the morning

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here before they finish, yeah. Primetime TV,

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yeah. The US Open, officially named the US Open

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Tennis Championships, colloquially known as the

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US Open, it is a staple, the fourth of the slams

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in the year. Fourth and final, rather. Actually,

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with the exception of the ATP Tour Finals, it

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is the last major, major event. It is the actual

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last official slam. organized by the united states

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tennis association and traditionally starts as

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is the case this year the last monday of august

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two -week tournament as all slams middle weekend

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coinciding with the united states labor day holiday

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there you are fantastic there you go i mean how

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much do you know about this tournament because

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i don't know much so i had a look at the history

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in in generic terms yeah i mean its origins sort

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of matched the origins of tennis in the uk for

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those of you who would like to know more about

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the origins of tennis in the United Kingdom,

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or the origins of tennis full stop, the origin

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story of tennis, are episode 13, I want to say.

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Oh, Wimbledon episode. Yeah. You can go back

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to and listen to that. Again, you don't need

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to listen to it before this, but it does tell

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you where tennis itself came from and how quickly

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it spread. The creation of the game of tennis

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to the first Wimbledon Championships was, I think,

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four years. And then four years after that...

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So really not long in the grand scheme of things,

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especially in a world, you know, which moved

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a lot slower in those days. Four years later

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was the first US National Championships, the

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tournament that later became the US Open. 1881

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was the first creation. It's the same as ever.

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It's a mix of timing, social setting, tennis

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rapidly growing in the United States. There being

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a big middle and upper middle class in the United

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States at that time, particularly in the northeast

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of America, around New York, around Boston. around

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places like that. The type of people who'd holiday

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at Cape Cod and at the other places up around

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there. Big boom in the 1870s, same as in England,

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same reasons, same as in the United Kingdom.

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People with lawns to use, people with wanting

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to have social functions which were inclusive,

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wanting to have women and men in a social situation

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they could play together. Very similar. And then

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that came... to popularity, clubs founding and

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the need for a national championship. Same as

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what happened with the creation of Wimbledon.

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So the US National, the United States National

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Lawn Tennis Association, USNLTA was founded and

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in 1881, they sought to organise and unify the

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game in America. So establishing rules, coordinating

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clubs, and most importantly for this episode,

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creating a national championship to mirror what

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Britain had with Wimbledon. So the stage was

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Newport Casino. It was. Yeah. In Rhode Island.

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It's probably worth mentioning here in 1881,

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it was only the men's singles and men's doubles

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though. Women would come later. Yeah, 1887. But

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yeah, sorry, Newport Casino, Newport, Rhode Island.

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Yeah. So again, it's a place with a lot of elite,

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a lot of social elite in America. It was chosen

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both because it had high quality grass courts

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and because it fit the fashionable image tennis

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wanted to cultivate worldwide. So in terms of

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eligibility, only members of US NLTA affiliated

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clubs were allowed to enter. They made it immediately

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an exclusive upper and upper middle class competition

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from the start. So immediately excluded those

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working class people, excluded lower middle class

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people, same as the game in the United Kingdom.

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and a trend which would continue for many, many

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years, obviously excluded. It was obviously a

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very white organization as well, unsurprisingly,

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this being America in the late 19th century.

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Indeed. I was going to say as well, for the tennis

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geeks out there, I think Newport is now the home

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of the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Oh,

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cool. That's cool. And there's a grass tournament

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still held at Newport, I believe. Every year.

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There is, yeah, which is one of the few in the

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grass court season, isn't it? I think we talked

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about that very, I think we touched on it, flirted

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with it in the Wimbledon episode. I think it's

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a 250 tournament, although forgive me if it's

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a 500. That's how many ranking points you get

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for it. It's a 250 tournament, so obviously less

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prestigious. That's the word, yeah, than 500s,

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and then you get 1 ,000, which are the Masters

00:11:45.710 --> 00:11:48.399
tournaments, and then... The Grand Slam is all

00:11:48.399 --> 00:11:50.279
2 ,000 point tournaments, just to give you an

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indication of how it works. So a 250 tournament

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probably wouldn't attract the number ones in

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the world unless they were warming up for a tournament

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like Wimbledon and they wanted to get used to

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a grass court setting beforehand. I was going

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to say, I think you're about to start talking

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about this unless you want to talk a bit more

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about the societal context of America at the

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time. But one of the really peculiar aspects

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of the US Open is that it has not always been

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held at the same location. And each tournament

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that is now played at the US Open wasn't necessarily

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held at the same venue. And by that, I mean the

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singles, the men's and women's singles were held

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at different locations. The doubles are sometimes

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held at locations. And that changed over time.

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And it was only unified fairly well in the open

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era, basically. But we can go through some of

00:12:39.509 --> 00:12:41.230
that because that's kind of interesting. Yeah,

00:12:41.710 --> 00:12:43.250
that is interesting. I knew it obviously changed

00:12:43.250 --> 00:12:46.200
venues. I did not know that. individual competitions

00:12:46.200 --> 00:12:49.500
were held or individual years had different competitions

00:12:49.500 --> 00:12:50.919
held at different venues that is interesting

00:12:50.919 --> 00:12:52.860
anyway I haven't got much else to add for that

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other than the first men's winner was Richard

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Sears who won the first seven tournaments he

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was a Harvard educated player becoming essentially

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the first American tennis star as you can imagine

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winning seven years on the trot and then the

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first female tournament was 1887 the first winner

00:13:08.779 --> 00:13:12.000
was 17 year old Ellen Hansel Yeah. Which is,

00:13:12.000 --> 00:13:13.919
again, very similar to in the United Kingdom,

00:13:13.980 --> 00:13:17.559
the first female winners being young women, who

00:13:17.559 --> 00:13:19.539
were the kind of people who weren't playing for

00:13:19.539 --> 00:13:21.159
social reasons. They were playing because they

00:13:21.159 --> 00:13:24.279
bloody loved the game. 10, 11, 12, 13, while

00:13:24.279 --> 00:13:26.399
their older sisters got flirted to, they were

00:13:26.399 --> 00:13:28.820
just, no, I just want to beat you. Yeah, yeah.

00:13:29.000 --> 00:13:31.480
Might be a similar story there. And one of the

00:13:31.480 --> 00:13:33.440
fun things is that she's no longer the youngest

00:13:33.440 --> 00:13:37.240
ever winner, even in the open era. So we'll come

00:13:37.240 --> 00:13:40.409
to that later. I mean, you touched on it there.

00:13:40.470 --> 00:13:42.389
The first one was in 1887, but we were talking

00:13:42.389 --> 00:13:45.629
about how the men's singles event was at Newport

00:13:45.629 --> 00:13:47.830
Casino in 1881. Well, it stayed there until,

00:13:47.970 --> 00:13:51.649
I don't know, 1914. But the women's tournament

00:13:51.649 --> 00:13:54.590
was held at the Philadelphia Cricket Club, so

00:13:54.590 --> 00:13:57.210
a different location altogether. I'm just amazed

00:13:57.210 --> 00:13:59.889
Philadelphia had a cricket club. Well, it gets

00:13:59.889 --> 00:14:02.970
even weirder, mate. So in 1887, the men's doubles

00:14:02.970 --> 00:14:06.149
tournament then moved and was played at the Orange

00:14:06.149 --> 00:14:09.149
Lawn Tennis Club in South Orange in New Jersey.

00:14:09.950 --> 00:14:14.169
And then in 1888, it moved again. Well, 88 and

00:14:14.169 --> 00:14:16.889
89, in fact. And they were played at the Staten

00:14:16.889 --> 00:14:19.370
Island Cricket Club in Livingston, Staten Island,

00:14:19.490 --> 00:14:24.490
New York. Nice. Big Staten Island. Yeah. It also

00:14:24.490 --> 00:14:27.350
went off to the St. George Cricket Club in Chicago

00:14:27.350 --> 00:14:31.389
at one point, and then it was from 1915 that

00:14:31.389 --> 00:14:34.470
the national championships were located to the

00:14:34.470 --> 00:14:36.549
Westside Tennis Club in Forest Hills, Queens,

00:14:36.909 --> 00:14:40.070
New York, for the first time, which would eventually

00:14:40.070 --> 00:14:42.350
become quite a long -standing host of at least

00:14:42.350 --> 00:14:44.409
the men's tournament for a while. But it didn't

00:14:44.409 --> 00:14:46.730
actually quite end there, which is why I find

00:14:46.730 --> 00:14:50.379
all of this quite fascinating. Whilst from 1915,

00:14:50.440 --> 00:14:52.240
the men's singles tournament was held there,

00:14:52.340 --> 00:14:54.080
the women's tournament was still held at the

00:14:54.080 --> 00:14:59.139
Philadelphia Cricket Club until 1921 when it

00:14:59.139 --> 00:15:03.259
moved to Westside Tennis Club. And then 1917

00:15:03.259 --> 00:15:07.419
to 1933, the men's doubles went to Longwood Cricket

00:15:07.419 --> 00:15:11.720
Club in Massachusetts. Fair enough. Yeah, it

00:15:11.720 --> 00:15:13.600
kept moving around a lot. And then I think...

00:15:13.740 --> 00:15:16.000
Both the men and the women's doubles events were

00:15:16.000 --> 00:15:18.519
held at Longwood Cricket Club between 35 and

00:15:18.519 --> 00:15:23.759
41 and then 46 to 67. So yeah, it moved around

00:15:23.759 --> 00:15:26.820
an awful lot. The men's singles tournament also

00:15:26.820 --> 00:15:30.399
left the Westside Tennis Club temporarily between

00:15:30.399 --> 00:15:33.779
1921 and 1923 whilst it was being rebuilt. And

00:15:33.779 --> 00:15:36.240
it went to Germantown Cricket Club in Philadelphia.

00:15:36.909 --> 00:15:38.590
Which is, you know, all pretty fascinating. And

00:15:38.590 --> 00:15:40.950
this is all pre -Open Era. Open Era doesn't come

00:15:40.950 --> 00:15:42.529
along for a while. And I think before we move

00:15:42.529 --> 00:15:44.309
on to the Open Era and how things progressed

00:15:44.309 --> 00:15:47.809
from there, you wanted to talk about a pretty

00:15:47.809 --> 00:15:50.830
prominent lady or an iconic woman. Yeah, I'm

00:15:50.830 --> 00:15:52.789
only going to talk about her briefly. I was actually

00:15:52.789 --> 00:15:54.990
going to talk about, this is Althea Gibson. I

00:15:54.990 --> 00:15:56.970
was going to talk about her during the Wimbledon

00:15:56.970 --> 00:15:59.870
episode because Althea Gibson is a pioneer in

00:15:59.870 --> 00:16:02.929
every, almost every Grand Slam's first winner

00:16:02.929 --> 00:16:05.440
at Wimbledon. uh first winner of the what became

00:16:05.440 --> 00:16:08.179
the french open and as i will come to now the

00:16:08.179 --> 00:16:11.860
first african american winner of the u .s open

00:16:11.860 --> 00:16:13.639
i should have mentioned that she was the first

00:16:13.639 --> 00:16:15.980
african american winner of these very fascinating

00:16:15.980 --> 00:16:19.220
live very fascinating figure but i may only talk

00:16:19.220 --> 00:16:21.080
about it really in brief today just because i

00:16:21.080 --> 00:16:23.240
think there's there's someone else i want to

00:16:23.240 --> 00:16:25.299
talk to about a bit more today and i couldn't

00:16:25.299 --> 00:16:27.320
possibly give them both the credit they deserve

00:16:27.320 --> 00:16:30.500
in this episode so i think in a future year One

00:16:30.500 --> 00:16:32.320
of those tournaments, be it Wimbledon again,

00:16:32.399 --> 00:16:35.899
be it the US Open or France, will come back to

00:16:35.899 --> 00:16:38.200
her. But I'll give a quick overview of Althea

00:16:38.200 --> 00:16:41.720
Gibson's life now. She was born in August 1927

00:16:41.720 --> 00:16:44.700
in Silver, South Carolina, but she was raised

00:16:44.700 --> 00:16:46.740
in Harlem, New York. She grew up in poverty,

00:16:46.840 --> 00:16:48.539
which would have a significant impact on her

00:16:48.539 --> 00:16:52.600
career, even beside the impact that her race

00:16:52.600 --> 00:16:55.879
caused on trying to break into lawn tennis. She

00:16:55.879 --> 00:16:57.679
took up paddle tennis originally before moving

00:16:57.679 --> 00:17:00.509
over to lawn tennis. She was coached by one Dr.

00:17:00.629 --> 00:17:03.049
Robert Walter Johnson, who was a physician and

00:17:03.049 --> 00:17:05.009
coach known as the godfather of black tennis.

00:17:05.230 --> 00:17:08.329
He ran an all -expenses -paid tennis camp for

00:17:08.329 --> 00:17:10.390
African -American children, becoming instrumental

00:17:10.390 --> 00:17:12.029
in the careers of several black players, and

00:17:12.029 --> 00:17:13.509
it will not be the last time I mention him today.

00:17:14.029 --> 00:17:16.890
At the time, the US Tennis Association was segregated.

00:17:17.490 --> 00:17:19.390
Black players were only allowed to play in the

00:17:19.390 --> 00:17:21.769
American Tennis Association, the ATA, at the

00:17:21.769 --> 00:17:25.289
time. Gibson won her first ATA championship in

00:17:25.289 --> 00:17:29.029
1947. And she eventually won 10 consecutive ATA

00:17:29.029 --> 00:17:31.529
women's singles titles. She was the utterly dominant

00:17:31.529 --> 00:17:35.589
player in the ATA. And that led to many calls

00:17:35.589 --> 00:17:39.769
from many people associated with the USTA calling

00:17:39.769 --> 00:17:42.390
for her to be allowed to compete with white women,

00:17:42.450 --> 00:17:45.049
essentially. That seems reasonable. If you're

00:17:45.049 --> 00:17:47.470
smashing everyone. It seems extraordinarily reasonable,

00:17:47.690 --> 00:17:50.910
yeah. So most notable amongst these was Alice

00:17:50.910 --> 00:17:53.269
Marble, who herself was a four -time US National

00:17:53.269 --> 00:17:55.269
Championship, the tournament that later becomes

00:17:55.269 --> 00:17:59.539
the US Open. winner um she wrote if althea gibson

00:17:59.539 --> 00:18:01.519
represents the challenge to the present crop

00:18:01.519 --> 00:18:04.019
of women's players it's only fair that they should

00:18:04.019 --> 00:18:07.160
meet that challenge on the courts which is fantastic

00:18:07.160 --> 00:18:09.960
and she also mentioned that her not being allowed

00:18:09.960 --> 00:18:12.859
to compete would leave an ineradicable mark against

00:18:12.859 --> 00:18:15.319
the game she loved and it would leave her ashamed

00:18:15.319 --> 00:18:18.420
essentially i'll rate that for the era yeah no

00:18:18.420 --> 00:18:20.140
no brilliant that wouldn't there wouldn't have

00:18:20.140 --> 00:18:22.420
been an easy message in the united states during

00:18:22.420 --> 00:18:25.670
that period of time no alice marble herself Her

00:18:25.670 --> 00:18:29.349
story is incredibly fascinating. And again, I

00:18:29.349 --> 00:18:32.329
could go into that in a future episode. I'm talking

00:18:32.329 --> 00:18:34.890
like potentially a spy during World War II as

00:18:34.890 --> 00:18:38.250
well. Fascinating. That is fascinating. We will

00:18:38.250 --> 00:18:40.730
come back to her. She is an amazing figure and

00:18:40.730 --> 00:18:41.829
obviously a huge impact here. This is the problem,

00:18:42.089 --> 00:18:43.990
isn't it? There's so many damn rabbit holes we

00:18:43.990 --> 00:18:46.930
could go down. It's incredible. I'm not giving

00:18:46.930 --> 00:18:49.289
Gibson her due course. I'm certainly not giving

00:18:49.289 --> 00:18:52.430
Marble her due here, but there will be future

00:18:52.430 --> 00:18:55.200
episodes and we will come back to them. So yeah,

00:18:55.259 --> 00:18:58.799
basically age 23 as a result of Marbles intervention,

00:18:58.960 --> 00:19:01.940
mostly, but also others as well who were giving

00:19:01.940 --> 00:19:04.000
her a backing. She was allowed to compete at

00:19:04.000 --> 00:19:06.720
the 1950 US Championship. She became the first

00:19:06.720 --> 00:19:08.900
African American ever to compete at a Grand Slam.

00:19:08.980 --> 00:19:11.640
She won her first round match, but she lost the

00:19:11.640 --> 00:19:14.579
second round match, but much was to follow in

00:19:14.579 --> 00:19:17.319
her career. She was the first person of African

00:19:17.319 --> 00:19:20.200
origin, first black player to play at Wimbledon

00:19:20.200 --> 00:19:26.079
as well in 1951. Nice. And in 1956, she became

00:19:26.079 --> 00:19:28.359
the first black player ever to win a Grand Slam

00:19:28.359 --> 00:19:30.240
title when she won the French Championships,

00:19:30.480 --> 00:19:32.700
the tournament that later became the French Open

00:19:32.700 --> 00:19:37.740
in 1956. She won a doubles title at Wimbledon

00:19:37.740 --> 00:19:41.500
in 1956 alongside Angela Buxton, who is a Brit

00:19:41.500 --> 00:19:43.920
of Jewish origin, born in Liverpool, but brought

00:19:43.920 --> 00:19:47.059
up in part in South Africa, where she witnessed

00:19:47.059 --> 00:19:49.700
segregation and found herself warned off attempts

00:19:49.700 --> 00:19:51.990
to befriend local black children. to her complete

00:19:51.990 --> 00:19:53.990
confusion at the time, as you'd imagine a child

00:19:53.990 --> 00:19:56.809
would, who had never been exposed to racism in

00:19:56.809 --> 00:19:58.910
her life and therefore didn't understand why

00:19:58.910 --> 00:20:01.670
people were racist. Which tends to be the case.

00:20:02.650 --> 00:20:05.289
It's not innate. You bring people up a certain

00:20:05.289 --> 00:20:08.609
way. It's learnt behaviour. So her and Alfea

00:20:08.609 --> 00:20:12.130
became lifelong friends. So Alfea achieved incredible

00:20:12.130 --> 00:20:15.329
success in 1957 and 1958 in the singles game.

00:20:15.670 --> 00:20:19.849
She won the Wimbledon title in 1957. the US national

00:20:19.849 --> 00:20:22.430
title in 1957 and repeated both these feats in

00:20:22.430 --> 00:20:25.650
1958 as well, winning two on the bounce in both

00:20:25.650 --> 00:20:28.109
competitions and becoming the number one ranked

00:20:28.109 --> 00:20:30.910
female player in the world. So not only was she

00:20:30.910 --> 00:20:33.529
a pioneer in terms of becoming the first black

00:20:33.529 --> 00:20:35.529
player to play in these tournaments, she was

00:20:35.529 --> 00:20:39.309
dominant. Absolutely dominant. Brilliant, yeah.

00:20:39.470 --> 00:20:43.109
So she was a hard hitter, very aggressive, quite

00:20:43.109 --> 00:20:46.190
fiery on the court, liked to do her talking with

00:20:46.190 --> 00:20:49.559
a racket, didn't do so much talking. off the

00:20:49.559 --> 00:20:52.079
pitch, certainly at a time where obviously racial

00:20:52.079 --> 00:20:58.200
tensions were high and it was dangerous in many

00:20:58.200 --> 00:21:00.839
cases for her to speak her mind. This is something

00:21:00.839 --> 00:21:03.839
that she was taught by her coach, Dr. Johnson,

00:21:04.079 --> 00:21:07.319
who made sure that his players weren't only prepared

00:21:07.319 --> 00:21:09.599
for playing the actual game itself, but were

00:21:09.599 --> 00:21:12.039
prepared for the expectations of them as black

00:21:12.039 --> 00:21:14.380
players in this society as much as they wanted

00:21:14.380 --> 00:21:16.160
to be outspoken, as much as they wanted to...

00:21:16.440 --> 00:21:18.740
speak up against what was clear injustice everywhere

00:21:18.740 --> 00:21:20.960
they simply would not have been allowed to compete

00:21:20.960 --> 00:21:24.000
if they were doing it it would give the the media

00:21:24.000 --> 00:21:27.720
and other you know the the powers that be around

00:21:27.720 --> 00:21:29.559
them just an excuse to label them as another

00:21:29.559 --> 00:21:32.859
black agitator another angry black woman or angry

00:21:32.859 --> 00:21:35.359
black man and kick them off the tour or restrict

00:21:35.359 --> 00:21:37.839
them or use that as an excuse to restrict others

00:21:37.839 --> 00:21:41.559
as well so they're as as harsh as it was as much

00:21:41.559 --> 00:21:43.819
as they weren't allowed to act like that if someone

00:21:43.819 --> 00:21:45.950
had come out A black player at that time had

00:21:45.950 --> 00:21:48.089
come out acting like John McEnroe. They wouldn't

00:21:48.089 --> 00:21:51.109
be a threat like John McEnroe. John McEnroe is

00:21:51.109 --> 00:21:54.430
obviously, for good reason, very beloved. It

00:21:54.430 --> 00:21:58.109
wouldn't have flown at that point. It just wasn't

00:21:58.109 --> 00:22:00.950
an option. It wasn't a personality type or a

00:22:00.950 --> 00:22:04.390
persona that you could adopt. I can believe that

00:22:04.390 --> 00:22:07.390
very easily. You'd be stereotyped, castigated.

00:22:07.589 --> 00:22:11.509
Yeah. So, unfortunately, this was amateur tennis

00:22:11.509 --> 00:22:15.609
at the time. It was. she coming from as was all

00:22:15.609 --> 00:22:18.589
tennis at that period to be fair yeah so she

00:22:18.589 --> 00:22:21.170
didn't come from riches far from it and it's

00:22:21.170 --> 00:22:24.369
an interesting thing actually that um even within

00:22:24.369 --> 00:22:28.069
the the ata when she was playing on the on the

00:22:28.069 --> 00:22:30.730
black tour essentially she was still discriminated

00:22:30.730 --> 00:22:32.970
against because a lot of the players playing

00:22:32.970 --> 00:22:35.430
for in the ata tour they were black but they

00:22:35.430 --> 00:22:37.230
were still affluent they were still middle class

00:22:37.230 --> 00:22:41.210
or even upper middle class people who'd achieved

00:22:41.210 --> 00:22:43.849
to be fair in a society where it was difficult

00:22:43.849 --> 00:22:46.170
for an African American to achieve but they still

00:22:46.170 --> 00:22:47.829
looked down on her because she was working class

00:22:47.829 --> 00:22:49.849
and because she was working class she didn't

00:22:49.849 --> 00:22:52.329
have that base to support her as an amateur player

00:22:52.329 --> 00:22:54.470
she wasn't allowed sponsors she wasn't allowed

00:22:54.470 --> 00:22:57.490
benefactors she got expenses and had to muddle

00:22:57.490 --> 00:22:59.549
her way through the rest and she had to work

00:22:59.549 --> 00:23:02.190
around these tournaments which obviously was

00:23:02.190 --> 00:23:05.089
pretty much impossible so as a result of that

00:23:05.089 --> 00:23:08.269
in 1958 despite being clearly the best female

00:23:08.269 --> 00:23:11.140
player on the planet She retired from tennis

00:23:11.140 --> 00:23:13.319
because she simply couldn't afford to keep playing

00:23:13.319 --> 00:23:17.180
it. She did exhibition matches, which were allowed.

00:23:17.779 --> 00:23:21.339
Sorry, didn't she win it in 58 as well? Yeah.

00:23:21.799 --> 00:23:24.240
That's mad that you can be the US Open champion

00:23:24.240 --> 00:23:26.900
and feel like you have to retire. So yeah, sorry,

00:23:27.019 --> 00:23:29.480
go on. Yeah, the only way she could afford to

00:23:29.480 --> 00:23:31.319
make a living from playing sport was to either

00:23:31.319 --> 00:23:33.680
play a different sport or to play exhibition

00:23:33.680 --> 00:23:35.900
matches, essentially. And by playing exhibition

00:23:35.900 --> 00:23:37.859
matches, she therefore wasn't allowed to compete

00:23:37.859 --> 00:23:40.880
in. amateur tournaments anymore as a result of

00:23:40.880 --> 00:23:43.079
that so she did actually play other sports as

00:23:43.079 --> 00:23:47.500
well she joined the lpga tour in 1964 and became

00:23:47.500 --> 00:23:49.480
the first black woman to compete in professional

00:23:49.480 --> 00:23:52.819
golf as well that's that is unreal that that

00:23:52.819 --> 00:23:56.859
is incredible that's almost worth uh yeah like

00:23:56.859 --> 00:23:58.799
you know these stories you can romanticize them

00:23:58.799 --> 00:24:00.599
in hindsight but that that's a lovely little

00:24:00.599 --> 00:24:03.039
twist to the tale like being forced to retire

00:24:03.039 --> 00:24:05.589
from one sport but it also makes you a pioneer

00:24:05.589 --> 00:24:07.890
in a second. She was also an incredibly good

00:24:07.890 --> 00:24:12.450
singer as well. She dabbled in singing as well.

00:24:12.490 --> 00:24:16.309
I mean, it's incredible. She later served as

00:24:16.309 --> 00:24:18.650
Commissioner of Athletics for New Jersey, becoming

00:24:18.650 --> 00:24:20.490
the first African -American woman in such a role,

00:24:20.549 --> 00:24:22.690
as you can imagine. And she was inducted into

00:24:22.690 --> 00:24:25.670
the Tennis Hall of Fame as well. But unfortunately,

00:24:25.970 --> 00:24:28.829
as you can possibly imagine, she struggled financially

00:24:28.829 --> 00:24:32.130
and with ill health as well later in life, finding

00:24:32.130 --> 00:24:34.279
herself... close to being destitute in the mid

00:24:34.279 --> 00:24:37.279
-1990s and contemplating suicide at that point.

00:24:37.380 --> 00:24:40.539
But her friends came to her aid, led by Angela

00:24:40.539 --> 00:24:43.559
Buxton. They raised money on her behalf and allowed

00:24:43.559 --> 00:24:46.420
her to finish her life with some dignity. She

00:24:46.420 --> 00:24:49.640
died in 2003 in East Orange, New Jersey, aged

00:24:49.640 --> 00:24:52.839
76. And of course, she celebrated as a trailblazer

00:24:52.839 --> 00:24:54.819
who paved the way for black athletes like Venus

00:24:54.819 --> 00:24:57.640
and Serena Williams, and of course, Arthur Ashe.

00:24:58.140 --> 00:25:00.759
Yeah, who we'll come to very shortly. Indeed.

00:25:01.099 --> 00:25:04.039
No, that's a really cool story, mate. I didn't

00:25:04.039 --> 00:25:07.799
know anything about that lady, really. I don't

00:25:07.799 --> 00:25:09.720
think many people do, honestly. I think more

00:25:09.720 --> 00:25:12.960
so nowadays, but certainly for a long time. Consider

00:25:12.960 --> 00:25:16.339
myself educated, or at least partially. There's

00:25:16.339 --> 00:25:21.329
always more learning one can do. Exactly. Yeah,

00:25:21.329 --> 00:25:23.609
no, that takes us up really quite neatly, actually,

00:25:23.650 --> 00:25:25.349
mate, to the end of the open era, because the

00:25:25.349 --> 00:25:27.329
end of the open era is only shortly after that.

00:25:27.970 --> 00:25:30.450
The start of the open era. Sorry, the start of

00:25:30.450 --> 00:25:33.150
the open era. The end of amateur tennis was only

00:25:33.150 --> 00:25:35.829
shortly after that. The start of the open era,

00:25:35.910 --> 00:25:38.329
which is effectively professional tennis, began

00:25:38.329 --> 00:25:42.869
in 1968. And at that point, the US Open, as we

00:25:42.869 --> 00:25:44.609
were discussing before, was at the Westside Tennis

00:25:44.609 --> 00:25:49.599
Club. That's where it... And in 1978, it changed

00:25:49.599 --> 00:25:52.460
to its current location, which was originally

00:25:52.460 --> 00:25:55.660
called the United States Tennis Association National

00:25:55.660 --> 00:25:58.460
Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, Corona Park,

00:25:58.519 --> 00:26:03.000
Queens, New York City. But in 2006, it was renamed

00:26:03.000 --> 00:26:07.759
in honor of Billie Jean King, our four -time

00:26:07.759 --> 00:26:11.460
US Ladies US Open singles champion and also one

00:26:11.460 --> 00:26:15.460
of women's tennis's early pioneers. Indeed, yeah.

00:26:15.740 --> 00:26:18.500
Now it's just known as the USTA Billie Jean King

00:26:18.500 --> 00:26:21.359
National Tennis Center at Flushing Meadows. Just

00:26:21.359 --> 00:26:23.240
quickly on Billie Jean King, because it's probably

00:26:23.240 --> 00:26:25.819
worth throwing her a bone, although I don't intend

00:26:25.819 --> 00:26:28.680
to go on too long about her because there's lots

00:26:28.680 --> 00:26:30.420
of people we want to talk about. But she was

00:26:30.420 --> 00:26:35.019
a pretty big advocate for equality and social

00:26:35.019 --> 00:26:39.740
justice. She still is. She still is, yeah. She's

00:26:39.740 --> 00:26:42.380
still going, aged 81. But yeah, she famously

00:26:42.380 --> 00:26:46.740
won in 1973, age 29, against Bobby Riggs, who

00:26:46.740 --> 00:26:50.220
was 55 in the Battle of the Sexes, which shows

00:26:50.220 --> 00:26:53.140
you people's attitudes towards women's sport

00:26:53.140 --> 00:26:56.059
in that period of time where they thought a former

00:26:56.059 --> 00:26:59.279
men's number one, age 55, would be better than

00:26:59.279 --> 00:27:03.279
a 29 -year -old women's professional player who

00:27:03.279 --> 00:27:05.720
was also incredibly successful. So he got it

00:27:05.720 --> 00:27:10.109
handed to him. which is kind of nice. Yeah, shame.

00:27:10.509 --> 00:27:12.470
No, I don't want to go on Bobby Riggs. I'm sure

00:27:12.470 --> 00:27:15.369
it wasn't his. He was just competing in the event.

00:27:15.410 --> 00:27:17.089
He was the guy chosen to do it. But it's just

00:27:17.089 --> 00:27:19.450
nice that Billie Jean King won. And she also

00:27:19.450 --> 00:27:22.849
just is kind of like a symbol of the changing

00:27:22.849 --> 00:27:24.910
of the guard, if you like, because she won the

00:27:24.910 --> 00:27:28.910
last ever amateur US Open in 1967, beating...

00:27:29.339 --> 00:27:31.880
A Brit, actually. Anne Hayden Jones in the final.

00:27:32.019 --> 00:27:36.720
And she lost the first professional US Open in

00:27:36.720 --> 00:27:40.500
1968 to another Brit, Virginia Wade. Of course.

00:27:40.759 --> 00:27:44.819
But she would go on to win three US Open titles

00:27:44.819 --> 00:27:48.059
in the professional era, giving her a total of

00:27:48.059 --> 00:27:53.539
four. One in 1971, one in 1972, and one in 1974.

00:27:54.880 --> 00:27:58.960
But yeah, that's the venue that we're at. That's

00:27:58.960 --> 00:28:00.759
the venue that it's been hosted at ever since.

00:28:01.059 --> 00:28:03.039
I guess it's a good opportunity to talk about

00:28:03.039 --> 00:28:05.519
it and introduce people to the venue in a bit

00:28:05.519 --> 00:28:07.920
more detail. Before you do it, I think we can't

00:28:07.920 --> 00:28:09.420
leave Billie Jean King without mentioning she

00:28:09.420 --> 00:28:11.819
also won a career Grand Slam, winning all the...

00:28:12.119 --> 00:28:14.759
Grand Slam tournaments, and she won six Wimbledon

00:28:14.759 --> 00:28:17.220
titles as well, which is just ridiculous. Sorry,

00:28:17.460 --> 00:28:19.400
I mean, I've done her a huge disservice because

00:28:19.400 --> 00:28:24.440
she was absolutely gun. I was focusing very much

00:28:24.440 --> 00:28:27.660
on her United States exploits in the majors.

00:28:27.859 --> 00:28:30.980
I wasn't trying to summarize her career because,

00:28:31.119 --> 00:28:34.059
yes, as you've just quite rightly pointed out,

00:28:34.140 --> 00:28:38.279
she won it all. So yes, Flushing Meadows. Shall

00:28:38.279 --> 00:28:41.200
we introduce people to it? I think that would

00:28:41.200 --> 00:28:44.559
be wise. Yeah. Well, it has 22 outdoor courts,

00:28:44.759 --> 00:28:47.640
plus 12 practice courts, which are just outside

00:28:47.640 --> 00:28:49.940
the grounds near the East Gate, as I understand

00:28:49.940 --> 00:28:54.299
it. Four show courts, 13 field courts, five practice

00:28:54.299 --> 00:28:57.200
courts make up your 22 on site. Taking those

00:28:57.200 --> 00:28:59.500
in reverse order, because I think that's the

00:28:59.500 --> 00:29:01.180
appropriate thing to do in terms of show courts.

00:29:01.279 --> 00:29:03.400
Don't worry, I'm not doing all 22. Court 17.

00:29:05.140 --> 00:29:07.859
That's what I'd do. Yeah, well, I don't think

00:29:07.859 --> 00:29:10.359
they're actually that interesting, most of them.

00:29:11.289 --> 00:29:13.609
Court 17 is interesting. It's in the southeast

00:29:13.609 --> 00:29:15.369
corner of the grounds. It's the fourth largest

00:29:15.369 --> 00:29:17.730
stadium on site. It was opened with temporary

00:29:17.730 --> 00:29:21.490
seating in 2011. It's now got permanent seating.

00:29:21.789 --> 00:29:23.769
I think it's got permanent seating since 2012.

00:29:24.470 --> 00:29:27.630
Capacity just under 3 ,000, all of which is general

00:29:27.630 --> 00:29:30.309
admission and not separately ticketed, which

00:29:30.309 --> 00:29:31.809
is really cool. I think you just have to queue

00:29:31.809 --> 00:29:34.609
to get in. And it's nicknamed The Pit, which

00:29:34.609 --> 00:29:37.210
is not dissimilar to, I think, it was Court 3

00:29:37.210 --> 00:29:39.730
at Wimbledon. I was going to say, yeah, because

00:29:39.730 --> 00:29:42.029
it's slightly underground. Dug into the ground,

00:29:42.150 --> 00:29:46.029
exactly. Sung eight feet into the ground. The

00:29:46.029 --> 00:29:48.490
third largest is the originally named Grandstand.

00:29:50.049 --> 00:29:54.829
8 ,125, all -seater capacity stadium. Southwest

00:29:54.829 --> 00:29:58.690
corner of the grounds, opened in 2016. Then you

00:29:58.690 --> 00:30:01.130
start to get into the business end of this venue.

00:30:01.390 --> 00:30:04.230
The next largest is the Louis Armstrong Stadium.

00:30:04.859 --> 00:30:09.079
just over 14 ,000, cost 200 million US dollars

00:30:09.079 --> 00:30:13.299
to build, opened in 2018. And this is kind of

00:30:13.299 --> 00:30:14.839
fun, though. I like this about the Louis Armstrong

00:30:14.839 --> 00:30:18.960
Stadium. So you've got 6 ,400 seats in the lower

00:30:18.960 --> 00:30:21.779
tier of this stadium, which are ticketed and

00:30:21.779 --> 00:30:26.180
reserved. And then you've got 7 ,661 seats in

00:30:26.180 --> 00:30:28.759
the upper tier, which are general admission and

00:30:28.759 --> 00:30:31.839
not separately ticketed. Yeah. I quite like that.

00:30:32.170 --> 00:30:33.990
Yeah, it's fun, isn't it? Like, because it allows

00:30:33.990 --> 00:30:35.990
everybody an opportunity to get to the show courts,

00:30:36.069 --> 00:30:39.329
because to Court 17 and the Louis Armstrong Stadium,

00:30:39.529 --> 00:30:42.769
you can get into a general admission, which is,

00:30:42.809 --> 00:30:45.990
I think is, you know, is decent. But that does

00:30:45.990 --> 00:30:50.829
bring us to the main stage, which is the Arthur

00:30:50.829 --> 00:30:54.910
Ashe Stadium, opened in 1997, had a 180 million

00:30:54.910 --> 00:30:57.990
pound retractable roof installed on it in 2016.

00:30:59.220 --> 00:31:03.359
It's 23 ,771 all -seater. It's the biggest tennis

00:31:03.359 --> 00:31:05.940
stadium in the world. It's iconic, you know,

00:31:05.960 --> 00:31:09.059
one of the great sporting venues. And it is named

00:31:09.059 --> 00:31:12.500
after Arthur Ashe, who is an extremely interesting

00:31:12.500 --> 00:31:15.819
dude. Incredibly, yeah. You're going to take

00:31:15.819 --> 00:31:18.240
the lead on this because you know more about

00:31:18.240 --> 00:31:22.480
him than I do. Needless to say, he was a pioneer

00:31:22.480 --> 00:31:25.460
in his own right. Yeah, take it from there, Jack.

00:31:26.099 --> 00:31:28.019
He's a super interesting guy. And the reason

00:31:28.019 --> 00:31:29.619
I think this is important, sorry, before I do

00:31:29.619 --> 00:31:31.220
actually hand over, the reason I do think this

00:31:31.220 --> 00:31:33.500
is important is because everybody knows Arthur

00:31:33.500 --> 00:31:35.859
Ashton Stadium. Everybody knows that it's an

00:31:35.859 --> 00:31:37.940
iconic venue. Everybody associates it with Flushing

00:31:37.940 --> 00:31:40.299
Meadows. But how many people really know about

00:31:40.299 --> 00:31:43.480
Arthur Ashton guy? I'll be amazed if many people

00:31:43.480 --> 00:31:45.900
know this detail outside of America. I would

00:31:45.900 --> 00:31:47.839
say outside of tennis fans and outside of America,

00:31:48.039 --> 00:31:50.259
yeah. Probably a bit lacking. I think, obviously,

00:31:50.279 --> 00:31:52.059
a lot of tennis fans will know about him. Of

00:31:52.059 --> 00:31:54.079
course. And, obviously, a lot of people in America

00:31:54.079 --> 00:31:56.579
will know about him, naturally. But, honestly,

00:31:56.799 --> 00:31:59.759
he's such... I think, in terms of, like, you

00:31:59.759 --> 00:32:01.700
want to pick a top ten most interesting sports

00:32:01.700 --> 00:32:05.079
people of all time, I think he is, I mean, maybe

00:32:05.079 --> 00:32:07.519
even the top five, maybe even threatening the

00:32:07.519 --> 00:32:10.500
top spot. He is incredible, interesting, an icon,

00:32:10.740 --> 00:32:16.349
apartheid, AIDS, ATP founder. He... Did it more

00:32:16.349 --> 00:32:18.109
of his racket during his career, but then after

00:32:18.109 --> 00:32:20.650
his career, he got more vocal about it. Heart

00:32:20.650 --> 00:32:22.390
conditions. Incredible background. Yeah, heart

00:32:22.390 --> 00:32:26.970
conditions, yeah. Bypasses, brain surgery, and

00:32:26.970 --> 00:32:29.549
still kept protesting, still kept trying to make

00:32:29.549 --> 00:32:31.690
a difference all the way to literally the end

00:32:31.690 --> 00:32:35.789
of his life. He's an incredible man. He was born

00:32:35.789 --> 00:32:39.950
in Richmond, Virginia in 1943. Funnily enough,

00:32:39.970 --> 00:32:42.069
he was a descendant of a West African woman named

00:32:42.069 --> 00:32:44.559
Amar. who was enslaved and brought to North Carolina

00:32:44.559 --> 00:32:48.200
in 1735 aboard a ship named the Doddington. So

00:32:48.200 --> 00:32:50.519
that's just a bit of a flavor for you. Yeah,

00:32:50.519 --> 00:32:55.279
the beginnings. Yeah, so Virginia in the 1940s

00:32:55.279 --> 00:32:58.259
and 1950s remained in the grip of what was known

00:32:58.259 --> 00:33:01.700
as the Jim Crow laws, which were a web of local

00:33:01.700 --> 00:33:04.000
and state laws most prevalent in the US South

00:33:04.000 --> 00:33:06.500
since after the Civil War and the Reconstruction

00:33:06.500 --> 00:33:09.740
era of the mid to late 19th century. Essentially,

00:33:09.740 --> 00:33:11.380
these laws dictated where black people could

00:33:11.380 --> 00:33:15.099
live, learn, eat sit play sport designed not

00:33:15.099 --> 00:33:17.799
only to separate but to suppress keeping african

00:33:17.799 --> 00:33:20.400
-americans locked out of the opportunity of their

00:33:20.400 --> 00:33:23.319
right to vote their opportunity to pursue personal

00:33:23.319 --> 00:33:25.559
growth and happiness and essentially keeping

00:33:25.559 --> 00:33:28.039
them as second -class citizens long after slavery

00:33:28.039 --> 00:33:30.740
had ended or at least slavery had ended officially

00:33:30.740 --> 00:33:33.599
because slavery and other forms carried on on

00:33:33.599 --> 00:33:35.519
the back of these laws for many years many years

00:33:35.519 --> 00:33:39.079
to come in terms of the prison system and how

00:33:39.079 --> 00:33:41.339
easy it was to pin crimes on black people and

00:33:41.339 --> 00:33:43.420
then get them to essentially work as slaves when

00:33:43.420 --> 00:33:47.160
all white juries were perfectly legal. So yeah,

00:33:47.240 --> 00:33:50.119
it was a dark time. It's a crazy context as well

00:33:50.119 --> 00:33:53.240
to be being brought up in, you know? It's within

00:33:53.240 --> 00:33:55.599
people's lifetimes who are alive today. It's

00:33:55.599 --> 00:33:57.980
crazy to think this persisted for so long. And

00:33:57.980 --> 00:34:01.660
completely alien to those of us that are lucky

00:34:01.660 --> 00:34:04.670
enough to be born in the last. 30, 40, 50 years.

00:34:04.849 --> 00:34:07.710
Yeah, bizarre. Well, yeah. Bizarre. Other than

00:34:07.710 --> 00:34:09.849
South Africa, but yeah. Sure, yeah. Well, of

00:34:09.849 --> 00:34:11.849
course there's exceptions globally. I just, yeah,

00:34:11.909 --> 00:34:13.829
I'm talking more from a personal experience.

00:34:13.949 --> 00:34:18.090
But I agree. Mad. I didn't know that. Yeah. So

00:34:18.090 --> 00:34:22.010
his young life was marred by tragedy when aged

00:34:22.010 --> 00:34:25.090
only six, his mother died from preeclampsia.

00:34:25.130 --> 00:34:29.019
She was only 27 years old. in many ways and this

00:34:29.019 --> 00:34:30.960
this particularly this fact particularly there's

00:34:30.960 --> 00:34:32.980
mother died young it reminds me so much of bill

00:34:32.980 --> 00:34:35.300
russell um obviously we talked about bill russell

00:34:35.300 --> 00:34:38.719
in episode 10 the nba episode so uh there's so

00:34:38.719 --> 00:34:41.039
many similarities between the two although russell

00:34:41.039 --> 00:34:43.019
was nine years asher senior both were highly

00:34:43.019 --> 00:34:45.820
intelligent both were very well read men both

00:34:45.820 --> 00:34:47.699
experienced segregation in their youth and then

00:34:47.699 --> 00:34:49.760
found new freedoms eventually when they moved

00:34:49.760 --> 00:34:53.960
out west because um ash went to college at ucla

00:34:53.960 --> 00:34:57.340
los angeles both came to find success in a sport

00:34:57.340 --> 00:34:59.320
which was previously largely white -dominated

00:34:59.320 --> 00:35:01.920
and both used their position to speak out eloquently

00:35:01.920 --> 00:35:04.239
on civil rights in a manner which led them to

00:35:04.239 --> 00:35:07.940
be both hard to ignore and hard to counter in

00:35:07.940 --> 00:35:10.500
argument because they were so intelligent. Intelligence

00:35:10.500 --> 00:35:14.840
tends to not be a trait that racists possess

00:35:14.840 --> 00:35:18.920
quite often, you would say. In fact, you'd argue

00:35:18.920 --> 00:35:22.550
the opposite is true. As well as all that. That's

00:35:22.550 --> 00:35:26.829
not to say that they're all racists, unintelligent,

00:35:26.849 --> 00:35:29.670
which is the most tragic thing about it. It's

00:35:29.670 --> 00:35:31.289
certainly not to say all unintelligent people

00:35:31.289 --> 00:35:32.889
are racists as well. I wouldn't want to say that.

00:35:33.170 --> 00:35:36.670
But there is an overlap there. And both men as

00:35:36.670 --> 00:35:39.469
well are incredibly quotable as well, to be fair.

00:35:39.610 --> 00:35:42.210
Both of them, their writings are fantastic and

00:35:42.210 --> 00:35:45.110
definitely well worth reading. The extract I've

00:35:45.110 --> 00:35:49.110
read on both. So, Ash and his younger brother,

00:35:49.190 --> 00:35:51.599
who's named Johnny. They were raised after his

00:35:51.599 --> 00:35:53.900
mother's death by a single father, Arthur Sr.,

00:35:53.900 --> 00:35:56.679
who was caring, but he was a strict disciplinarian

00:35:56.679 --> 00:35:59.039
of a man. He wanted his sons to play sport, but

00:35:59.039 --> 00:36:01.239
he discouraged Arthur Jr. from playing contact

00:36:01.239 --> 00:36:03.880
sports, such as American football, because of

00:36:03.880 --> 00:36:07.239
Arthur's slight build. Arthur's father worked

00:36:07.239 --> 00:36:09.800
as a caretaker for Richmond's recreational department,

00:36:10.139 --> 00:36:13.119
and the family lived in Richmond's recreational

00:36:13.119 --> 00:36:19.079
department. Richmond's... You haven't seen Coach

00:36:19.079 --> 00:36:24.559
Carter? rich what rich moon okay i have but my

00:36:24.559 --> 00:36:26.519
brain was not switched on to that reference thank

00:36:26.519 --> 00:36:30.960
you for catching me out there sorry yeah carry

00:36:30.960 --> 00:36:34.559
on uh anyway his father worked as a don't do

00:36:34.559 --> 00:36:36.940
it again his father worked as a caretaker for

00:36:36.940 --> 00:36:39.719
richmond's recreational departments and the family

00:36:39.719 --> 00:36:42.239
lived in the caretaker's cottage at brookfields

00:36:42.239 --> 00:36:45.039
park which was richmond's largest segregated

00:36:45.039 --> 00:36:47.719
blacks only public park with facilities which

00:36:47.719 --> 00:36:50.179
included four tennis courts which, as you can

00:36:50.179 --> 00:36:52.360
imagine, played quite a big role in this story.

00:36:52.559 --> 00:36:57.619
Weird that. Access to facilities. Indeed. So

00:36:57.619 --> 00:36:59.800
Ash began playing tennis on those courts aged

00:36:59.800 --> 00:37:02.300
seven. His natural talent was quickly spotted,

00:37:02.420 --> 00:37:05.219
most notably by a black student and part -time

00:37:05.219 --> 00:37:07.980
tennis coach, Ron Charity, who at the time was

00:37:07.980 --> 00:37:10.699
the best black tennis player in Richmond. Opportunities

00:37:10.699 --> 00:37:14.039
were restricted at that time. For example, in

00:37:14.039 --> 00:37:16.300
1955, he attempted to enter the Richmond City

00:37:16.300 --> 00:37:18.539
Tournament at Bird Park, but he wasn't allowed

00:37:18.539 --> 00:37:20.210
to play. Can you guess why he wasn't allowed

00:37:20.210 --> 00:37:23.349
to play, Ben? Because he's black. Indeed. Such

00:37:23.349 --> 00:37:27.809
was the day. From that point, though, he gained

00:37:27.809 --> 00:37:30.530
the attention of one, Dr. Robert Walter Johnson,

00:37:30.809 --> 00:37:34.090
previously mentioned, pioneering black tennis

00:37:34.090 --> 00:37:36.969
coach and coach of Alfea Gibson. Johnson taught

00:37:36.969 --> 00:37:39.070
him not only the game of tennis, obviously, but

00:37:39.070 --> 00:37:41.329
how to best navigate the incredibly white world

00:37:41.329 --> 00:37:43.849
of professional tennis, how to remain calm in

00:37:43.849 --> 00:37:45.769
the face of racial taunting, and how to counter

00:37:45.769 --> 00:37:48.269
the prejudicial treatment that would and did.

00:37:48.650 --> 00:37:51.889
come his way he was also told to he was he was

00:37:51.889 --> 00:37:54.030
always told to attempt to return any ball within

00:37:54.030 --> 00:37:56.570
two two inches of the line and not to assume

00:37:56.570 --> 00:37:58.710
calls like that would go in his favor to never

00:37:58.710 --> 00:38:02.869
raise his voice is mental yeah like i i don't

00:38:02.869 --> 00:38:05.989
know why that that jumped out at me i guess it's

00:38:05.989 --> 00:38:08.170
just because it's so trivial do you know what

00:38:08.170 --> 00:38:11.590
i mean like how could you be so brazen as to

00:38:11.590 --> 00:38:14.829
want to not apply the rules properly just because

00:38:14.829 --> 00:38:17.969
he's black that that's insane But yeah, sorry,

00:38:18.110 --> 00:38:21.429
carry on. Obviously, most line judges, I'm sure,

00:38:21.489 --> 00:38:24.489
would put the rules of the game before anything

00:38:24.489 --> 00:38:27.429
else. Just don't make that assumption, essentially.

00:38:27.650 --> 00:38:29.469
That's what he was taught. But it's still insane

00:38:29.469 --> 00:38:31.989
that he felt that he even had to be taught it.

00:38:32.210 --> 00:38:35.570
It is, honestly. He was also told to never raise

00:38:35.570 --> 00:38:37.949
his voice or to argue with umpires or line judges,

00:38:38.190 --> 00:38:40.409
to remain calm and dignified at all times, in

00:38:40.409 --> 00:38:42.170
short, to give them no excuse to discriminate

00:38:42.170 --> 00:38:45.250
further against him or his peers, or to label

00:38:45.250 --> 00:38:48.179
him, inverted commas, another angry black man

00:38:48.179 --> 00:38:51.380
that's basically it yeah that's correct it's

00:38:51.380 --> 00:38:54.019
more than just that i mean this is an age where

00:38:54.019 --> 00:38:57.500
parents install that instill that kind of passivity

00:38:57.500 --> 00:38:59.800
in their kids don't fight back because a lot

00:38:59.800 --> 00:39:01.599
of the time it meant they stayed alive because

00:39:01.599 --> 00:39:04.940
this is the south in the mid 50s where there

00:39:04.940 --> 00:39:07.199
was a culture among everything certainly in certain

00:39:07.199 --> 00:39:09.539
parts of the south of lynchings yeah still being

00:39:09.539 --> 00:39:12.440
a thing i mean i mentioned this briefly during

00:39:12.440 --> 00:39:16.969
episode 10 on the NBA. Obviously the 1950s American

00:39:16.969 --> 00:39:19.349
South was far from a safe place to be for a young

00:39:19.349 --> 00:39:23.150
black man. In 1955, the same year Ash was forbidden

00:39:23.150 --> 00:39:24.849
from playing in that Richmond Cities tournament,

00:39:25.070 --> 00:39:27.409
14 -year -old black boy from Chicago named Emmett

00:39:27.409 --> 00:39:30.030
Till was visiting relatives in Mississippi when

00:39:30.030 --> 00:39:31.889
he wolf whistled at a 25 -year -old white woman

00:39:31.889 --> 00:39:34.369
named Carolyn Bryant outside a grocery store

00:39:34.369 --> 00:39:36.889
owned by Bryant and her husband. Witnesses say

00:39:36.889 --> 00:39:38.650
this was an attempt to get a laugh from his friend's

00:39:38.650 --> 00:39:40.809
presence and bearing in mind he was from Chicago

00:39:40.809 --> 00:39:43.110
and probably didn't understand. how significant

00:39:43.110 --> 00:39:46.210
an action that was in Mississippi at the time

00:39:46.210 --> 00:39:49.409
and arguably for many, many years afterwards.

00:39:49.849 --> 00:39:52.110
How would you know? Do you know what I mean?

00:39:52.309 --> 00:39:55.670
Yeah. So there are disputes over what happened

00:39:55.670 --> 00:39:58.110
outside the store, but there's very little disputed

00:39:58.110 --> 00:40:00.929
about what happened next. On finding out about

00:40:00.929 --> 00:40:04.550
what happened, Brian's husband, Roy, grilled

00:40:04.550 --> 00:40:07.070
local young black man for information. On finding

00:40:07.070 --> 00:40:10.170
out Till's identity, him and his half -brother,

00:40:10.230 --> 00:40:12.949
J .W. Millam, went to the cabin Till was staying

00:40:12.949 --> 00:40:15.409
at, took him under gunpoint, tied him up, beat

00:40:15.409 --> 00:40:17.889
him and shot him to death, disposing of his body

00:40:17.889 --> 00:40:19.690
in a local river. This is a 14 -year -old boy.

00:40:19.849 --> 00:40:22.389
His body was found three days later, despite

00:40:22.389 --> 00:40:25.070
the, obviously, the poor condition the body was

00:40:25.070 --> 00:40:28.170
in at that time. Till's mother, Mammy Till, insisted

00:40:28.170 --> 00:40:30.949
on an open casket funeral in Chicago so the world

00:40:30.949 --> 00:40:33.090
could see what had happened to her boy. An all

00:40:33.090 --> 00:40:35.610
-white jury took 67 minutes to deliberate and

00:40:35.610 --> 00:40:38.809
acquit the two men responsible for his murder.

00:40:39.190 --> 00:40:41.469
who later admitted their guilt in a paid interview.

00:40:41.769 --> 00:40:44.190
His murder was a spark that helped kick the civil

00:40:44.190 --> 00:40:46.070
rights movement into another gear. Rosa Parks

00:40:46.070 --> 00:40:48.630
herself cited Till as an inspiration when she

00:40:48.630 --> 00:40:50.849
refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus

00:40:50.849 --> 00:40:55.070
in December 1955 that same year. So, I thought

00:40:55.070 --> 00:40:56.949
it was worth telling that story in whole because

00:40:56.949 --> 00:40:58.630
I mentioned it previously in the NBA episode,

00:40:58.789 --> 00:41:01.230
but just to paint a picture of what America was

00:41:01.230 --> 00:41:05.170
like at this time. It's one of the, I mean, probably

00:41:05.170 --> 00:41:08.909
the singularly most shocking story. Among many,

00:41:08.969 --> 00:41:11.070
there are many stories like that, but for that

00:41:11.070 --> 00:41:13.510
to be in the mid -1950s, I mean, this is a kid

00:41:13.510 --> 00:41:16.170
who could very feasibly still be alive today.

00:41:16.489 --> 00:41:19.469
He'd be 84 years old today had that not happened.

00:41:19.889 --> 00:41:23.349
Probably King's 81, so, you know, very possible.

00:41:23.829 --> 00:41:26.030
Yeah. So, yeah, I mean, obviously schools were

00:41:26.030 --> 00:41:28.769
segregated, clubs were white only. Arthur Ashe

00:41:28.769 --> 00:41:30.570
said he wanted to be the Jackie Robinson of tennis.

00:41:31.190 --> 00:41:34.190
He followed Robinson to UCLA, as I mentioned.

00:41:34.650 --> 00:41:36.510
He was awarded a tennis scholarship. For those

00:41:36.510 --> 00:41:38.690
who don't know, Jackie Robinson was the first

00:41:38.690 --> 00:41:42.210
man to break the colour barrier in Major League

00:41:42.210 --> 00:41:46.489
Baseball in 1947, which we will come to in a

00:41:46.489 --> 00:41:49.650
later episode, but a massive pioneer in black

00:41:49.650 --> 00:41:52.909
sport in the United States. So he graduated university.

00:41:52.909 --> 00:41:54.949
He was obviously a player during his time at

00:41:54.949 --> 00:41:57.949
university. He joined the army afterwards. He

00:41:57.949 --> 00:42:01.010
avoided Vietnam, as there was a rule that only

00:42:01.010 --> 00:42:03.329
one brother could serve there at one time, and

00:42:03.329 --> 00:42:05.250
his brother Johnny, very bravely volunteered

00:42:05.250 --> 00:42:08.309
to do an additional tour to stop Arthur from

00:42:08.309 --> 00:42:10.989
needing to go, which is an amazing gesture. Fortunately,

00:42:11.090 --> 00:42:13.409
he survived. He had success winning regional

00:42:13.409 --> 00:42:15.429
tournaments, first on the East Coast and then

00:42:15.429 --> 00:42:16.989
in California while he was a college player.

00:42:17.269 --> 00:42:19.889
In 1963, he became the first black player ever

00:42:19.889 --> 00:42:22.550
to play on the US Davis Cup team, helping the

00:42:22.550 --> 00:42:24.769
US to their first title in five years. They won

00:42:24.769 --> 00:42:27.809
four of them, didn't they? Oh yeah, he was big.

00:42:28.050 --> 00:42:31.690
The Davis Cup, playing in the Davis Cup for the

00:42:31.690 --> 00:42:34.219
US was a huge part of his career. It's something

00:42:34.219 --> 00:42:36.880
he really aspired to do and affected a lot of

00:42:36.880 --> 00:42:38.300
what he was doing. But yeah, they won that first

00:42:38.300 --> 00:42:41.239
year. He was non -playing reserve in the final,

00:42:41.280 --> 00:42:43.900
but later he became a key part of that team,

00:42:43.960 --> 00:42:46.760
including winning three successive Davis Cups

00:42:46.760 --> 00:42:50.320
from 1968 to 1970. He actually delayed turning

00:42:50.320 --> 00:42:53.460
professional because the Davis Cup was an amateur

00:42:53.460 --> 00:42:56.460
tournament until 1973. So he delayed turning

00:42:56.460 --> 00:42:58.800
professional until 1970 so he could continue

00:42:58.800 --> 00:43:03.860
playing in the Davis Cup longer. That's genuinely

00:43:03.860 --> 00:43:06.780
fascinating. He was an amateur while he was an

00:43:06.780 --> 00:43:08.960
army lieutenant. Sorry, lieutenant, I should

00:43:08.960 --> 00:43:12.840
say, until 1970. So, yeah, as I said, it's a

00:43:12.840 --> 00:43:16.420
huge part of his life. He played his last Davis

00:43:16.420 --> 00:43:19.139
Cup as late as 1978, and he served as a team

00:43:19.139 --> 00:43:23.460
captain for the Davis Cup in 1981 and 1982 as

00:43:23.460 --> 00:43:26.380
well. So, as you mentioned, the open era of tennis

00:43:26.380 --> 00:43:29.659
came about in 1968, where the four Grand Slams

00:43:29.659 --> 00:43:31.500
opened their events up to include professional

00:43:31.500 --> 00:43:34.019
players for the first time. yep as i mentioned

00:43:34.019 --> 00:43:36.639
though ash was still an amateur so he was he

00:43:36.639 --> 00:43:38.659
went into that first tournament the first us

00:43:38.659 --> 00:43:43.340
open 1968 as an amateur not professional yep

00:43:43.340 --> 00:43:47.079
so he did yeah he just won the first us amateur

00:43:47.079 --> 00:43:49.860
championship in 1968 so obviously they brought

00:43:49.860 --> 00:43:51.559
in a us amateur championship to allow amateur

00:43:51.559 --> 00:43:53.559
players to still have a tournament at that point

00:43:53.559 --> 00:43:56.460
he won the first one uh he set his sights at

00:43:56.460 --> 00:43:58.440
that point on the newly renamed tournament at

00:43:58.440 --> 00:44:02.380
forest hill in queens us open He was seeded fifth

00:44:02.380 --> 00:44:05.280
with the four top seeds, all Australians. Australia

00:44:05.280 --> 00:44:07.619
was ridiculously dominant in men's tennis in

00:44:07.619 --> 00:44:10.400
the 1960s. We're talking Rod Laver, we're talking

00:44:10.400 --> 00:44:16.239
Roy Emerson, Fred Stoll, some big names. I'll

00:44:16.239 --> 00:44:19.760
keep naming them. Tony Roche. The four seeds

00:44:19.760 --> 00:44:22.360
above him were Rod Laver, Tony Roche, Ken Rosewall

00:44:22.360 --> 00:44:26.019
and John Newcomb. And there's a couple more you've

00:44:26.019 --> 00:44:30.139
mentioned there. It was crazy. Roy Emerson and

00:44:30.139 --> 00:44:33.539
Rod Laver are huge. At this point, it had been,

00:44:33.639 --> 00:44:38.860
I want to say, I think 12 years since an American

00:44:38.860 --> 00:44:41.780
had won the US Open. I think the majority of

00:44:41.780 --> 00:44:43.679
the wins in between were Australians. I think

00:44:43.679 --> 00:44:45.940
10 out of the 12 were Australians. including

00:44:45.940 --> 00:44:47.719
Rod Laver winning two or three of them. Mate,

00:44:47.780 --> 00:44:49.960
that's great knowledge. It was. It was Tony Traber

00:44:49.960 --> 00:44:54.199
in 1955 winning his second US Open, was the last

00:44:54.199 --> 00:44:56.659
American winner. And then it was Australia, with

00:44:56.659 --> 00:45:00.260
the exception of Rafael Osuna in 63 and Manuel

00:45:00.260 --> 00:45:03.800
Santana in 65. Yeah, Mexican and a Spaniard were

00:45:03.800 --> 00:45:07.579
the only other two. Yeah. Just to point out just

00:45:07.579 --> 00:45:09.639
how dominant Australia were in men's tennis in

00:45:09.639 --> 00:45:13.500
the 1960s. Yeah. See, Ash was actually... seeded

00:45:13.500 --> 00:45:15.639
to play against laver the number one seed in

00:45:15.639 --> 00:45:17.500
the quarterfinals the strange seeding system

00:45:17.500 --> 00:45:19.820
where first would play fifth in the quarterfinals

00:45:19.820 --> 00:45:21.679
at the time i don't know if that's still the

00:45:21.679 --> 00:45:23.119
case i'd have thought first would play eighth

00:45:23.119 --> 00:45:26.719
but no anyway so laver just won his third wimbledon

00:45:26.719 --> 00:45:28.900
title and he was about to go on to win a grand

00:45:28.900 --> 00:45:32.320
slam as in all four tournaments in 1969 such

00:45:32.320 --> 00:45:36.039
was his incredible ability but ash got a lucky

00:45:36.039 --> 00:45:39.099
break because in round four cliff drysdale shocked

00:45:39.099 --> 00:45:43.300
laver in five sets to knock him out So Ash lined

00:45:43.300 --> 00:45:45.519
up against Drysdale in the quarterfinals and

00:45:45.519 --> 00:45:48.619
won. And then he played fellow American Klopp

00:45:48.619 --> 00:45:50.980
Gravener in the semifinals and won to set up

00:45:50.980 --> 00:45:53.420
a final against eighth seed Tom Ocker from the

00:45:53.420 --> 00:45:56.199
Netherlands. Yeah. The final was pretty ding

00:45:56.199 --> 00:45:58.199
-dong. No tiebreakers at the time. So the first

00:45:58.199 --> 00:46:01.380
set went 14 -12. I saw that. That's mad. Yeah.

00:46:01.380 --> 00:46:03.980
Yeah, yeah. Basically two sets for the first

00:46:03.980 --> 00:46:06.519
set. Yeah, yeah. It's crazy. So Ocker took the

00:46:06.519 --> 00:46:08.980
second in seven and then the two alternated six

00:46:08.980 --> 00:46:12.199
threes to set up a decider. but in the decider

00:46:12.199 --> 00:46:14.619
ash never looked like he'd lose uh took it six

00:46:14.619 --> 00:46:16.780
free saving his best tennis for the most important

00:46:16.780 --> 00:46:19.400
part of the match and sealing the prize but not

00:46:19.400 --> 00:46:22.699
the prize money because he was an amateur yeah

00:46:22.699 --> 00:46:25.940
the 14 000 prize money which actually is sod

00:46:25.940 --> 00:46:28.019
all you know compared to modern money and we'll

00:46:28.019 --> 00:46:30.840
come to we will come to the modern money what

00:46:30.840 --> 00:46:34.460
arthur ash did about that as well um later but

00:46:34.460 --> 00:46:37.280
uh yeah so that prize money went to oka but uh

00:46:37.280 --> 00:46:40.119
the all the public acclaim went to ash One of

00:46:40.119 --> 00:46:42.179
those who acclaimed his victory was Jackie Robinson,

00:46:42.440 --> 00:46:45.619
who said Asher's victory would bridge the gap

00:46:45.619 --> 00:46:47.900
between races and inspire black people all the

00:46:47.900 --> 00:46:50.239
world over and also affect the decency of all

00:46:50.239 --> 00:46:52.980
Americans. Which it did, to be fair. He became

00:46:52.980 --> 00:46:56.179
very popular very quickly. And he also became

00:46:56.179 --> 00:47:00.840
very in demand as a speaker and as a potential

00:47:00.840 --> 00:47:04.000
member of the civil rights movement as well.

00:47:04.099 --> 00:47:06.719
Because at this point, this is 1968, and if you

00:47:06.719 --> 00:47:12.059
recall my... What was it? It was the Triple Crown

00:47:12.059 --> 00:47:14.719
episode, wasn't it? Episode 4 was that where

00:47:14.719 --> 00:47:17.840
I spoke about 1968 and just what America was

00:47:17.840 --> 00:47:20.079
like at that point. So obviously amongst the

00:47:20.079 --> 00:47:22.119
turmoil of Martin Luther King's assassination,

00:47:22.539 --> 00:47:26.960
1968 Mexico Olympics, the Black Power protests

00:47:26.960 --> 00:47:30.050
at Mexico Olympics. That kind of era we're talking

00:47:30.050 --> 00:47:32.809
about here. So black sociologist Harry Edwards

00:47:32.809 --> 00:47:34.849
and some others as well called for him to take

00:47:34.849 --> 00:47:36.630
a more active part in the civil rights movement

00:47:36.630 --> 00:47:39.530
to use his position in a quintessentially white

00:47:39.530 --> 00:47:42.510
sport. But Ash basically chose to do his talking

00:47:42.510 --> 00:47:44.809
with a racket at that point, for the time being

00:47:44.809 --> 00:47:47.750
at least. One famous story where he was in a

00:47:47.750 --> 00:47:49.949
meeting with other prominent figures and Jesse

00:47:49.949 --> 00:47:52.789
Jackson, no less, called out and said to him,

00:47:52.829 --> 00:47:55.769
Brother Ash, you need to take a bigger stand.

00:47:55.809 --> 00:47:57.409
You need to hear your voice here. And he just

00:47:57.409 --> 00:48:01.130
said, sorry, Brother Jackson, that's your style.

00:48:01.230 --> 00:48:04.469
I do my talking with a racket. Which is fair

00:48:04.469 --> 00:48:06.230
enough, especially considering what he was taught

00:48:06.230 --> 00:48:08.969
and the line that he had to toe at this point.

00:48:09.929 --> 00:48:13.730
It is profound if you are the only guy that's

00:48:13.730 --> 00:48:16.030
black that's doing well in what is a quintessentially

00:48:16.030 --> 00:48:18.769
white sport. Do you really need to say anything

00:48:18.769 --> 00:48:23.289
else? I'm not horses for courses. No one's got

00:48:23.289 --> 00:48:25.030
their own styles. It's not for me to comment

00:48:25.030 --> 00:48:29.079
on what the appropriate strategy was. I can see

00:48:29.079 --> 00:48:31.800
the merit in his position. I think history has

00:48:31.800 --> 00:48:33.500
proven him correct in many ways. I think you

00:48:33.500 --> 00:48:35.199
can make the argument as well, if he was as outspoken...

00:48:35.199 --> 00:48:37.639
The stadium's named after him, so I think you're

00:48:37.639 --> 00:48:41.840
right. If he was as outspoken as those people

00:48:41.840 --> 00:48:44.679
wished him to be prior to his 1968 US Open win,

00:48:44.780 --> 00:48:47.159
would he have ever won the US Open? Would he

00:48:47.159 --> 00:48:49.519
have been allowed to? Would he have got the opportunities

00:48:49.519 --> 00:48:52.679
he's got? Would he have been... treated the same

00:48:52.679 --> 00:48:54.860
way that he was treated it's also more of a stretch

00:48:54.860 --> 00:48:56.780
to ask those people to retrospectively if you

00:48:56.780 --> 00:48:59.119
don't build up your credibility incrementally

00:48:59.119 --> 00:49:01.860
to retrospectively acknowledge your significance

00:49:01.860 --> 00:49:04.880
which leaves a legacy in the way that he has

00:49:04.880 --> 00:49:08.380
yeah so ash himself actually he took more significance

00:49:08.380 --> 00:49:11.000
from being an american winning the us open they

00:49:11.000 --> 00:49:12.380
took from being an african -american winning

00:49:12.380 --> 00:49:14.340
it because there hadn't been a men's singles

00:49:14.340 --> 00:49:17.599
winner there as i said since 1955 so that 12

00:49:17.599 --> 00:49:19.199
-year drought was the longest for americans until

00:49:19.199 --> 00:49:22.250
the current ongoing and likely to continue 21

00:49:22.250 --> 00:49:24.429
-year drought since Andy Roddick's 2003 win.

00:49:24.610 --> 00:49:27.889
Yeah. The Americans dominate their home tournament,

00:49:28.070 --> 00:49:31.429
so generally speaking. So that is a significant

00:49:31.429 --> 00:49:34.070
drought. But yes, carry on. Sorry. I was supposed

00:49:34.070 --> 00:49:35.510
to mention this is in the men's game because

00:49:35.510 --> 00:49:37.449
there have been a couple of prominent winners

00:49:37.449 --> 00:49:40.389
in the women's game in terms of Americans. Don't

00:49:40.389 --> 00:49:42.309
know if you've heard of them. Yeah, I've heard

00:49:42.309 --> 00:49:44.300
of a few of them. Yeah. You're talking about

00:49:44.300 --> 00:49:46.719
the Williams sisters, obviously. But more recently,

00:49:46.780 --> 00:49:50.820
they've only had Coco Gauff and Sloane Stephens

00:49:50.820 --> 00:49:55.400
since 2014. So it's not looking that strong for

00:49:55.400 --> 00:49:58.139
them in the women's tournament either, compared

00:49:58.139 --> 00:50:00.679
to historical terms. But anyway, sorry, you are

00:50:00.679 --> 00:50:06.539
discussing Monsieur Ash. So, obviously with the

00:50:06.539 --> 00:50:09.260
prestige gained from his winning the US Open,

00:50:09.400 --> 00:50:13.289
he became a bit more of a prominent figure. First

00:50:13.289 --> 00:50:15.889
things he tried to do was in 1969, he tried to

00:50:15.889 --> 00:50:19.769
apply to compete at the South African Open. Now,

00:50:19.809 --> 00:50:22.949
this is super fascinating. I did read about this.

00:50:22.989 --> 00:50:25.590
Go on. It is very fascinating. So obviously South

00:50:25.590 --> 00:50:29.190
Africa at the time, under apartheid, had very

00:50:29.190 --> 00:50:32.210
strict rules on every aspect of life for black

00:50:32.210 --> 00:50:36.909
people and also restricted the control of visas

00:50:36.909 --> 00:50:42.210
to non -white people. So they would allow...

00:50:42.590 --> 00:50:45.309
and this is a kind of hilarious way of putting

00:50:45.309 --> 00:50:47.210
it but they would allow an honorary white visa

00:50:47.210 --> 00:50:50.190
so you could be an honorary white person if you

00:50:50.190 --> 00:50:52.909
were given if you were in a position of such

00:50:52.909 --> 00:50:55.389
importance that they felt the regime felt you

00:50:55.389 --> 00:50:58.510
you deserved it this was most prominently used

00:50:58.510 --> 00:51:01.409
for japanese businessmen because japan obviously

00:51:01.409 --> 00:51:03.670
at the time was a massively growing economy technology

00:51:03.670 --> 00:51:06.090
we were trying to expand globally and one of

00:51:06.090 --> 00:51:07.469
the places they were trying to do it was south

00:51:07.469 --> 00:51:09.630
africa so that's why these visas were brought

00:51:09.630 --> 00:51:12.119
in however That's so weird. They declined to

00:51:12.119 --> 00:51:14.539
give him one. It's so weird, isn't it? Yeah.

00:51:14.599 --> 00:51:16.920
But anyway, carry on. They declined to give him

00:51:16.920 --> 00:51:19.519
one in 1969. They declined to give him one in

00:51:19.519 --> 00:51:23.059
1970 and 1971 as well. South Africa at this time

00:51:23.059 --> 00:51:25.559
was under a lot of pressure from many sporting

00:51:25.559 --> 00:51:28.179
bodies. Most notably FIFA, who'd kicked them

00:51:28.179 --> 00:51:30.920
out in the early 1960s. And then the Davis Cup,

00:51:31.019 --> 00:51:34.139
under pressure from Arthur Ashe, no less, had

00:51:34.139 --> 00:51:37.300
kicked them out in 1970. So the government felt

00:51:37.300 --> 00:51:38.659
under pressure to present their country in a

00:51:38.659 --> 00:51:41.590
better light and... like many countries before

00:51:41.590 --> 00:51:43.730
and since, took to sports washing to get it done.

00:51:44.070 --> 00:51:47.070
So, the South African government decided that

00:51:47.070 --> 00:51:49.849
Arthur Ashe would be an excellent person to invite

00:51:49.849 --> 00:51:51.809
to their country to try and present themselves

00:51:51.809 --> 00:51:55.469
in a different light. In 1973, they finally gave

00:51:55.469 --> 00:51:57.750
him a visa on the condition that he didn't talk

00:51:57.750 --> 00:52:00.570
about politics or apartheid. In return, they

00:52:00.570 --> 00:52:03.309
promised not to overtly use him for propaganda

00:52:03.309 --> 00:52:06.929
purposes. Ashe accepted. And he received a lot

00:52:06.929 --> 00:52:09.730
of criticism for doing so at a time when a lot

00:52:09.730 --> 00:52:13.309
of people were boycotting South Africa, for good

00:52:13.309 --> 00:52:15.630
reason, obviously. But he considered it essential

00:52:15.630 --> 00:52:18.449
that he go see what it was like himself before

00:52:18.449 --> 00:52:20.570
he take a position on it. And he believed that

00:52:20.570 --> 00:52:22.110
would give him a stronger position to then talk

00:52:22.110 --> 00:52:24.670
about it afterwards. And indeed, the day he got

00:52:24.670 --> 00:52:27.389
back to America, the criticism began. He blasted

00:52:27.389 --> 00:52:29.429
apartheid, the political system, and became a

00:52:29.429 --> 00:52:33.010
very outspoken critic of the system. He did receive

00:52:33.010 --> 00:52:35.289
a lot of criticism for going, but it is notable.

00:52:35.769 --> 00:52:37.710
that he visited Nelson Mandela at Robben Island

00:52:37.710 --> 00:52:40.530
when he was there. He spoke to him there. And

00:52:40.530 --> 00:52:42.690
when Mandela was released from prison in 1990,

00:52:43.010 --> 00:52:44.889
he visited the United States soon afterwards.

00:52:45.030 --> 00:52:46.769
And one of the people he said he wanted to go

00:52:46.769 --> 00:52:50.510
and see was Arthur Ashe. And they met in the

00:52:50.510 --> 00:52:54.610
United States after Mandela's release. Did he

00:52:54.610 --> 00:52:58.829
regret going? No. I don't think he did. I thought

00:52:58.829 --> 00:53:01.210
I read somewhere he sort of said, like, you know,

00:53:01.210 --> 00:53:02.469
maybe with hindsight he shouldn't have gone.

00:53:02.710 --> 00:53:04.769
But, you know, I don't... Yeah, maybe I'm wrong

00:53:04.769 --> 00:53:08.929
about that. Sorry. I think, obviously, it was

00:53:08.929 --> 00:53:11.489
fair criticism he got for going, but equally,

00:53:11.610 --> 00:53:14.929
what he did after the fact, with the knowledge

00:53:14.929 --> 00:53:17.929
he gained from going there, probably justifies

00:53:17.929 --> 00:53:19.650
him going in the first place. He did later become

00:53:19.650 --> 00:53:23.570
a very outspoken critic of players going and

00:53:23.570 --> 00:53:26.750
playing there, and very big on ensuring that

00:53:26.750 --> 00:53:31.030
boycotts were made and held at the time. He knew

00:53:31.030 --> 00:53:32.389
full well the reaction he was going to get for

00:53:32.389 --> 00:53:34.320
visiting. Yeah, and I wasn't passing judgment,

00:53:34.420 --> 00:53:37.719
mate. I was just genuinely interested because

00:53:37.719 --> 00:53:40.380
I thought I read that he reflected on the decision

00:53:40.380 --> 00:53:43.340
to go, but maybe I misread that. Yeah, I think

00:53:43.340 --> 00:53:46.360
he showed an understanding of the bigger picture

00:53:46.360 --> 00:53:49.280
and retrospectively is probably considered to

00:53:49.280 --> 00:53:52.000
have done more damage to the regime by visiting,

00:53:52.079 --> 00:53:54.179
playing ball, and then criticizing later with

00:53:54.179 --> 00:53:56.599
a deeper knowledge of the subject than just boycotting

00:53:56.599 --> 00:53:58.099
in the first place. Which makes sense, yeah.

00:53:58.199 --> 00:54:00.820
It gives you credibility. Yeah, exactly. And

00:54:00.820 --> 00:54:02.969
as I said, he later supported boycotts. yeah

00:54:02.969 --> 00:54:05.969
uh he also got involved with uh the black tennis

00:54:05.969 --> 00:54:08.349
foundation which is a foundation in south africa

00:54:08.349 --> 00:54:10.269
which built tennis courts in predominantly black

00:54:10.269 --> 00:54:12.769
areas to allow young people to take up the sport

00:54:12.769 --> 00:54:15.489
so yeah didn't he get nicked outside the south

00:54:15.489 --> 00:54:18.250
african embassy in washington dc for protest

00:54:18.250 --> 00:54:20.369
he did later and i will come to that yeah got

00:54:20.369 --> 00:54:23.309
nicked a few times yeah i read about that something

00:54:23.309 --> 00:54:28.860
to do with haiti as well yeah so in In a sort

00:54:28.860 --> 00:54:30.900
of separate note, by the early 1970s, Ash also

00:54:30.900 --> 00:54:32.960
recognized that tennis professionals were being

00:54:32.960 --> 00:54:36.019
underpaid and exploited, despite the sport's

00:54:36.019 --> 00:54:38.380
booming popularity and the new TV age, which

00:54:38.380 --> 00:54:40.320
was bringing a lot more viewers and a lot more

00:54:40.320 --> 00:54:42.840
popularity to the sport. So in 1972, he supported

00:54:42.840 --> 00:54:45.780
and helped establish the Association of Tennis

00:54:45.780 --> 00:54:50.320
Professionals, the ATP, designed to give players

00:54:50.320 --> 00:54:56.280
more collective bargaining power, more representation.

00:54:57.039 --> 00:54:59.679
and more power on the whole against promoters

00:54:59.679 --> 00:55:02.199
and governing bodies. He was president of the

00:55:02.199 --> 00:55:05.739
ATP from 1974, which also coincided with tennis

00:55:05.739 --> 00:55:07.960
moving towards complete professionalism at that

00:55:07.960 --> 00:55:10.300
point, with Ash advocating not just for more

00:55:10.300 --> 00:55:12.400
money, but also more respect and fairness within

00:55:12.400 --> 00:55:15.099
the game. So yeah, and on the court as well,

00:55:15.119 --> 00:55:17.260
he obviously continued winning. He won the Australian

00:55:17.260 --> 00:55:19.900
Open in 1970, but his biggest dream was to win

00:55:19.900 --> 00:55:21.900
Wimbledon. And I was going to mention this during

00:55:21.900 --> 00:55:24.329
the Wimbledon episode, but again. I want to do

00:55:24.329 --> 00:55:27.269
him justice. He's the man that is at the centre,

00:55:27.329 --> 00:55:29.670
for obvious reasons, of the US Open, given the

00:55:29.670 --> 00:55:32.329
name of its lead show court. This is the right

00:55:32.329 --> 00:55:35.050
place to do it. So in 1975, and I'm sorry I'm

00:55:35.050 --> 00:55:36.429
going to go off topic and talk about Wimbledon

00:55:36.429 --> 00:55:39.630
a bit here. In 1975, he got to the final of Wimbledon.

00:55:39.710 --> 00:55:42.389
He was taking on a young Jimmy Connors, who was

00:55:42.389 --> 00:55:44.750
the reigning champion at this point. At this

00:55:44.750 --> 00:55:47.329
point as well, he was in the middle of a libel

00:55:47.329 --> 00:55:50.010
lawsuit against Jimmy Connors, who had essentially

00:55:50.010 --> 00:55:54.909
tried to sue him and the ATP. after Ash labelled

00:55:54.909 --> 00:55:57.610
him seemingly unpatriotic for Connors refusing

00:55:57.610 --> 00:56:01.150
to play in the US Davis Cup team something obviously

00:56:01.150 --> 00:56:04.230
Ash took great pride in and as I mentioned even

00:56:04.230 --> 00:56:05.909
delayed his becoming professional to continue

00:56:05.909 --> 00:56:09.389
playing in so in this 1975 final Ash famously

00:56:09.389 --> 00:56:12.289
took to the court wearing his US Davis Cup jacket

00:56:12.289 --> 00:56:15.690
the two men lined up one was calm poised respectful

00:56:15.690 --> 00:56:18.429
and experienced one was young brash in your face

00:56:18.429 --> 00:56:20.800
and arrogant at times Connors was the holder

00:56:20.800 --> 00:56:22.860
and the favourite. Ash was the underdog on and

00:56:22.860 --> 00:56:25.159
off the court. Can you guess who the Wimbledon

00:56:25.159 --> 00:56:28.000
crowd was supporting, Ben? It's hard to guess.

00:56:28.099 --> 00:56:31.119
It's hard to guess. They were big fans of Arthur

00:56:31.119 --> 00:56:33.000
Ash. They really were. Oh, that sounds surprising.

00:56:33.219 --> 00:56:34.980
Or maybe they hated Jimmy Connors more than they

00:56:34.980 --> 00:56:36.940
liked Ash. Who knows? The great Jimmy Connors

00:56:36.940 --> 00:56:38.500
as well, it's worth mentioning. He was a brilliant

00:56:38.500 --> 00:56:41.360
player, but he had a very abrasive personality,

00:56:41.739 --> 00:56:44.239
especially in his younger days. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:56:44.699 --> 00:56:46.820
but yeah sorry of course they're supporting our

00:56:46.820 --> 00:56:50.079
protagonist so tell us what happens yeah so ash

00:56:50.079 --> 00:56:53.659
uh went into it playing a a different tactics

00:56:53.659 --> 00:56:55.820
we normally does he broke connor's serve early

00:56:55.820 --> 00:56:57.820
connor's immediately showed signs of frustration

00:56:57.820 --> 00:57:00.579
he threw his towel he let out a chain of foul

00:57:00.579 --> 00:57:03.360
language further endearing him I'm sure to the

00:57:03.360 --> 00:57:05.960
Wimbledon crowd or not the very proper Wimbledon

00:57:05.960 --> 00:57:10.480
crowd yeah I know tennis fans listening to this

00:57:10.480 --> 00:57:11.980
will know but it's probably worth pointing out

00:57:11.980 --> 00:57:14.380
that the US Open has a bit of a reputation for

00:57:14.380 --> 00:57:16.679
its crowd like getting a little bit rowdy there's

00:57:16.679 --> 00:57:19.659
like heckling that's sort of tolerated obviously

00:57:19.659 --> 00:57:22.780
you guys are passionate sports fans like you

00:57:22.780 --> 00:57:25.699
enjoy that element of aggressiveness arguably

00:57:25.699 --> 00:57:28.539
confrontation even in your in your sports personalities

00:57:28.539 --> 00:57:32.809
Wimbledon is a bit more proper You can get rowdy,

00:57:32.829 --> 00:57:34.769
but you get rowdy at the correct moment and then

00:57:34.769 --> 00:57:37.010
you go quiet at the correct moment. Yeah, yeah.

00:57:37.150 --> 00:57:39.170
And there's like this just, you know, we're British,

00:57:39.170 --> 00:57:43.250
so we're politer than you. Generally speaking.

00:57:43.550 --> 00:57:45.789
Depends where you go. Yeah. Maybe less so at

00:57:45.789 --> 00:57:49.670
Old Trafford today than at Wimbledon. Yeah, yeah,

00:57:49.670 --> 00:57:52.190
yeah. Horses for courses. Depends on what sport

00:57:52.190 --> 00:57:54.590
we're talking about. But golf, tennis, that sort

00:57:54.590 --> 00:57:58.010
of crowd, like you can expect decorum. Etiquette.

00:57:58.010 --> 00:58:01.150
Yeah. so yes anyway that that would that would

00:58:01.150 --> 00:58:04.349
put mr ash in a favorable position at wimbledon

00:58:04.349 --> 00:58:06.170
and he and he won that first set to get himself

00:58:06.170 --> 00:58:08.429
into a favorable position on court as well 19

00:58:08.429 --> 00:58:14.090
minutes 6 -1 easy that's a slapping yeah so ash

00:58:14.090 --> 00:58:15.829
was playing with his brain instead of taking

00:58:15.829 --> 00:58:18.409
his normal big hitting approach ordinarily he

00:58:18.409 --> 00:58:21.070
was a hard hitter a lot of his hitting was he

00:58:21.070 --> 00:58:23.210
hit very flat not much top spin on it and a lot

00:58:23.210 --> 00:58:25.539
of it was considered sort of hit and hope almost

00:58:25.539 --> 00:58:28.840
like not to diminish him but a lot of the time

00:58:28.840 --> 00:58:30.480
he went more aggressive than he probably would

00:58:30.480 --> 00:58:32.860
in the situation to try and shorten points to

00:58:32.860 --> 00:58:34.719
try and get early winners but he wasn't today

00:58:34.719 --> 00:58:36.380
he was playing with his brain and he had a lot

00:58:36.380 --> 00:58:40.039
of brain to play with he was taking a his big

00:58:40.039 --> 00:58:41.960
his big hitting approach as he normally would

00:58:41.960 --> 00:58:46.000
go into a game with would play to connor's counter

00:58:46.000 --> 00:58:48.360
punching strength so connor's he wasn't a big

00:58:48.360 --> 00:58:51.500
guy and you hit a ball hard at him he can hit

00:58:51.500 --> 00:58:53.440
it hard back at you with his timing and technique

00:58:53.849 --> 00:58:56.130
you take some power off the ball he struggles

00:58:56.130 --> 00:58:58.570
to generate that power himself so he gets frustrated

00:58:58.570 --> 00:59:00.989
you can control him you can move him around court

00:59:00.989 --> 00:59:03.150
a bit more so that was the tactics that Ash went

00:59:03.150 --> 00:59:05.550
into that game playing so yeah as I say took

00:59:05.550 --> 00:59:07.869
the pace off the ball he varied his play he frustrated

00:59:07.869 --> 00:59:10.469
his young opponent he targeted his forehand which

00:59:10.469 --> 00:59:12.309
was more of a weakness in his backhand but then

00:59:12.309 --> 00:59:14.010
he lobbed him on the backhand side which as a

00:59:14.010 --> 00:59:16.210
left -handed player was hard for him to go and

00:59:16.210 --> 00:59:18.690
get round and get the ball back from Connors

00:59:18.690 --> 00:59:21.489
was wound up so badly he famously lost his cool

00:59:21.489 --> 00:59:23.940
at one point Responding to a classic Wimbledon

00:59:23.940 --> 00:59:26.340
cry of, come on, Jimmy, from the crowd by shouting,

00:59:26.420 --> 00:59:31.219
I'm trying for Christ's sake. Which I think showed

00:59:31.219 --> 00:59:34.000
how much in his head Ash was. Ash took the second

00:59:34.000 --> 00:59:36.320
set 6 -1. To Conor's credit, and he was a very

00:59:36.320 --> 00:59:39.179
good player, he came back. He recovered from

00:59:39.179 --> 00:59:41.920
a breakdown in the third to win it 7 -5. But

00:59:41.920 --> 00:59:44.320
Ash didn't panic. He stuck to his plan. He kept

00:59:44.320 --> 00:59:46.860
grinding away, holding off Conor's gritty fight

00:59:46.860 --> 00:59:49.440
back to seal the 4 -6 -4 and the match with it.

00:59:49.519 --> 00:59:52.619
To this day. He is still the only black man to

00:59:52.619 --> 00:59:55.480
win a Wimbledon singles title. And he remains

00:59:55.480 --> 01:00:00.280
only one of two black men to win a Grand Slam

01:00:00.280 --> 01:00:06.880
event. Yeah, that's unreal. I also love how understated

01:00:06.880 --> 01:00:10.980
you made his opponent in this particular battle.

01:00:11.119 --> 01:00:15.440
This is the eight -time Slam winner, Jimmy Connors.

01:00:15.800 --> 01:00:20.000
Yeah, I should mention as well. Sorry, I should

01:00:20.000 --> 01:00:21.579
mention as well quickly, the only other black

01:00:21.579 --> 01:00:25.019
man to win a men's singles title in a Grand Slam

01:00:25.019 --> 01:00:27.400
was Yannick Noah, who won the 1983 French Open.

01:00:27.880 --> 01:00:29.659
Before I forget to mention that. I didn't know

01:00:29.659 --> 01:00:32.360
that. But yeah, so he didn't just win Wimbledon

01:00:32.360 --> 01:00:34.460
as the first black guy and only black guy to

01:00:34.460 --> 01:00:37.360
have won it. He beat one of the all -time greats

01:00:37.360 --> 01:00:39.820
to do so. Oh yeah, he certainly was one of the

01:00:39.820 --> 01:00:44.380
all -time greats. So yeah, it was a late pinnacle

01:00:44.380 --> 01:00:46.340
to his career because there wasn't, unfortunately,

01:00:46.440 --> 01:00:48.159
too many years left to his career after that.

01:00:48.489 --> 01:00:50.989
The late 70s saw injuries and ill health begin

01:00:50.989 --> 01:00:53.429
to affect Arthur Ashe. Firstly, a heel injury

01:00:53.429 --> 01:00:59.349
in 1977, leaving him 257th in the world, but

01:00:59.349 --> 01:01:02.050
he staged a remarkable recovery to end up ranked

01:01:02.050 --> 01:01:04.909
13th before the start of troubles, which would

01:01:04.909 --> 01:01:07.429
change his life and shorten his life, unfortunately.

01:01:07.829 --> 01:01:10.550
Which began in 1979 when he suffered a heart

01:01:10.550 --> 01:01:13.250
attack, aged only 36 years old. Yeah, well, he

01:01:13.250 --> 01:01:15.530
was doing training as well, wasn't he? Yeah,

01:01:15.550 --> 01:01:18.519
yeah. like a tennis center or something yeah

01:01:18.519 --> 01:01:21.820
he was training some uh i think university age

01:01:21.820 --> 01:01:25.699
people possibly even younger anyway yeah um but

01:01:25.699 --> 01:01:27.699
given his obviously incredible natural fitness

01:01:27.699 --> 01:01:30.340
this drew attention to something that we nowadays

01:01:30.340 --> 01:01:33.440
know is all too possible and that's that even

01:01:33.440 --> 01:01:36.699
athletes can suffer heart conditions yeah um

01:01:36.699 --> 01:01:40.760
he he had a quadruple bypass in december 1979

01:01:40.760 --> 01:01:43.559
he officially retired having attempted to come

01:01:43.559 --> 01:01:46.929
back but um experiencing chest pains when jogging.

01:01:47.349 --> 01:01:49.530
So he decided to retire and he retired officially

01:01:49.530 --> 01:01:51.889
on April the 16th, 1980 with a career record

01:01:51.889 --> 01:01:56.170
of 818 wins, 260 defeats, 51 titles, three of

01:01:56.170 --> 01:01:58.750
which were Grand Slams. He's also a four -time

01:01:58.750 --> 01:02:00.449
runner -up, wasn't he? Didn't he get to three

01:02:00.449 --> 01:02:03.789
Aussie Open finals and a second US Open final

01:02:03.789 --> 01:02:08.670
where Ilya Nastassi beat him at the US Open,

01:02:08.789 --> 01:02:10.489
which I think is really cool. Ilya Nastassi is

01:02:10.489 --> 01:02:12.650
a really interesting, fun guy who now does a

01:02:12.650 --> 01:02:15.070
lot of... like sort of show event exhibition

01:02:15.070 --> 01:02:18.329
stuff it's just generally good laugh but um yeah

01:02:18.329 --> 01:02:21.309
legend nevertheless yeah yeah so yeah yeah he

01:02:21.309 --> 01:02:23.989
you know we're not talking you know there's just

01:02:23.989 --> 01:02:26.670
those three wins we're talking seven slam finals

01:02:26.670 --> 01:02:30.130
yeah so anyway with um with retirement finally

01:02:30.130 --> 01:02:32.730
that need for him to walk that tightrope was

01:02:32.730 --> 01:02:37.019
gone And his activism went up a notch. He joined

01:02:37.019 --> 01:02:39.380
forces really randomly. He joined forces with

01:02:39.380 --> 01:02:42.380
singer and calypso legend Harry Belafonte. Yeah,

01:02:42.440 --> 01:02:45.360
I read about that. Harry Belafonte to form artists

01:02:45.360 --> 01:02:50.480
and athletes against apartheid, which is hard

01:02:50.480 --> 01:02:54.099
to say, but obviously very important, which called

01:02:54.099 --> 01:02:56.900
for a full cultural boycott of South Africa.

01:02:57.440 --> 01:03:00.500
until apartheid was ended and as you mentioned

01:03:00.500 --> 01:03:02.420
he was arrested while protesting outside the

01:03:02.420 --> 01:03:05.599
south african embassy in 1985 yeah in an anti

01:03:05.599 --> 01:03:08.599
-apartheid rally isn't it sometimes you've got

01:03:08.599 --> 01:03:10.659
to be prepared to be arrested i think it's actually

01:03:10.659 --> 01:03:12.699
a really interesting thing like once you are

01:03:12.699 --> 01:03:15.239
retired once you're past the point where it matters

01:03:15.239 --> 01:03:18.139
anymore it's quite a noble thing to accept that

01:03:18.139 --> 01:03:20.059
you can get arrested when protesting it's something

01:03:20.059 --> 01:03:22.610
that's happened recently If you've seen the Palestine

01:03:22.610 --> 01:03:24.829
Action protests, obviously a lot of people get

01:03:24.829 --> 01:03:26.829
themselves arrested and a lot of them tend to

01:03:26.829 --> 01:03:30.829
be people in their 70s. Which you don't care

01:03:30.829 --> 01:03:33.570
anymore. There's no repercussions for you. Exactly.

01:03:33.829 --> 01:03:37.630
It loses its deterrent effect. And you see it

01:03:37.630 --> 01:03:40.510
with other protests across the years for various

01:03:40.510 --> 01:03:43.489
different things. Yeah, it does. It's quite a

01:03:43.489 --> 01:03:46.150
noble thing to do because obviously there are

01:03:46.150 --> 01:03:48.289
still repercussions. You're not going to lose

01:03:48.289 --> 01:03:49.590
your job because of it. You're not going to lose

01:03:49.590 --> 01:03:50.769
your home because of it, as long as you've got

01:03:50.769 --> 01:03:53.610
a good pension or whatever. Yeah, so it's...

01:03:53.610 --> 01:03:59.090
We're not advocating anarchy, but it is an interesting

01:03:59.090 --> 01:04:02.190
dynamic to activism. If it's something worth

01:04:02.190 --> 01:04:04.289
protesting for, peaceful protest, I would always

01:04:04.289 --> 01:04:06.789
advocate for it, as long as it's peaceful. Yeah,

01:04:06.789 --> 01:04:09.389
that's what I'm saying. I'm not advocating anarchy.

01:04:09.809 --> 01:04:12.409
I'm not saying disregard the deterrence of arrest

01:04:12.409 --> 01:04:17.059
in all circumstances, please. Indeed. So anyway,

01:04:17.199 --> 01:04:19.820
Ash, he later joined a delegation of prominent

01:04:19.820 --> 01:04:21.679
African -Americans, including legendary music

01:04:21.679 --> 01:04:24.920
producer Quincy Jones, no less, who acted as

01:04:24.920 --> 01:04:27.860
observers in 1991 as South Africa began to embrace

01:04:27.860 --> 01:04:31.139
racial integration, finally, after Mandela's

01:04:31.139 --> 01:04:33.480
release from prison. He was arrested once more,

01:04:33.579 --> 01:04:36.280
as you mentioned, in 1992 outside the White House,

01:04:36.360 --> 01:04:38.099
protesting the treatment of Haitian refugees.

01:04:38.579 --> 01:04:40.920
But unfortunately, by that point, he was dying.

01:04:41.940 --> 01:04:44.960
So he'd undergone a second round of heart surgery

01:04:44.960 --> 01:04:49.019
in 1983. It's believed at that point that blood

01:04:49.019 --> 01:04:51.360
transfusions given to him during this surgery

01:04:51.360 --> 01:04:53.480
were infected with HIV. Blood screening wasn't

01:04:53.480 --> 01:04:56.360
done until much later on blood and unfortunately

01:04:56.360 --> 01:04:59.159
that appears to be how he contracted it. It was

01:04:59.159 --> 01:05:02.719
discovered that he had the disease during brain

01:05:02.719 --> 01:05:05.300
surgery after he suffered paralysis in his right

01:05:05.300 --> 01:05:08.380
arm in 1988. Him and his wife decide to keep

01:05:08.380 --> 01:05:10.659
his positive status private for the sake of their

01:05:10.659 --> 01:05:13.679
then two -year -old daughter. But in 1992...

01:05:13.679 --> 01:05:15.099
That's worth mentioning because we spoke about

01:05:15.099 --> 01:05:17.000
that on the NBA episode as well. That's because

01:05:17.000 --> 01:05:20.960
of the stereotyping and things like that. The

01:05:20.960 --> 01:05:22.579
stigma, yeah. And the stigma associated with

01:05:22.579 --> 01:05:26.380
AIDS and HIV in the 80s and early 90s in particular.

01:05:26.719 --> 01:05:29.159
Yeah, we spoke about it in relation to Magic

01:05:29.159 --> 01:05:31.800
Johnson. Magic Johnson in particular and the

01:05:31.800 --> 01:05:34.920
commissioner of the NBA. Yes, of course, yes.

01:05:35.159 --> 01:05:38.780
Who supported him. yeah yeah anyway yes so um

01:05:38.780 --> 01:05:42.000
unfortunately in 1992 usa today told him that

01:05:42.000 --> 01:05:44.579
they'd be publishing about his illness and he

01:05:44.579 --> 01:05:47.019
preempted them before they did and he announced

01:05:47.019 --> 01:05:50.019
the world that he was hiv positive uh usa today

01:05:50.019 --> 01:05:52.300
got a lot of criticism for that as they rightly

01:05:52.300 --> 01:05:54.800
should yeah i was gonna say like just like out

01:05:54.800 --> 01:05:57.300
in people's like medical conditions and things

01:05:57.300 --> 01:06:01.699
just for like a quick sell nice despicable stuff

01:06:01.699 --> 01:06:05.079
isn't it yeah I'm tempted to use that word that

01:06:05.079 --> 01:06:07.679
you used about Ashley Cole again, but I'll keep

01:06:07.679 --> 01:06:11.300
it to myself. Well, you know, when appropriate.

01:06:11.820 --> 01:06:16.280
Indeed. Ashley Cole and people who publish people's

01:06:16.280 --> 01:06:19.219
medical statuses without their permission. Same

01:06:19.219 --> 01:06:20.860
category. That's the line, is it? It's the same

01:06:20.860 --> 01:06:26.739
crime. It's definitely not. Anyway, Arthur has

01:06:26.739 --> 01:06:29.599
spent the last 10 months of his life campaigning

01:06:29.599 --> 01:06:32.269
for AIDS awareness. as his condition deteriorated,

01:06:32.289 --> 01:06:35.730
and at 3 .13pm on February 6th, 1993, at New

01:06:35.730 --> 01:06:39.070
York Hospital, Arthur Ashe died, aged 49. The

01:06:39.070 --> 01:06:41.630
governor of Virginia allowed his body to lie

01:06:41.630 --> 01:06:43.309
in state at the governor's mansion in Richmond,

01:06:43.369 --> 01:06:47.510
a really, truly rare honour, and indicative of

01:06:47.510 --> 01:06:50.510
what he meant to the state, to the country, and

01:06:50.510 --> 01:06:54.789
to the sport, and everything in between. 5 ,000

01:06:54.789 --> 01:06:56.809
people lined up to walk past his casket and pay

01:06:56.809 --> 01:06:58.829
their respects, and over 6 ,000 attended his

01:06:58.829 --> 01:07:01.599
funeral. At his request, he was buried next to

01:07:01.599 --> 01:07:04.679
his mother. That's really good. Yeah. And as

01:07:04.679 --> 01:07:07.500
you say, finally, the last... There's so many

01:07:07.500 --> 01:07:10.639
sort of honours made for him, statues and things

01:07:10.639 --> 01:07:11.980
named in his respect. You're going to talk about

01:07:11.980 --> 01:07:15.460
the posthumous one? One more time. You got a

01:07:15.460 --> 01:07:17.480
posthumous award for the Presidential Medal of

01:07:17.480 --> 01:07:19.519
Freedom from Bill Clinton. Did you know that?

01:07:19.800 --> 01:07:22.719
I did. Amazingly, I missed that part. That's

01:07:22.719 --> 01:07:25.940
incredible. Yeah, yeah. 1993, apparently. That's

01:07:25.940 --> 01:07:29.139
the only thing I like. That's a huge deal. Anyway,

01:07:29.300 --> 01:07:31.340
no, sorry. Thank you for mentioning that because

01:07:31.340 --> 01:07:34.400
I was not going to. But all I was going to mention

01:07:34.400 --> 01:07:36.480
is amongst everything else, as you said, in 1997,

01:07:36.800 --> 01:07:39.840
the largest tennis stadium in the world was opened

01:07:39.840 --> 01:07:43.440
at Flushing Meadows in New York, which hosts

01:07:43.440 --> 01:07:45.960
the US Open every single year. It is named the

01:07:45.960 --> 01:07:48.000
Arthur Ashe Stadium, one of the countless honors

01:07:48.000 --> 01:07:49.900
and tributes made to him in the year since his

01:07:49.900 --> 01:07:52.119
death. Yeah. I mean, that is it. He's an incredible

01:07:52.119 --> 01:07:54.519
man. That is. So when you're watching it this

01:07:54.519 --> 01:07:56.480
year, now, if you've listened to this, you'll

01:07:56.480 --> 01:07:59.820
know. why that stadium is named after him. And

01:07:59.820 --> 01:08:03.099
who he was, yeah. And how much he means to so

01:08:03.099 --> 01:08:05.599
many players. Both black and white players and

01:08:05.599 --> 01:08:09.000
everyone. The stadium is obviously named after

01:08:09.000 --> 01:08:10.739
him because he was more than just a very good

01:08:10.739 --> 01:08:13.260
tennis player. As good a tennis player as he

01:08:13.260 --> 01:08:15.519
was. And he was a very good tennis player. Especially

01:08:15.519 --> 01:08:18.640
considering he was an amateur for most of his

01:08:18.640 --> 01:08:23.079
professional career. The early parts of it. He

01:08:23.079 --> 01:08:25.279
would have been nowadays. because he wouldn't

01:08:25.279 --> 01:08:27.020
have been nowadays and amateurism is still a

01:08:27.020 --> 01:08:30.000
thing in the US Open so like yeah it'd be college

01:08:30.000 --> 01:08:32.100
players I imagine yeah one of the things that's

01:08:32.100 --> 01:08:34.020
really fun about it is like I mean obviously

01:08:34.020 --> 01:08:35.760
you can be an amateur and enter any sport but

01:08:35.760 --> 01:08:37.720
technically speaking golf is a great example

01:08:37.720 --> 01:08:40.060
of it but the US Open is still open to professional

01:08:40.060 --> 01:08:42.720
and amateurs the only rule is is that you have

01:08:42.720 --> 01:08:45.260
to be older than 14 to enter it that's actually

01:08:45.260 --> 01:08:48.520
that's I can try to imagine a world where a 13

01:08:48.520 --> 01:08:50.619
year old would enter a Grand Slam tournament

01:08:51.039 --> 01:08:52.880
Yeah, yeah. Goodness, they'd have to be talented.

01:08:53.100 --> 01:08:55.979
So I don't really know why they've decided to,

01:08:55.979 --> 01:08:59.439
you know, state that explicitly in the rules.

01:08:59.520 --> 01:09:02.119
But apparently it is in the rules. Yeah, and

01:09:02.119 --> 01:09:05.899
it's, yeah, US Open. I mean, the Billy Basics,

01:09:05.899 --> 01:09:08.479
five primary championships, men and women's singles,

01:09:08.859 --> 01:09:10.359
men and women's doubles and the mixed doubles.

01:09:10.560 --> 01:09:13.100
Yeah. But also you'll see at the tournament,

01:09:13.260 --> 01:09:15.119
senior and junior tournaments and wheelchair

01:09:15.119 --> 01:09:17.659
tournaments. And all finals will be played on...

01:09:18.239 --> 01:09:21.180
the aforementioned Arthur Ashe. So, yeah, it's

01:09:21.180 --> 01:09:24.699
synonymous with the venue, with the tournaments,

01:09:24.920 --> 01:09:29.319
the finals, and rightly so. I mean, actually,

01:09:29.460 --> 01:09:33.020
this is a nice transition onto something lighthearted

01:09:33.020 --> 01:09:37.079
and geeky. The Arthur Ashe is a hard court, like

01:09:37.079 --> 01:09:40.539
all the courts at the US Open, but it wasn't

01:09:40.539 --> 01:09:43.439
always a hard court. No, it wasn't. Started off

01:09:43.439 --> 01:09:47.399
in 1881 on grass, stayed that way until 1975

01:09:47.399 --> 01:09:49.920
when I think there were some complaints about

01:09:49.920 --> 01:09:52.600
the surface and its impact on the ball's bounce,

01:09:52.680 --> 01:09:55.220
probably by some barbarians that don't understand

01:09:55.220 --> 01:09:58.300
what the greatest surface in tennis is. But nonetheless,

01:09:58.579 --> 01:10:02.619
their whinging prevailed and the tournament...

01:10:02.720 --> 01:10:06.260
turned to a clay court tournament for a few years.

01:10:07.100 --> 01:10:09.460
I hate to see it. Yeah, three years, in fact,

01:10:09.500 --> 01:10:12.079
which is the worst surface in tennis. Apologies,

01:10:12.100 --> 01:10:13.859
Ronan Garros and any French people out there.

01:10:14.199 --> 01:10:16.640
Speaking as British people entirely there. Yeah,

01:10:16.720 --> 01:10:18.420
yeah. And any Spaniards, because I appreciate

01:10:18.420 --> 01:10:19.779
you're going to feel very strongly about that.

01:10:19.880 --> 01:10:22.199
And probably Italians, too. So just offend everyone

01:10:22.199 --> 01:10:24.159
in Europe whilst I'm at it. Interestingly, though,

01:10:24.180 --> 01:10:25.939
75, when they turned it to clay, is also when

01:10:25.939 --> 01:10:28.760
they introduced floodlights at the US Open. But

01:10:28.760 --> 01:10:32.300
then from 78, it turned to acrylic hard court.

01:10:32.680 --> 01:10:35.539
And, because you know I'm a geek for this tangent

01:10:35.539 --> 01:10:39.279
stuff about makeup. You love it, yeah. From 1978

01:10:39.279 --> 01:10:41.960
to 2019, it was played on a hard -court surface

01:10:41.960 --> 01:10:48.899
provided by Prodeco Turf. Usually, hard -courts

01:10:48.899 --> 01:10:51.659
are made from asphalt or concrete and then covered

01:10:51.659 --> 01:10:54.619
with an acrylic resin to seal the surface and

01:10:54.619 --> 01:10:56.899
mark the playing lines, whilst also providing

01:10:56.899 --> 01:10:59.159
a degree of cushioning to the player's feet.

01:10:59.399 --> 01:11:02.060
It's weirdly not that easy to maintain. You have

01:11:02.060 --> 01:11:04.600
to brush it regularly. You have to pressure wash

01:11:04.600 --> 01:11:07.520
it with cleaning solution. And you have to treat

01:11:07.520 --> 01:11:09.460
it with chemicals to prevent the growth of certain

01:11:09.460 --> 01:11:13.979
mosses and algae. Fair enough. It also is painted

01:11:13.979 --> 01:11:16.659
with an anti -slip paint to give better playing

01:11:16.659 --> 01:11:19.100
qualities, which also enhance player safety and

01:11:19.100 --> 01:11:23.260
performance. Good for them. And the Pro Deco

01:11:23.260 --> 01:11:25.579
Turf was constructed of layers of acrylic resin

01:11:25.579 --> 01:11:29.130
made from rubber and silica. multi -layered cushioned

01:11:29.130 --> 01:11:33.170
surface classified as medium fast but recently

01:11:33.170 --> 01:11:37.010
lakehold who are another hard court surface provider

01:11:37.010 --> 01:11:39.449
acrylic hard court surface provider have now

01:11:39.449 --> 01:11:41.670
got the contract for the us open and do so for

01:11:41.670 --> 01:11:44.229
the next five years made of the same stuff apparently

01:11:44.229 --> 01:11:46.449
the difference is is that lakehold have a thing

01:11:46.449 --> 01:11:49.350
called a lakehold cushion plus surface which

01:11:49.350 --> 01:11:52.529
i don't know does something to do with um force

01:11:52.529 --> 01:11:55.090
reduction and cushioning under the feet but it's

01:11:55.090 --> 01:11:57.390
the same surface as used at indian wells for

01:11:57.390 --> 01:11:59.710
what it's worth fair enough we'll have to try

01:11:59.710 --> 01:12:01.789
and get a salesman on next time to explain it

01:12:01.789 --> 01:12:04.130
better yeah and the pro deco turf stuff still

01:12:04.130 --> 01:12:06.489
used around the world like Shanghai Masters and

01:12:06.489 --> 01:12:08.890
that sort of thing so they haven't gone out of

01:12:08.890 --> 01:12:11.170
business or anything like that so let's not let's

01:12:11.170 --> 01:12:12.890
not worry about the contract being lost at the

01:12:12.890 --> 01:12:14.930
US Open I'll sleep well tonight knowing that

01:12:14.930 --> 01:12:18.989
and just to round this off in you know explaining

01:12:19.689 --> 01:12:23.229
the makeup of the court. It's been painted a

01:12:23.229 --> 01:12:26.890
shade of blue, trademarked as US Open Blue since

01:12:26.890 --> 01:12:32.270
2005. Fair enough. Inside the lines only in order

01:12:32.270 --> 01:12:35.250
to make it easier to see the ball on television

01:12:35.250 --> 01:12:37.409
and for players and spectators as well, their

01:12:37.409 --> 01:12:39.949
visibility. The outside, and this is the reason

01:12:39.949 --> 01:12:41.850
why this was done, I think, is because the outside

01:12:41.850 --> 01:12:44.329
of the lines is still painted US Open Green.

01:12:44.489 --> 01:12:46.930
And obviously the balls are a luminous yellow.

01:12:48.520 --> 01:12:52.899
Is it yellow? I guess it's yellow. CC David Attenborough.

01:12:53.079 --> 01:12:54.939
I was going to say, we could have gone into this

01:12:54.939 --> 01:12:57.180
debate last time. I'm not sure we did, but green,

01:12:57.279 --> 01:12:59.760
yellow. It's a matter of debate. I'd say it's

01:12:59.760 --> 01:13:01.579
yellow. Yeah, I would go yellow. They're bright.

01:13:01.680 --> 01:13:04.640
They're certainly bright. That's it. That's all

01:13:04.640 --> 01:13:08.579
I had on the surface. Money? Always. Yeah, I

01:13:08.579 --> 01:13:09.840
mean, actually. What's the point of sport without

01:13:09.840 --> 01:13:12.140
it? Yeah, I mean, it's probably worth mentioning

01:13:12.140 --> 01:13:14.779
that the International Law and Tennis Federation

01:13:14.779 --> 01:13:17.500
didn't actually officially designate the US Open

01:13:17.500 --> 01:13:22.100
as a world major until 1924. So, you know, it

01:13:22.100 --> 01:13:24.319
was actually quite a while after its inception,

01:13:24.479 --> 01:13:26.560
40 years before it became considered a major.

01:13:26.840 --> 01:13:29.920
That, however, has not held it back financially.

01:13:30.819 --> 01:13:34.710
It is truly... truly american it is the most

01:13:34.710 --> 01:13:39.069
lucrative of the majors you are remunerated extraordinarily

01:13:39.069 --> 01:13:43.189
well if you win here do you want i heard oh i

01:13:43.189 --> 01:13:45.590
i heard the number a few days ago and it blew

01:13:45.590 --> 01:13:48.250
my mind so i won't give it away you just say

01:13:48.250 --> 01:13:50.170
it because it is ludicrous how much you get paid

01:13:50.170 --> 01:13:54.869
for winning this thing five million us dollars

01:13:54.869 --> 01:13:58.109
for the women singles and women singles yeah

01:13:58.109 --> 01:14:04.289
and The runner -up gets 2 .5 mil, which is...

01:14:04.289 --> 01:14:08.010
Good consolation prize. That is not bad. It gets

01:14:08.010 --> 01:14:10.510
worse, mate. I say worse, better, depending on

01:14:10.510 --> 01:14:15.649
how you're looking at it. £1 .2 million for reaching

01:14:15.649 --> 01:14:20.050
a semi -final. Over half a million... £600, sorry,

01:14:20.170 --> 01:14:22.989
dollars. Over half a million for reaching the

01:14:22.989 --> 01:14:29.659
quarter -finals. $660 ,000. The last 16 gets

01:14:29.659 --> 01:14:36.039
you $400 ,000. The round of 32 gets you $237

01:14:36.039 --> 01:14:41.479
,000. It's crazy. To get to the second round,

01:14:41.579 --> 01:14:46.659
you get $154 ,000. The first round, just to qualify

01:14:46.659 --> 01:14:51.600
for this fucker, takes you home $110 ,000. And

01:14:51.600 --> 01:14:53.399
then this is the thing that really astonishes

01:14:53.399 --> 01:14:55.649
me. If you get to the third round of qualifying

01:14:55.649 --> 01:14:57.989
and get knocked out, you'd still take home $57

01:14:57.989 --> 01:15:01.229
,000. That's crazy. Second round of qualifying,

01:15:01.409 --> 01:15:03.449
$41 ,000. And if you get to the first round of

01:15:03.449 --> 01:15:08.670
qualifying, you get $27 ,500. I mean, it goes

01:15:08.670 --> 01:15:11.430
a long way towards establishing. If you think

01:15:11.430 --> 01:15:13.789
about who gets to that qualifying one, if you

01:15:13.789 --> 01:15:16.289
want some young players who are just newly out

01:15:16.289 --> 01:15:18.149
of college, just turned professional, if you

01:15:18.149 --> 01:15:20.810
want to give them a sort of booster to get them

01:15:20.810 --> 01:15:22.979
through that first year or two. Just get them

01:15:22.979 --> 01:15:25.760
in the qualifying tournament. 27 ,000 right off

01:15:25.760 --> 01:15:27.960
the bat. Obviously, it's not enough to pay you

01:15:27.960 --> 01:15:30.779
away for a year in terms of dollars. You need

01:15:30.779 --> 01:15:32.579
much more than that, but it'll set you on your

01:15:32.579 --> 01:15:35.319
way. It's a good start. Wow, especially because

01:15:35.319 --> 01:15:36.420
that would probably... Especially if you would

01:15:36.420 --> 01:15:38.560
win one qualifying round. Yeah, and that would

01:15:38.560 --> 01:15:40.100
get you... 41 probably could get you through

01:15:40.100 --> 01:15:43.079
a year. Sponsorship will flow from being in the

01:15:43.079 --> 01:15:47.100
US Open, qualifiers, etc., etc. You'll be on...

01:15:47.100 --> 01:15:49.000
Presumably, if you're doing that as well, you'll

01:15:49.000 --> 01:15:51.189
be good enough to get on to... You know, the

01:15:51.189 --> 01:15:54.109
circuit, whether it's 250 or whatever. Yeah.

01:15:54.189 --> 01:15:56.909
I think one really notable thing as well that

01:15:56.909 --> 01:15:59.130
he's mentioning is even in the doubles and the

01:15:59.130 --> 01:16:00.949
mixed doubles tournament, winning it, you'll

01:16:00.949 --> 01:16:04.630
still get a cool mil. A mil. Doing it. A million

01:16:04.630 --> 01:16:08.010
dollars. For winning. Mixed doubles. Mixed doubles.

01:16:08.470 --> 01:16:14.250
A million pounds. Jesus. Yeah. Crazy. Yeah. Anyway,

01:16:14.409 --> 01:16:16.510
I can see why players take this tournament very

01:16:16.510 --> 01:16:19.569
seriously, which takes us on to the players.

01:16:20.090 --> 01:16:22.489
where we can probably finish, to be honest. Yeah,

01:16:22.550 --> 01:16:24.649
yeah. Sorry I took it quite long with the older

01:16:24.649 --> 01:16:27.210
Arthur Ashe bio, but it needs to be done. No,

01:16:27.210 --> 01:16:29.689
no, no. The Arthur Ashe bio was the centerpiece

01:16:29.689 --> 01:16:32.170
of this episode with good reason. So the players,

01:16:32.310 --> 01:16:36.729
let's go. Just the basics like we do. Men's singles,

01:16:37.130 --> 01:16:40.289
most titles, Jimmy Connors, Pete Sampras, and

01:16:40.289 --> 01:16:44.409
the great... This is in the open era, I should

01:16:44.409 --> 01:16:46.210
point out. Oh, I'm only focusing on the open

01:16:46.210 --> 01:16:49.010
era, mate. I don't care for people who won shitloads

01:16:49.010 --> 01:16:51.829
of stuff in the 1800s. I've already mentioned

01:16:51.829 --> 01:16:53.970
one of them anyway. Yeah, yeah. I think he actually

01:16:53.970 --> 01:16:56.649
has the most. Richard Sears. Yeah, with his seven.

01:16:56.810 --> 01:16:59.270
But these guys in the open era, Connors, Sampras

01:16:59.270 --> 01:17:02.970
and Roger Federer with five. For the women, it's

01:17:02.970 --> 01:17:05.789
Chris Everett and Serena Williams with six. Men's

01:17:05.789 --> 01:17:08.859
doubles. Bob and Mike Bryan have five together,

01:17:09.020 --> 01:17:12.520
and Bob and Mike Bryan are brothers, and they

01:17:12.520 --> 01:17:16.399
are one of the all -time, if not the all -time

01:17:16.399 --> 01:17:20.039
great men's doubles pairing. So they have five

01:17:20.039 --> 01:17:22.460
together, but Mike actually has six, because

01:17:22.460 --> 01:17:24.979
he won one with Jack Sox, so he takes home the

01:17:24.979 --> 01:17:28.060
title for most men's doubles. Most female doubles

01:17:28.060 --> 01:17:32.479
is Martina Navratilova, who has nine, including

01:17:32.479 --> 01:17:35.600
two with the aforementioned Billie Jean King.

01:17:36.320 --> 01:17:37.960
Navratilova. She played for a long time. Oh,

01:17:37.979 --> 01:17:41.220
God. Navratilova has won so much. It's mad. If

01:17:41.220 --> 01:17:43.399
you're doing pound for pound across men and women

01:17:43.399 --> 01:17:46.260
and longevity and every type of entry you can

01:17:46.260 --> 01:17:48.140
enter, she might be the greatest tennis player

01:17:48.140 --> 01:17:51.060
that's ever lived. Mixed doubles. Bob Bryan has

01:17:51.060 --> 01:17:53.939
the most of these. He has four, including one

01:17:53.939 --> 01:17:57.439
with Navratilova. Obviously, which is crazy because

01:17:57.439 --> 01:18:00.579
I imagine they were born many years apart. Yeah.

01:18:00.960 --> 01:18:04.340
I think the Bryans were probably born not long

01:18:04.340 --> 01:18:06.680
after. Navratilova would probably start playing.

01:18:06.960 --> 01:18:09.939
Yeah, exactly. And then the women's mixed doubles

01:18:09.939 --> 01:18:13.579
with the most titles is stacked. Sorry, I should

01:18:13.579 --> 01:18:16.479
say, the year Navratilova won her first major

01:18:16.479 --> 01:18:19.039
was 1978, which is the year the Bryans were born.

01:18:19.579 --> 01:18:22.720
Just to point out how the longevity of Martina

01:18:22.720 --> 01:18:26.079
Navratilova is crazy. That is wild. And she comes

01:18:26.079 --> 01:18:30.359
up again in the mixed doubles titles. She's got

01:18:30.359 --> 01:18:32.979
three, along with Margaret Court and Billie Jean

01:18:32.979 --> 01:18:35.439
King. and therefore the most championships at

01:18:35.439 --> 01:18:37.939
the US Open, and by that I mean across all the

01:18:37.939 --> 01:18:40.359
different tournaments you can win, is Bob Bryan.

01:18:40.520 --> 01:18:43.460
He has nine in men's, and Martina Navratilova,

01:18:43.479 --> 01:18:48.800
who has 16, including four singles titles, which

01:18:48.800 --> 01:18:52.239
is... Insane. Insane. So yeah, those are your,

01:18:52.279 --> 01:18:55.020
you know, those are your sort of leading victors,

01:18:55.020 --> 01:18:58.319
so to speak, but... I like the more nuanced things

01:18:58.319 --> 01:19:01.500
when we do this little segment of our episodes.

01:19:02.279 --> 01:19:04.579
Unseeded champions. There is one in the men's.

01:19:04.640 --> 01:19:07.159
Do you know who it is? I don't, actually. He's

01:19:07.159 --> 01:19:10.739
quite famous. Went bold. Weared a headband. Andre

01:19:10.739 --> 01:19:15.479
Agassi. Andre Agassi. 1994. He's won it twice.

01:19:15.539 --> 01:19:18.520
He also won in 1999. I think his 99 win was quite

01:19:18.520 --> 01:19:20.199
romantic. How was he unseeded in 94? Was he coming

01:19:20.199 --> 01:19:21.979
back from injury? I think he might have been,

01:19:22.079 --> 01:19:24.159
yeah. I think he might have been. Fair enough.

01:19:24.539 --> 01:19:27.340
In the women, there's been three. So you've got

01:19:27.340 --> 01:19:31.159
Kim Cloisters in 2009, who also has three titles

01:19:31.159 --> 01:19:36.399
in total. Sloane Stephens in 2017. I can feel

01:19:36.399 --> 01:19:39.039
you building up there. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Come

01:19:39.039 --> 01:19:44.180
on. 2017, Sloane Stephens, who's also the only

01:19:44.180 --> 01:19:47.180
protected rankings win. And Emma Raducanu, of

01:19:47.180 --> 01:19:50.079
course, in 2021, who is also the only ever qualifier

01:19:50.079 --> 01:19:53.079
to win it. Who didn't drop a set. It's the most

01:19:53.079 --> 01:19:55.899
ridiculous run. I've banged on about it across

01:19:55.899 --> 01:19:58.399
episodes, so I'm not going to resist the urge.

01:19:59.000 --> 01:20:01.500
And I'm going to focus on another female player

01:20:01.500 --> 01:20:05.760
now, in actual fact, which is the youngest champion.

01:20:06.159 --> 01:20:07.640
Do you know who the youngest men's champion is,

01:20:07.659 --> 01:20:12.539
quickly? I do not. Very famous. One of the guys

01:20:12.539 --> 01:20:15.159
with the most wins. Pete Sampras? Pete Sampras,

01:20:15.359 --> 01:20:19.119
19, in 1990. The youngest woman ever was Tracy

01:20:19.119 --> 01:20:24.500
Austin. She won as a 16 -year -old in 1979. And

01:20:24.500 --> 01:20:28.279
she beat Chris Everett in the final. That's incredible.

01:20:28.880 --> 01:20:32.340
That's mad. I really wanted to just mention Tracy

01:20:32.340 --> 01:20:33.920
Austin because I think she was just really interesting.

01:20:34.199 --> 01:20:38.000
She won it again in 1981, just 19. And she beat

01:20:38.000 --> 01:20:40.619
Navratilova. And they're her only two majors.

01:20:40.880 --> 01:20:43.039
So she won as a 16 -year -old and a 19 -year

01:20:43.039 --> 01:20:45.060
-old. She beat Chris Everett, Martina Navratilova.

01:20:45.500 --> 01:20:48.060
She's the youngest female inductee into the Hall

01:20:48.060 --> 01:20:51.850
of Fame. when she was inducted in 1992, aged

01:20:51.850 --> 01:20:55.310
just 29. I guess she retired young then. She

01:20:55.310 --> 01:20:57.170
did retire very early. She had a lot of injuries,

01:20:57.369 --> 01:21:00.229
but the most severe of which came when she was

01:21:00.229 --> 01:21:04.390
just 26 years old in 1989. She was in a serious

01:21:04.390 --> 01:21:07.050
car accident, near -fatal car accident, in Melbourne,

01:21:07.189 --> 01:21:10.069
New Jersey, where a van driving on the opposite

01:21:10.069 --> 01:21:11.949
side of the road at 60 miles an hour crashed

01:21:11.949 --> 01:21:14.890
into her on the vehicle side, shattered her knee,

01:21:15.130 --> 01:21:19.029
bruised her heart and her spleen. And left her

01:21:19.029 --> 01:21:22.350
needing to basically have surgery. And she was

01:21:22.350 --> 01:21:24.170
in a wheelchair for months afterwards. And she

01:21:24.170 --> 01:21:26.930
wasn't able to walk without crutches until something

01:21:26.930 --> 01:21:29.890
like four months later. But she also made the

01:21:29.890 --> 01:21:31.989
Wimbledon semifinals and the quarterfinals of

01:21:31.989 --> 01:21:34.470
the other two majors. So she was a gun player.

01:21:34.670 --> 01:21:36.750
But what could have been really but for injury

01:21:36.750 --> 01:21:40.310
for Tracy Austin? No, that's amazing. Yeah, insane

01:21:40.310 --> 01:21:43.590
stuff, isn't it? But, I mean, there's been plenty,

01:21:43.670 --> 01:21:46.210
mate. There's other notable champs. You know

01:21:46.210 --> 01:21:50.960
the names. Novak, Nadal, McEnroe. McEnroe's got

01:21:50.960 --> 01:21:53.880
four. Those two have got four as well. Other

01:21:53.880 --> 01:21:58.479
Wimbledon champs. Sorry, other notable women's

01:21:58.479 --> 01:22:02.060
champions. Steffi Graf has got five. Steffi Graf's

01:22:02.060 --> 01:22:03.460
ridiculous. We're going to have to find some

01:22:03.460 --> 01:22:06.340
way of talking about her. We will. On one of

01:22:06.340 --> 01:22:09.640
our other tennis episodes, yeah. Margaret Court's

01:22:09.640 --> 01:22:11.199
got three. Billie Jean King, who we mentioned

01:22:11.199 --> 01:22:12.960
before, has got three. And then you've got Monica

01:22:12.960 --> 01:22:16.079
Seles, Venus Williams, and Naomi Osaka have all

01:22:16.079 --> 01:22:18.310
got two each. I think Monica Salas has just come

01:22:18.310 --> 01:22:20.649
out explaining just on the eve of this tournament

01:22:20.649 --> 01:22:23.869
saying that she's got a muscular, degenerative

01:22:23.869 --> 01:22:26.289
muscular disorder or something. Yeah, I heard

01:22:26.289 --> 01:22:29.289
that. Which is, you know, obviously not nice

01:22:29.289 --> 01:22:31.390
for her, but it's a nice thing that she is using

01:22:31.390 --> 01:22:34.149
that platform to promote awareness. Yeah, indeed.

01:22:34.250 --> 01:22:35.729
I don't know enough about it to comment really,

01:22:35.850 --> 01:22:39.149
but yeah, never good. That kind of thing, obviously,

01:22:39.310 --> 01:22:42.210
goes without saying. But yeah, hopefully something

01:22:42.210 --> 01:22:45.420
that's manageable. Yeah. And you've already mentioned

01:22:45.420 --> 01:22:48.859
that Americans dominate this tournament, but

01:22:48.859 --> 01:22:51.720
are on a bit of a drought. They really do dominate

01:22:51.720 --> 01:22:54.279
it historically. 19 wins for the men in their

01:22:54.279 --> 01:22:56.640
own tournament, which is absolutely miles ahead

01:22:56.640 --> 01:22:59.380
of Australia in second with six, open era, because

01:22:59.380 --> 01:23:00.899
obviously you were explaining how the Aussies

01:23:00.899 --> 01:23:03.760
dicked everyone in the 60s, and you were right.

01:23:03.800 --> 01:23:07.079
For women, it's even more stupid. 26 wins, miles

01:23:07.079 --> 01:23:10.140
ahead of second, which is Germany with six, of

01:23:10.140 --> 01:23:14.319
which... five or one by graph yeah as expected

01:23:14.319 --> 01:23:17.779
yeah yeah yeah which leads us to say and i do

01:23:17.779 --> 01:23:19.859
have one final little um tip bit which i was

01:23:19.859 --> 01:23:22.640
gonna i was gonna throw in on um player stats

01:23:22.640 --> 01:23:25.819
but the current men's champ is yannick sinner

01:23:25.819 --> 01:23:28.180
who defeated america's taylor fritz last year

01:23:28.180 --> 01:23:31.539
and the current women's champ is um sabalenka

01:23:31.539 --> 01:23:34.939
who defeated america's jessica pegulia in the

01:23:34.939 --> 01:23:37.239
final so the americans still making finals just

01:23:37.239 --> 01:23:40.060
just can't get over that hoodoo yeah The thing

01:23:40.060 --> 01:23:41.760
I was going to sign off with, mate, because I

01:23:41.760 --> 01:23:44.640
thought you would enjoy this as a little stat

01:23:44.640 --> 01:23:48.300
to close us off, is Jimmy Connors is the only

01:23:48.300 --> 01:23:50.779
individual to have won the US singles title on

01:23:50.779 --> 01:23:53.899
all three surfaces. That is actually very impressive.

01:23:54.039 --> 01:23:57.539
For all the mild criticism, I don't know if it

01:23:57.539 --> 01:23:59.880
was Chris, Shade maybe, who was going his way

01:23:59.880 --> 01:24:03.020
before. That is very impressive. Won it on Grass,

01:24:03.159 --> 01:24:05.859
Clay and Hardcore, whilst Chris Everett is the

01:24:05.859 --> 01:24:08.409
only woman to have won it. On two different surfaces,

01:24:08.689 --> 01:24:12.350
she won it on clay and hard court. So, you know,

01:24:12.369 --> 01:24:16.329
it's going to be good. The main people are going

01:24:16.329 --> 01:24:17.890
to be the main people that we were talking about

01:24:17.890 --> 01:24:19.949
in our Wimbledon episode. You know, all the usual

01:24:19.949 --> 01:24:21.850
suspects, the holder Sinner's going to be there.

01:24:22.810 --> 01:24:25.609
Alcaraz is going to be in the mix. Women's side

01:24:25.609 --> 01:24:27.770
is going to be Sabalenka. She's going to be gunned.

01:24:27.770 --> 01:24:29.550
She's been gunned this year. Pretty much the

01:24:29.550 --> 01:24:33.430
end of the season. One to enjoy. Yeah, it's going

01:24:33.430 --> 01:24:35.149
to be good. Yeah, it does occasionally throw

01:24:35.149 --> 01:24:37.899
up a shock winner as well. US Open. It does.

01:24:38.039 --> 01:24:41.000
It definitely does. Juan Martin, Juan Martin

01:24:41.000 --> 01:24:44.560
Del Potro, for example. Yeah, Bianca Andreescu

01:24:44.560 --> 01:24:48.560
for the women in 2019. Flavia Panata for the

01:24:48.560 --> 01:24:52.000
women in 2015. I mean, Coco Goff, she's maybe

01:24:52.000 --> 01:24:54.020
not a surprise winner, but she's very young.

01:24:54.199 --> 01:24:56.640
Yeah, so, you know, it does happen on the men's

01:24:56.640 --> 01:24:59.680
side. It's been pretty much dominated by the

01:24:59.680 --> 01:25:02.140
usual suspects, but... In and amongst them, you've

01:25:02.140 --> 01:25:05.439
had a Marin Cilic win. You've had a Dominic Thiem

01:25:05.439 --> 01:25:09.199
win, which is very niche. One of only two players

01:25:09.199 --> 01:25:12.220
to have won, born in the 1990s, on the men's

01:25:12.220 --> 01:25:14.159
side. The other one being, as you're about to

01:25:14.159 --> 01:25:17.979
mention, Daniel Medvedev. The only two players

01:25:17.979 --> 01:25:21.220
and the only two grandsons won by players born

01:25:21.220 --> 01:25:23.460
in the 90s. Such was the dominance of those four

01:25:23.460 --> 01:25:25.899
players previously mentioned, born in the 80s,

01:25:25.899 --> 01:25:29.239
as well as Stamford Rinker and others. and such

01:25:29.239 --> 01:25:33.180
is now the dominance of Yannick Sinner and Alcaraz.

01:25:33.300 --> 01:25:36.920
It's crazy. Good doff of the cap there to Stan

01:25:36.920 --> 01:25:39.619
Rovinka. He often gets overlooked, but he did

01:25:39.619 --> 01:25:41.880
pick up. He won the same amount as Murray. He

01:25:41.880 --> 01:25:46.560
won three. Yeah, yeah. And he also won in 2016

01:25:46.560 --> 01:25:50.340
at the US Open. So, yeah, that's a great little

01:25:50.340 --> 01:25:52.420
shout. The one thing I would say about the US

01:25:52.420 --> 01:25:54.460
Open, which is kind of fun, particularly on the

01:25:54.460 --> 01:25:56.840
men's side, I mean, women's tennis tends to do

01:25:56.840 --> 01:25:59.670
this anyhow. You know, quite a wide range of

01:25:59.670 --> 01:26:02.890
people making finals on the women's side. And

01:26:02.890 --> 01:26:06.869
Leila Fernandez, who Emma Raducanu beat. Madison

01:26:06.869 --> 01:26:10.250
Keyes, you know, Roberta Vinci have all made

01:26:10.250 --> 01:26:12.449
finals. But on the men's side, you know, it's

01:26:12.449 --> 01:26:15.989
just as interesting. You get Taylor Fritz, Kasper

01:26:15.989 --> 01:26:19.789
Rudd, Alexander Zverev, Kevin Anderson, Kane

01:26:19.789 --> 01:26:22.489
Nishikori. We've all made finals in the last

01:26:22.489 --> 01:26:27.350
10, 15 years. It's definitely one to watch because

01:26:27.350 --> 01:26:31.550
it is one of the great tournaments. It does throw

01:26:31.550 --> 01:26:33.689
up in a bit of a shock every now and again, and

01:26:33.689 --> 01:26:36.550
it's great value and great fun. Indeed. So where

01:26:36.550 --> 01:26:38.609
can we watch it? Where can we watch it? You know

01:26:38.609 --> 01:26:42.210
I'm prepared. I know you are. At home, it's Sky.

01:26:42.689 --> 01:26:46.390
That's the UK. US, it's ESPN, who also broadcasts

01:26:46.390 --> 01:26:50.029
on ABC. Canada, it's TSN RDS. Europe, it's Eurosport.

01:26:50.920 --> 01:26:55.180
Australia is Channel 9 and Stan Sports. There

01:26:55.180 --> 01:26:56.880
are others. You can live stream it on the US

01:26:56.880 --> 01:26:59.619
Open website. I could keep listing off different

01:26:59.619 --> 01:27:01.560
countries, but I think if you're a tennis fan

01:27:01.560 --> 01:27:04.079
and you're interested, you will know where to

01:27:04.079 --> 01:27:06.680
watch it. And I think if we've convinced you,

01:27:06.800 --> 01:27:09.859
then as you always tell me, Jack, Google is available

01:27:09.859 --> 01:27:13.260
if I haven't covered your nation. And other search

01:27:13.260 --> 01:27:15.560
engines are available. Other search engines are

01:27:15.560 --> 01:27:17.920
available. Where are we going next week? Next

01:27:17.920 --> 01:27:20.689
week, we're... So... it's one of the biggest

01:27:20.689 --> 01:27:23.369
sports in the world it's it's something like

01:27:23.369 --> 01:27:25.369
fourth or fifth most played sport in the world

01:27:25.369 --> 01:27:27.130
pretty high on the most watched sport in the

01:27:27.130 --> 01:27:29.810
world but it's not a sport that we really do

01:27:29.810 --> 01:27:31.970
in the uk very much and it's not a sport that

01:27:31.970 --> 01:27:34.010
me and you i mean i speak for myself i'm going

01:27:34.010 --> 01:27:36.270
to assume you as well know a lot about the sport

01:27:36.270 --> 01:27:38.430
is volleyball and it is the volleyball world

01:27:38.430 --> 01:27:39.970
championships the women's first and then the

01:27:39.970 --> 01:27:43.569
men's in september back to back uh so yeah we'll

01:27:43.569 --> 01:27:45.810
be we'll be learning about that sport and bringing

01:27:45.810 --> 01:27:48.810
to you a bit of volleyball That is outside my

01:27:48.810 --> 01:27:51.289
comfort zone. You're quite rightly predicted.

01:27:51.770 --> 01:27:53.810
We've got to step there. Every so often we've

01:27:53.810 --> 01:27:55.470
got to step outside. Can't be football every

01:27:55.470 --> 01:27:57.590
week. It can't be and we're looking forward to

01:27:57.590 --> 01:27:59.729
it. We're going to do our best. If you like volleyball

01:27:59.729 --> 01:28:02.529
or you want to learn about it, join us then.

01:28:02.829 --> 01:28:05.850
Join us then. And until then, have a good week

01:28:05.850 --> 01:28:08.890
and enjoy the sport and hopefully VAR doesn't

01:28:08.890 --> 01:28:11.850
piss anyone off as much as pissed us off recently.

01:28:12.329 --> 01:28:15.069
Yeah, and Samuel, good luck to Leeds United on

01:28:15.069 --> 01:28:17.840
their first game. which we'll have finished by

01:28:17.840 --> 01:28:20.319
the time this recording comes out. Well, we could

01:28:20.319 --> 01:28:22.680
record bits now. Yay for Leeds. Well done for

01:28:22.680 --> 01:28:25.979
winning. Oh, bad luck Leeds. They lost. Oh, a

01:28:25.979 --> 01:28:30.000
draw. A fair result. VAR, let them down again.

01:28:31.619 --> 01:28:34.880
All right. I will see you soon, mate. See you

01:28:34.880 --> 01:28:40.140
in a bit, pal. Bye -bye. Bye. Once again, thank

01:28:40.140 --> 01:28:41.760
you for listening to the Sporting Almanac podcast.

01:28:42.159 --> 01:28:44.439
If you enjoyed this episode, as ever, a like,

01:28:44.460 --> 01:28:46.239
a subscribe, a rate, or a comment would be fantastic,

01:28:46.479 --> 01:28:49.399
but please tell people about us with your mouths.

01:28:49.579 --> 01:28:51.619
Like, turn to a stranger now, whisper a podcast

01:28:51.619 --> 01:28:54.000
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01:28:54.000 --> 01:28:56.180
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01:28:56.180 --> 01:28:58.180
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01:28:58.180 --> 01:29:00.060
and BlueSky at the Sporting Almanac, or drop

01:29:00.060 --> 01:29:01.920
us an email at sportingalmanacpodcast .gmail

01:29:01.920 --> 01:29:04.180
.com. Next up, we're taking on a brand new sport

01:29:04.180 --> 01:29:06.899
in volleyball. Until then, even if you're a man

01:29:06.899 --> 01:29:09.300
born in the 1990s with no Grand Slam hopes worth

01:29:09.300 --> 01:29:12.300
mentioning, please stay curious. Sport is nothing

01:29:12.300 --> 01:29:14.199
without the history that makes it. Goodbye.