Every time I see the Arthur Ashe US Open stadium in Queens, I think the same thing. The man won the first US Open of the Open Era, and he never won it again.
That bugs me. Ashe was a Wimbledon champion, an Australian Open champion, and one of the smartest players of his generation. So why did the US Open stop at one?
I dug through the record. There's no single villain here. It's a mix of one brutal final, a short window, and a body that gave out early.
The 1968 Win Was Almost a Fluke of Timing
In September 1968, Arthur Ashe was a 25-year-old Army lieutenant on leave from West Point. He was still an amateur.
That mattered. The 1968 US Open was the first one open to pros and amateurs together, and Ashe beat Dutchman Tom Okker in a five-set final at Forest Hills, 14-12, 5-7, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. He hit 26 aces.
Because he was an amateur, he couldn't take the winner's check. Of the $14,000 purse, the prize money went to Okker as runner-up.
About six months later, Ashe left the Army and turned pro. By September 1970 he had signed a multimillion-dollar deal with Lamar Hunt, the promoter behind World Championship Tennis.
So 1968 was the one year he got to play the biggest American event as the hot young amateur, with nothing to lose.
The Final That Got Away: 1972
Ashe only made one more US Open final. It was 1972, and it still stings to read about.
He beat Stan Smith in the quarterfinals and Cliff Richey in the semifinals. In the final he faced Romania's Ilie Nastase, who was famous for gamesmanship.
Ashe led two sets to one. In the fourth set he was up 4-2. Nastase turned it around and won 3-6, 6-3, 6-7, 6-4, 6-3.
Afterward, writer Steve Flink saw Ashe sitting alone at the far end of the stadium with his head in his hands, trying not to cry.
Months later, Ashe told Flink: "Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night thinking about that match." He said he needed to hold serve just two more times in the fourth set to win a second title.
Two service games. That's the margin.
He Was Still Elite Elsewhere
The numbers show Ashe was no one-hit wonder. He reached seven Grand Slam finals and won three:
- 1968 US Open: Beat Tom Okker.
- 1970 Australian Open: Beat Dick Crealy, 6-4, 9-7, 6-2.
- 1975 Wimbledon: Beat Jimmy Connors, 6-1, 6-1, 5-7, 6-4.
He lost the other four finals, including the 1972 US Open. Two came at the Australian Open against Roy Emerson (1966, 1967) and one against Ken Rosewall (1971).
That tells me something important. Ashe kept getting deep into big events. The US Open just never fell his way a second time.
The Tournament Itself Changed
Here's some context, and I'll be clear that it's context and not proof.
The US Open was played at Forest Hills through 1977. It then moved to Flushing Meadows in 1978, where the courts were hard.
That is a big change in the setting for the event Ashe was chasing. I couldn't find a source that links Ashe's results to the surface changes, so I won't claim that. But it's worth knowing.
His Heart Cut It Short
The last piece is the one nobody can argue with.
Ashe had heart surgery in 1979, which slowed him down. He retired in 1980.
He played just a few seasons after the 1975 Wimbledon win. That left very few shots at another US Open title.
He later had a second heart surgery in 1983. A blood transfusion during one of his heart operations led to the HIV infection that ultimately killed him.
The Bottom Line
I don't think Ashe "failed" at the US Open. He won the first one, made a second final, and lost it in five sets after leading in the fourth.
One more service hold in 1972 and we're telling this story differently.
It's one of those tennis what-ifs I keep coming back to. I think Ashe did too.
