For Arthur Ashe, South Africa didn’t hold any big surprises. At the end of his trip in November of 1973, he told reporters that everything he had read about the country was “accurate enough.” Now, he could only reflect on a whirlwind week in which he accumulated as much first-hand experience of the apartheid nation as he could.
Alas, the tennis went more or less as expected, too. In front of large and adoring crowds at Johannesburg’s Ellis Park, Arthur blasted through the draw, winning four straight matches in straight sets to reach the final round. Particularly satisfying must have been his quarterfinal defeat of Bob Hewitt, who had told him that in South Africa, the blacks were “happy.”
The fans wanted to see Ashe go all the way. It certainly would have made for a better story. But Jimmy Connors, the brash, hard-hitting left-hander, had other ideas. The two men had met for the title at the U.S. Pro in Boston back in July, when Connors pulled out a victory in five sets. The 21-year-old had picked up two titles since the US Open and had already locked up a spot at the year-end Masters; Ashe needed the title here to overtake Tom Gorman for the last place in the eight-man field.
On November 26th, Connors was simply untouchable. His kick serves seemed to defy gravity, his groundstrokes skimmed the baseline, and his passing shots left Ashe helpless at the net. One reporter described it as “the peak of his game.” Arthur, still processing his visit to Soweto the previous day, didn’t stand a chance. It was another straight-set decision, only this one in favor of Connors, 6-4, 7-6, 6-3.
Ashe had some consolation: He and Tom Okker advanced to the doubles final with a five-set win over Hewitt and Frew McMillan. The next day, Ashe and Okker would pick up the title by beating Lew Hoad and Bob Maud.
Having missed his last chance to crack the Masters field, Ashe called it quits on his season. He planned to spend much of his time preparing a report on his historic trip, which he didn’t expect others to readily understand. “You would have to walk a mile in my shoes here,” he said, “to be able to know how I feel about it.”
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This post is part of my series about the 1973 season, Battles, Boycotts, and Breakouts. Keep up with the project by checking the TennisAbstract.com front page, which shows an up-to-date Table of Contents after I post each installment.
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