Citizen Ashe

Ashe grew up in segregated Richmond, Virginia, where he was barred from many public courts. He became the first Black man to win the U.S. Open in 1968 and Wimbledon in 1975.

The film examines his early reluctance to speak out, and his growing involvement in civil rights, including his campaign against apartheid in South Africa. He applied for visas to play there, travelled in 1973 and was later arrested protesting outside the South African embassy in Washington.

Ashe also helped found the Association of Tennis Professionals in 1972 to give players more control over their careers.

After contracting HIV through a blood transfusion during heart surgery, he publicly disclosed his illness in 1992 and became an advocate for AIDS awareness until his death in 1993.

For athlete relations, governance and diversity professionals, Citizen Ashe shows how an athlete can use influence inside and outside the sport. His role in founding the ATP is a reminder that players have shaped tennis's governance.

It also offers perspective on how different approaches to activism, quiet diplomacy or public protest, can each create change.

Sport organisations can learn from Ashe's emphasis on education and access, causes he continued to support through foundations and programmes.

Watch Citizen Ashe if you work in tennis, athlete advocacy, diversity and inclusion, or sport history.

This Shelf feature reflects the film's story and themes; it is not a scene-by-scene review.