that s it. new ball. shots are 2-2. got by him. comes back with it! you try to put your entire being mentally and physically on automatic pilot while you re playing tennis. everything is concentrated on the razor s edge and you forget the score. you forget where you are. you forget what your name is. i feel like my body s floating within myself. the game of tennis is a symphony in white. players in white suits hitting a white ball back and fort. in all white country clubs but a new, young player has come along and he is one of the greatest we have ever produced and he is not white. i sense confusion in what an athlete should be, especially an african american context. does still persist in the world about black athletes because we tend to do disproportionately well in athletes. i like to fight the myth. there are lots of us who can think as well as run, jump, hit tennis balls, dunk basketballs. and the challenge now is to convince young black athletes that the
that s it. [ applause ] 2-2. comes back with it! you try to put your entire being mentally and physically on automatic pilot while you re playing tennis. everything is concentrated on the razor s edge and you forget the score. you forget where you are. you forget what your name is. i feel like my body s floating within myself. the game of tennis is a symphony in white. players in white suits hitting a white ball back and forth between white baselines in all-white country clubs. but a new young player has come along and he is one of the greatest we have ever produced, and he is not white. i sense confusion in what an athlete should be, especially in an african american context. there does still persist in the world myths about black athletes because we tend to do disproportionately well in athletics. some people think we are all brawn and no brains. and i like to fight the myth. there are lots of us who can think as well as run, jump, hit tennis balls, dunk basketb
but an ever aggressive connors was waiting. jimmy connors beat him. and we gave him hell. the whole point of coming down here was to show black folk that a black man can win in a white man s sport. and you lose to jimmy connors of all people. ashe, the black traditionalist, who upholds the ancient white values of the game. and connors, the white upstart, the emotional, sometimes crazy man whose tennis is almost a contact sport. i m in the ring every time i go out there. you know, once i hit the first ball, the bell rings and it s a fight for me.