Postal
Service issues Arthur Ashe stamp

The U.S. Postal Service is honoring tennis legend Arthur Ashe, who died of AIDS-related complications, with a postage stamp that became available nationwide on Monday. Ashe established foundations to help at-risk youths and to fight HIV, which he contracted through a blood transfusion during heart surgery. A Richmond, Va., native, Ashe learned to play tennis on the segregated Brook Field playground, and his freedom to compete in the South was limited by racial barriers. Nonetheless, he played in the world's top tournaments, won three Grand Slam events, and was the first African-American on the U.S. Davis Cup team, where he won 27 matches. In 1985 Ashe was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame, and he was Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year in 1992. Ashe died in 1994. (AP)