♪ Johnnie Ashe: He called me from London the night before and he said, "You know, I'm playing in the finals tomorrow," and I said, "Yeah."

I said, "Well, how are you approaching this?"

He says, "I don't know yet."

♪ Dell: Arthur said to me, "I'd like to go to the Playboy Club "and have a quiet dinner, play a little blackjack," and we really spent the night trying to talk about how to beat Connors.

So we decided that he ought to attack Connors in a totally different way.

♪ [Applause] Dell: Jimmy was a counterpuncher, so we said to Arthur, "Number one, hit the ball soft on his forehand side."

♪ [Applause] "When you're not giving him much power, you have to generate your own speed, so you're down there digging out the balls a lot."

♪ Official: Game to Ashe.

[Cheering and applause] "And when you're serving, he's a left-hander.

"Serve him really wide in the deuce court.

Swing him way out."

[Applause] Announcer: Arthur Ashe, whose serve-volley tactic has never gone better in his life, I'm sure.

Dell: "And then the third thing, you know, Connors closes "very quickly in the net, comes in very fast.

Use the lob.

Lob him a lot."

♪ Announcer: Game and match.

[Whistling and applause] King: I was actually physically in the stands to watch Ashe versus Connors.

♪ [Applause] Arthur totally played a game style that was so different from what he usually did.

Announcer: Oh.

Official: Game for Ashe.

Ashe leads by 5 games to one.

Narrator: Traditionally a big hitter, Ashe was returning softly, playing drop shots and lobbing... Announcer: Oh, I say, that's a--that's a really crude shot.

Narrator: outwitting Connors.

Announcer: That, to me, looked like an extremely nervous shot, so this really is a sensational opening by Arthur Ashe.

To go out into an arena and play the most important match of your life totally contrary to your natural style is possibly the most difficult thing to do in sport.