Who won the first US Open men's singles title in 1968?

Arthur Ashe won the first US Open men’s singles title in 1968, defeating Tom Okker in a five-set final.

The 1968 tournament was historically significant because it was the first US Open of the Open Era, when professionals were allowed to compete alongside traditionally amateur players. Ashe defeated Okker 14–12, 5–7, 6–3, 3–6, 6–3 on the grass courts at the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills, New York.

Ashe’s victory was also a landmark for racial representation. He became the first Black man to win the US Open and the first Black man to win a singles major championship. Because Ashe was still registered as an amateur, he could not accept the tournament’s winner’s prize money; the $14,000 first prize went to runner-up Okker instead.

Ashe later won the Australian Open in 1970 and Wimbledon in 1975, but the 1968 US Open remained his only US Open singles championship.