Today in sports history: Aug. 29
In 1974, 19-year-old high school basketball star Moses Malone, signs a contract with the Utah Stars of the ABA to become the first player to go directly from high school into major professional basketball.
1952: Dr. Reginald Weir becomes the first black man to compete in the U.S. Tennis Championships
1952 — Dr. Reginald Weir becomes the first black man to compete in the U.S. Tennis Championships, Weir appears two years after Althea Gibson breaks the color barrier in the tournament and loses in four sets to William Stucki.
1968: Billie Jean King wins the first stadium match at the U.S. Open
1968 — Open tennis begins at the U.S. Tennis Championships. Billie Jean King wins the first stadium match at the U.S. Open and amateurs Ray Moore and Jim Osborne have upset wins over professionals. Moore beats No. 10 Andres Gimeno and Osborne defeats Barry MacKay, each in four sets.
1974: Moses Malone
1974 — Nineteen-year-old high school basketball star Moses Malone, signs a contract with the Utah Stars of the ABA to become the first player to go directly from high school into major professional basketball.
1978: Bjorn Borg
1978 — The USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y. opens. Bjorn Borg beats Bob Hewitt in the first match 6-0, 6-2 in the best-of-three sets.
1993: Brandie Burton
1993 — Brandie Burton’s 20-foot birdie putt on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff edges Betsy King for the du Maurier Classic title, the LPGA tour’s final major of the season.
1993: Laffit Pincay Jr. wins the 8,000th race of his career
1993 — Laffit Pincay Jr. wins the 8,000th race of his career aboard El Toreo in the seventh race at Del Mar racetrack to become the second thoroughbred jockey to ride 8,000 winners.
2005: Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova
2005 — Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova becomes the first U.S. Open defending women’s champion to fall in the first round, losing 6-3, 6-2 to fellow Russian Ekaterina Bychkova on the first day of the U.S. Open.
2011: Petra Kvitova
2011 — Petra Kvitova becomes the first defending Wimbledon champion to lose in the first round at the U.S. Open, 7-6, 6-3 to Alexandra Dulgheru.
2015: Usain Bolt
2015 — Usain Bolt anchors Jamaica to a fourth successive men’s 4x100-meter title and adds to his record-breaking personal haul of IAAF World Championships gold medals to 11.