The US Open Tennis Championships is a hard court tennis tournament that is held in The Grandstand, a stadium in Queens, New York. This tournament is the modern version of one of Tennis’ oldest championships in the world, the US National Championship. In fact, the former version of the tournament was first played in August 1881. Since 1987, the US Open has been the fourth and final Grand Slam tournament of the year, behind the Australian Open, French Open, and Wimbledon. The US Open starts on the last Monday of August and continues for two weeks with the middle weekend matching up with the Labor Day holiday.
US Open Tennis Tournament
The US Open consists of five primary championships: men’s and women’s singles, men’s and women’s doubles, and mixed doubles. The tournament also has events for senior, junior, and wheelchair players. The tournament is played on acrylic hard courts, a tradition dating back since 1978.
The US Open uses standard tiebreakers (first to 7, win by 2) in every set of singles matches. For the doubles Grand Slam events, there are special scoring methods that reaches 6-6 in the last possible set (third for women and fifth for men).
About Grandstand Stadium
Any tennis tournament like the US Open could only happen at massive stadiums like The Grandstand in Queens, New York. This massive stadium is situated in the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center and has a seating capacity of over 8,000 spectators. The United States Tennis Association (USTA) owns the facility which is the third largest at the national tennis center.
Originally, the Grandstand was a court attached to the Louis Armstrong Stadium which opened in 1978 and was later decommissioned in 2016. The court was built as part of the USTA’s $550 million plan to renovate the National Tennis Center, which was announced in 2013. The stadium has 2,000 reserved seating tickets with the rest being offered on a first-come, first-served basis, making US Open tickets some of the most hotly contested in the sport.
The brand new court held its debut match on August 29, 2016, the first day of the 2016 championships. The match featured Caroline Wozniacki who defeated Taylor Townsend 4–6, 6–3, 6–4 in this first match.
The court has 16 sides and has an interesting design where the southwest corner rises higher and the northeast corner rises lower. This design offers a great view of the grounds from the upper walkways as well as allowing spectators in Arthur Ashe stadium to look on. But what most people don’t know is that the round look was deliberately created with a variety of shapes. The intent was to recapture the intimacy and shade of the old stadium and incorporate them into the design. It also allows more seating to be in the shady spots for guest comfort.
And if you need a break from the tennis action, you can enjoy the other unique features of the stadium’s design as well as its many food vendors or the large retail store facing the main plaza. Convenience was another important factor to the facility’s design, as it is served by The New York City Subway as well as the Long Island Rail Road on the northern end of Flushing Meadows park, where the tennis centre is situated.
The many thoughtful features and design work on the stadium has led to Grandstand being the first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design tennis stadium in the world as well as earning it the NYCxDesign Award in the Outdoor/Urban Landscape category.
US Open Tennis Highlights
You can’t talk about the US Open without recognizing the legendary talent that has played at Grandstand Stadium. These are just some of the phenomenal athletes and the feats they’ve accomplished.
Youngest Tennis Champions
The three youngest men’s championships are Pete Sampras (1990), Oliver S. Campbell (1890), and Richard Sears (1881), who have all become singles champions at 19 years of age. In the Open era, we can add Lleyton Hewitt (2001), and John McEnroe (1979), who were Singles champions at the age of 20. In Women’s sports, we have Tracy Austin (1979), Martina Hingis (1997), and Maureen Connolly (1951) who were all singles champions at 16 years of age. In the Open era, we can add Monica Seles (1991) who was a champion at 17 years of age.
Most Singles Titles Won
But what about most winningest players in the US Open Tennis Championships from 1881 to today? In the men’s division, Bill Tilden (10), Bill Larned (9), and a three-way tie between Pete Sampras (8), Ivan Lendl (8), and Bill Johnson (8) have won the most singles titles. Novak Djokovic (7), Jimmy Connors (7), and Roger Federer (7) join this prestigious list in the Open era.
Which player holds the record for most singles titles won at the US Open? Who has reached the most consecutive finals? Get the complete breakdown of the all-time singles records held at the US Open Tennis Championships, from 1881 to today. In the women’s division, Molla Bjurstedt Mallory (10), Chris Evert (9), and Helen Wills (9) are the three winningest players. In the Open era, we can add Steffi Graf (8), Martina Navratilova (8), and Serena Williams (8) to this list.
Most Titles in All Events
But what about total titles across all events?
In the Men’s division, Bill Tilden (16), Richard Sears (13), and Bob Bryan (9) have earned several tournament titles in their respective careers. And we can’t forget to include John McEnroe (8), Todd Woodbridge (6), and Jimmy Connors (6) from the open era. In the Women’s Division, Margaret Osborne duPont (25), Margaret Smith Court (18), and A. Louise Broug (17) have each had phenomenal career showings at the US Open. And in the Open era, we can also include Martina Navratilova (16), Margaret Court (10), Serena Williams (9), and Billie Jean King (9) for their career achievements.
Grand Slam Champions
But few of these awards are as prestigious as Grand Slam winners, who have won all four major championships in Australia, France, Britain, and the US in the same calendar year. This feat has only been achieved six times by five different players.
Don Budge was the first in 1938, followed by Maureen Connolly, the first woman Grand Slam winner.