USTA National Tennis Center

The main court is located at the 22,547-seat Arthur Ashe Stadium, named after Arthur Ashe, the great African American tennis player who won the inaugural U.S. Open in 1968. Ashe died in 1993 of AIDS, which he contracted from a blood transfusion during heart surgery. Court Number 2 is Louis Armstrong Stadium, which stood as the main stadium until the completion of Ashe stadium. The Arthur Ashe Stadium boasts 90 luxury suites, five restaurants and a two-level players’ lounge.

	Arthur Ashe Stadium Opened		1997
	Arthur Ashe Stadium Capacity		22,547
	Louis Armstrong Stadium Opened		1964
	Louis Armstrong Stadium Capacity		10,000

Louis Armstrong Stadium is the second tennis stadium of the U.S. Open, the last of each year’s four Grand Slam tournaments. It is located at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing, Queens, New York. The stadium was named after the famous African American jazz musician, Louis Armstrong. The Singer Bowl opened on the site in 1964 for the 1964 New York World’s Fair, sponsored by the Singer Corporation. In 1977, the US Open moved to Flushing from Forest Hills, New York. The Singer Bowl was heavily renovated to host the Open, essentially being divided into two new stadia, Louis Armstrong Stadium and the adjacent grandstand. In currently holds about 10,000 people. Before Arthur Ashe Stadium opened in 1997, Louis Armstrong Stadium held close to 18,000.

The US Open is also unique in that it is the only Grand Slam event where most of the courts are floodlit, meaning that TV coverage of the tournament can extend into prime-time to attract more ratings. This has recently been used to the advantage of the USA Network on cable and especially for CBS, the American broadcast TV outlet for the Open for many years, who used their pull to move the women’s singles final to Saturday night in order to draw better ratings.

In 2005, all US Open and US Open Series Tennis courts were given blue inner courts and green outer courts to show uniformity, and to make it easier to see the ball. This change has been met with mixed reactions from both players and fans, many players saying that the ball is no easier to see with the blue courts.

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US Open website
Ashe & Armstrong Stadiums
USTA National Tennis Center Wikipedia entry

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