USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center
40°45′00″N 73°50′51″W / 40.75000°N 73.84750°W
The USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center is a stadium complex within
Near Citi Field (home of the New York Mets) as well as LaGuardia Airport, the tennis center is open to the public for play except during the US Open, junior and wood-racquet competitions.[5] Formerly called the USTA National Tennis Center, the facility was rededicated for Billie Jean King on August 28, 2006.[5]
History
The idea of the tennis center came about in January 1977, when William Hester, the then-incoming president of the USTA, saw the underused Singer Bowl on a flight into nearby LaGuardia Airport. He asked the City of New York to let him use the stadium and adjoining land for a tennis facility to host the U.S. Open. The stadium was heavily renovated and divided into two venues: Louis Armstrong Stadium and the adjoining grandstand. The National Tennis Center opened in August 1978.[1][6]
After rumors of a possible move to
In 2011, the facility opened a new show court, Court 17, located in the southeast corner of the grounds, seating 2,500 to 3,000, making it small in comparison to the facility's other show courts. Next in size after those courts – Arthur Ashe Stadium, Louis Armstrong Stadium, and the Grandstand (the latter with a capacity of 8,125) – the court has large television screens and
Beginning in 2013, the center underwent a $550 million renovation that included the erection of a retractable roof on the Arthur Ashe Stadium, which was completed for the 2016 US Open. A new show court with 8,125 seats was opened in 2016 in the southwest corner of the complex, making it the third-largest court in the center (replacing the old Grandstand court). A new, 14,000-seat Louis Armstrong Stadium (also with a retractable roof) was constructed on the site of the original stadium, and was completed in time for the 2018 US Open.[7]
Main courts
Stadium | Capacity |
---|---|
Arthur Ashe Stadium | 23,771 |
Louis Armstrong Stadium | 14,000 |
Grandstand | 8,125 |
Other uses
In July 2008, the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center and
USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center is the site of the annual New York State High School tennis championships, held in May. This tournament is sponsored by the New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA).
In March 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the city proposed building a temporary 350-bed field hospital in the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center to treat overflow patients from area hospitals.[9] It opened on April 10 and was later described by The New York Times as a "cautionary tale" of mismanaged government responses, having cost at least $52 million while only treating 79 patients until it closed on May 13.[10]
See also
- Sports in New York City § Tennis
References
- ^ a b c d e f g "History of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center at Flushing Meadows".
- ^ USA TODAY. Retrieved September 4, 2011.
- ^ "Seating Charts". US Open. Retrieved September 4, 2011.
- ^ "Sport Group's Laykold selected as new US Open court surface". US Open. March 23, 2020. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
- ^ a b "USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center Information". USTA. Archived from the original on January 1, 2011. Retrieved February 15, 2011.
- ^ Belson, Ken (September 9, 2012). "Armstrong, Back When It Wasn't Tennis Rocking the House". New York Times. Retrieved December 9, 2014.
- ^ Meyers, Naila-Jean; Zinser, Lynn (August 14, 2013). "U.S.T.A. to Put a Roof Over Arthur Ashe Stadium". The New York Times. Retrieved September 5, 2013.
- ^ Robbins, Liz (July 20, 2008). "Liberty Has Its Moment in History, if Not a Victory". The New York Times. Retrieved February 15, 2011.
- ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved March 30, 2020.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
US Open tennis TV Channel List
External links
- USTA official website
- US Open official website
- Billie Jean King National Tennis Center official webpage. USTA official website
- NEWS: Ashe & Armstrong Stadiums Archived October 1, 2015, at the Wayback Machine. May 25, 2008. USTA official website
- New York City Sports Commission webpage. NYC: The Official Guide website
Preceded by 1977
|
Home of the 1978 –
|
Succeeded by current venue |