U.S. Open (tennis)
The
United States Open tennis tournament, commonly referred to as the
U.S. Open (or as simply
the Open in the U.S. only), is the fourth and final event of the
Grand Slam tennis tournaments. It is held annually in August/September over a period of two weeks (the weeks prior to and following
Labor Day weekend). The main tournament consists of five championships: men's and women's singles, men's and women's doubles and mixed doubles, with additional tournaments for junior and wheelchair players. Since 1978, the tournament has been held at the
USTA National Tennis Center at
Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in the
New York City borough of
Queens.
The U.S. Open grew from an exclusive entertainment event for high society to a $17 million prize money championship (~$1 million for winner of the singles tournaments) for over 600 male and female professional players.
The U.S. Open originates from two separate tournaments: the men's tournament and the women's tournament. The event was first held in August 1881 and staged at the
Newport Casino,
Newport, Rhode Island (men's singles only). The championships were known as the
U.S. National Singles Championship for men. Only clubs that were members of the United States National Lawn Tennis Association were permitted to enter.
In 1900,
U.S. National Men's Doubles Championship was held for the first time. Tournaments were held in the east and the west of the country in order to determine the best two teams (sectional winners). These would then compete in a play-off - the winner would play the defending champions in the challenge round.
Six years after the men's nationals were held, the first official
U.S. Women's National Singles Championship was held at the
Philadelphia Cricket Club in 1887, followed by the
U.S. Women's National Doubles Championship in 1889. The first
U.S. Mixed Doubles Championship was held alongside the Women's Singles and Doubles.
The Open Era began in 1968 when all five events were merged into the newly named
U.S. Open at the
West Side Tennis Club in
Forest Hills, Queens. Notably, the 1968 combined tournament was opened to professionals; neither predecessor tournament allowed professionals to compete. That year, 96 men and 63 women entered the event with prize money amounting to $100,000. The US Open was originally played on
grass until Forest Hills switched to
hard courts in the mid '70s. In 1978, the event moved from Forest Hills to its current home at Flushing Meadows.
The main court is located at the 23,000-seat
Arthur Ashe Stadium, named after
Arthur Ashe, the great
African American tennis player who won the inaugural men's final of the U.S. Open in 1968. (British tennis great
Virginia Wade won the first woman's U.S. Open final, five months after she turned professional.) 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 surfaces of all its courts are hard, so the U.S. Open always provides tennis at a very high speed.
The US Open is also unique in that it is the only Grand Slam event where most of the courts are lit, 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, which used its influence to move the women's singles final to Saturday night to draw better television 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 not easier to see with the blue courts.
Men's record holders for most wins since 1925:*All competitions:
*Singles:
** before 1968:
Bill Larned (USA), 8.
** since 1968:
Jimmy Connors;
Pete Sampras (USA), 5.
*Consecutive singles titles:
** before 1968:
Richard Sears (USA), 7.
** since 1968:
John McEnroe (USA);
Ivan Lendl (CZE/USA), 3.
*Doubles:
Ladies' record holders for most wins since 1887:*All competitions:
*Singles:
** before 1968:
Molla Bjurstedt Mallory (USA), 8.
** since 1968:
Chris Evert (USA), 6.
*Consecutive singles titles:
** before 1968:
Molla Mallory;
Helen Jacobs (USA), 4.
** since 1968:
Chris Evert (USA), 4.
*Doubles:
Current Defending champions:*Men:
Roger Federer*Women:
Kim Clijsters(The U.S. Open prize money of the Series' winners gets doubled.)
* 2004:
** Men:
Lleyton Hewitt (AUS)
** Women:
Lindsay Davenport (USA)
* 2005:
** Men:
Andy Roddick (USA)
** Women:
Kim Clijsters (BEL)
* 2006:
** Men:
** Women:
*
Men's Singles *
Women's Singles*
Men's Doubles *
Women's Doubles *
Mixed Doubles*
List of tennis players*
Official Site*
Satellite image of the venue (Google Maps)
