USTA_Billie_Jean_King_National_Tennis_Center_(48613535076)

The USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center is a stadium complex within

Flushing Meadows–Corona Park Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, often referred to as Flushing Meadows Park, or simply Flushing Meadows, is a public park in the northern part of Queens, New York City. It is bounded by I-678 (Van Wyck Expressway) on the east, Grand Central Pa ...

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, United States. It has been the home of the US Open Grand Slam

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball cov ...

tournament, played every year in August and September, since 1978 and is operated by the United States Tennis Association (USTA).History of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center at Flushing Meadows
/ref> The facility has 22

courts A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accorda ...

inside its and 12 in the adjoining park. The complex's three stadiums are among the largest tennis stadiums in the world;

Arthur Ashe Stadium Arthur Ashe Stadium is a tennis stadium at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York City. Part of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, it is the main stadium of the US Open tennis tournament and has a capacity of 23,771, ...

tops the global list with a listed capacity of 23,200. When the facility was built in 1978, all 33 courts used the

DecoTurf DecoTurf is a brand of tennis hardcourt constructed from layers of acrylic resin, rubber, silica, and other materials on top of an asphalt or concrete base. It is manufactured by the sports surfaces division of California Products Corporation ...

cushioned acrylic surface, as did Court 17, added in 2011. However, in 2020, the court surfaces were replaced with Laykold. Near

Citi Field Citi Field is a baseball stadium located in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in New York City, United States. It opened in 2009 and is the home field of Major League Baseball's New York Mets. The stadium was built as a replacement for the adjacent ...

(home of the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major lea ...

) 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.About The USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center
. National Tennis Center official webpage. USTA official website. Retrieved February 15, 2011. Formerly called the USTA National Tennis Center, the facility was rededicated for

Billie Jean King Billie Jean King (née Moffitt; born November 22, 1943) is an American former World number 1 ranked female tennis players, world No. 1 tennis player. King won 39 Grand Slam (tennis)#Tournaments, major titles: 12 in singles, 16 in women's double ...

on August 28, 2006.

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. After rumors of a possible move to San Diego, a major upgrade and expansion began in March 1995. More land was committed to the USTA National Tennis Center, and in August 1997 the newly built

replaced Louis Armstrong Stadium as the main court. The four-year expansion was completed in 1999. Arthur Ashe Stadium holds more than 22,000 spectators while Louis Armstrong Stadium was downsized to hold just 10,000 spectators (the original size was 18,000). In 2006, at the location of the old indoor tennis building near the East Gate, work began on a 245,000-square-foot, multi-purpose tennis pavilion. The new facility was completed in 2008 and includes 12 courts, classrooms, fitness facilities, and a pro shop. It also includes a hospitality center, museum, and food commissary. Other renovations included the players’ lounge,

locker rooms A changing-room, locker-room, (usually in a sports, theater, or staff context) or changeroom (regional use) is a room or area designated for changing one's clothes. Changing-rooms are provided in a semi-public situation to enable people to ch ...

, and medical, training and office space. 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

Hawk-Eye Hawk-Eye is a computer vision system used in numerous sports such as cricket, tennis, Gaelic football, badminton, hurling, rugby union, association football and volleyball, to visually track the trajectory of the ball and display a profile of ...

electronic line-calling capability which allows for player challenges. In constructing the new court, foundations from the

1939 This year also marks the start of the Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Third Reich *** Jews are forbidden to ...

and 1964

World's Fair A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition or an expo, is a large international exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specif ...

were discovered, and the water table was found to be several feet higher than expected. Because the playing surface of Court 17 is below ground level, the new court has received the nickname of "The Pit". 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 2017 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.

Main courts

Other uses

In July 2008, the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center and

hosted its first non-tennis event, when the

New York Liberty The New York Liberty are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Liberty compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as part of the league's Eastern Conference. The team was ...

of the

Women's National Basketball Association The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is an American professional basketball league. It is composed of twelve teams, all based in the United States. The league was founded on April 22, 1996, as the women's counterpart to the Nati ...

(WNBA) played in the "

Liberty Outdoor Classic The Liberty Outdoor Classic was the first regular-season professional basketball game played outdoors. It was played between the Indiana Fever and New York Liberty of the Women's National Basketball Association on July 19, 2008, as part of the 200 ...

: 2008". The game itself was the first

professional basketball In professional sports, as opposed to amateur sports, participants receive payment for their performance. Professionalism in sport has come to the fore through a combination of developments. Mass media and increased leisure have brought lar ...

regular season game played outdoors in the USA, by either men or women. The contest featured the

Indiana Fever The Indiana Fever are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis, playing in the Eastern Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded before the 2000 season began. The team is owned ...

defeating the

. 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 The New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) is the governing body of interscholastic sports for most public schools in New York (state), New York outside New York City.http://www.nysphsaa.org/ ''nysphsaa.org'', accessed ...

(NYSPHSAA). In March 2020, due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, the city proposed building a temporary 350-bed

field hospital A field hospital is a temporary hospital or mobile medical unit that takes care of casualties on-site before they can be safely transported to more permanent facilities. This term was initially used in military medicine (such as the Mobile Ar ...

in the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center to treat overflow patients from area hospitals. It opened on April 10 and was later described by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' 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.

References

US Open tennis TV Channel List

History

Main courts

Other uses

See also

References

External links