Louis Armstrong Stadium is a 14,000-seat tennis stadium at the

USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center The USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center is a stadium complex within Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York City, United States. It has been the home of the US Open Grand Slam tennis tournament, played every year in August ...

in New York City, one of the venues of the US Open. It opened for the 2018 US Open as a replacement for the 1978 stadium of the same name. It is named after jazz musician

Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and Singing, vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and se ...

who lived nearby until his death in 1971.

Features

The stadium has a

retractable roof A retractable roof is a roof system designed to roll back the roof of a structure so that the interior of the facility is open to the outdoors. Retractable roofs are sometimes referred to as operable roofs or retractable skylights. The term op ...

, the largest of its kind among the No. 2 stadiums at

Grand Slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

venues. At the time of its opening it was the 13th largest tennis venue in the world (based on capacity). It is the first tennis stadium to have a roof and be naturally ventilated. Designers say the terra cotta material contextually relates to the traditional brick buildings on the site while using the material in a new way. The stadium has two levels: The lower bowl has 6,400 reserved seats, and the cantilevered upper bowl has over 7,000 unreserved seats.

History

Construction

The former Louis Armstrong Stadium was demolished following the 2016 US Open. For the 2017 tournament, while construction was still ongoing on the new stadium, a temporary 8,800-seat stadium was built on the site of the demolished ticket office and East Gate entrance, on Parking Lot B, close to the boardwalk ramp to the subway and LIRR trains.

Opening

The stadium was opened on August 22, 2018, when

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

and

Patrick McEnroe Patrick William McEnroe (born July 1, 1966) is an American former professional tennis player, broadcaster, and former captain of the United States Davis Cup team. Born in Manhasset, New York, he is John McEnroe's youngest brother. He won one ...

played an exhibition against James Blake and Michael Chang. The first official match was played during the US Open on August 27, 2018, between Simona Halep and

Kaia Kanepi Kaia Kanepi (; born 10 June 1985) is an Estonian professional tennis player. She achieved her career-high ranking of world No. 15 on 20 August 2012 and has won four singles titles on the WTA Tour. Described as a 'resident Grand Slam upset speci ...

. Kanepi won in two sets, which was the first time a WTA No. 1 had lost in the first round of the US Open.

References

{{Louis Armstrong 2018 establishments in New York City 21st century in Queens Flushing Meadows–Corona Park Louis Armstrong Retractable-roof stadiums in the United States Sports venues completed in 2018 Sports venues in Queens, New York Tennis venues in New York City Outdoor arenas US Open (tennis)