In 1968, the first US Open champion, Arthur Ashe Jr. changed the face of tennis and was pivotal in an explosion of interest in the sport. Similarly, the dedication of Arthur Ashe Stadium on Aug. 25, 1997, honoring his influence on and off the court was the catalyst for the growth of the tournament itself.
Nineteen years after the US Open moved from Forest Hills at its home at the West Side Tennis Club to the newly-built National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, the tournament was no longer the staid event it had been. Constructed on land F. Scott Fitzgerald referred to as “the valley of ashes” in “The Great Gatsby,” the new stadium replaced Louis Armstrong as the tournament’s Center Court. It was built as part of a general grounds expansion helping to develop the tournament into the marquee event it has become.
On the tenth anniversary of the stadium’s dedication, former US Open champion John McEnroe (1979, 1980, 1981, 1984), now a commentator for CBS and USA Networks, considers Ashe, “the greatest ambassador we ever had” and says of the stadium’s impact, “I just feel like there’s a different vibe to the whole event.”
“This event has evolved into an unbelievably high-charged atmosphere,” says Creighton Kaslow. Twenty-seven years after starting as a teenage court attendant he is now a Tournament Manager/Guest Services at the Open. “It’s like we used to speak through soup cans and now [with Ashe] we’re high-speed internet – and we’re trying to go beyond that.”
Usher Russ Smith concurs. “It’s gotten a lot livelier, especially at night, says Smith, who has been working the tournament since it was played at Forest Hills. “They play music during breaks and people get up and dance. The USTA has done a great job getting the crowd into it and making it better for TV. It’s more of a ballpark atmosphere now as opposed to a traditional tennis crowd.”
Formerly, the National Tennis Center (rededicated as the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in 2006) featured 25 courts, but expanded to 45 (including show and practice). In addition, the total acreage of the Center was doubled to a total of 46.5.
The Stadium itself – the largest dedicated tennis facility in the world – has a seating capacity of 23,737, houses 90 luxury suites, five restaurants a two-level players lounge and player locker rooms that were newly designed for 2007. It is also the year-round home of the USTA administrative offices.
A unique aspect of the US Open tournament, now the top ranked, annual international sporting event in attendance with this year’s projected attendance at close to 700,000 people, is that it’s not just the players that return year after year. Many of the seasonal staffers are long-time workers – some of whom use vacation time from their regular jobs in order to participate.
Ballperson Kristin Ogden takes time off from her job in marketing to continue to participate in the event, having started working as a teenager. From her on-court vantage point, she too has seen a marked change.
“Ashe is a big stadium so there’s an electric energy. Ashe is cavernous in a way Louis Armstrong Stadium wasn’t, so it’s much more grand.
“There’s also a rowdiness to the crowd,” she continued, “that you only used to get late at night during Jimmy Connors matches. But, there’s a pride in New York associated with being loud and Ashe emulates that.”
Tracy Austin, who was the Women’s Champion in 1979 and 1981, noted some of the changes that have made the experience more exciting for the players, which ultimately helps continue to draw the world’s top men and women to the competition.
“For the players, just getting to the court is different,” she said. “We used to have to walk through the crowd. Now they walk out of the locker room and straight on to the court. It’s a good thing for the players, although it’s probably a bad thing for the fans. But, all the Grand Slams have gone to that now and for the players, obviously it makes it easier.
“In addition, the old court was a little more intimate, but this is New York. This is the US Open. Everything’s big. The night matches [in Ashe] at the US Open are what set the US Open apart. The Australian Open has night matches but they don’t have the same ‘this is the place to be’ feel.”
