The US Open

The US Open is one of the four Grand Slam tournaments and is competed on an annual basis at Flushing Meadows in New York.

Since moving to Flushing Meadows in 1978, the tennis has been played on a surface known as DecoTurf II, a hard court surface, and the color of the inner courts was changed to blue in 2005 as it is believed that this makes the ball more visible to players, umpires and, perhaps more importantly, the worldwide television audience. The outer courts remained green.

The US Open officially began in 1968 as an amalgamation of five different tournaments: the US National Championships, the US Women’s National Championships, the US Women’s National Doubles Championships, the US Men’s Doubles Championships and the US Mixed Doubles Championships.  All of these events are contested today under the banner of the US Open.

The US Open made another piece of history in 1970 when it became the first Grand Slam tournament to use a tiebreak at the end of a set, a tradition it maintains today as it is the only one of the Big Four that uses the tiebreak at the end of the fifth set instead of continuing with service games.

Held annually over a fortnight in August and September during the weeks that bracket Labor Day weekend, making it the last Grand Slam of the year, the tournament draws huge crowds to the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center at Flushing Meadows, Queens, New York, named after the legendary Californian tennis player who was one of the early stars of the competition.

The main court was opened in 1997 and seats over 22,000 people. Named after the winner of the inaugural tournament in 1968, the Arthur Ashe stadium hosts the semi finals, finals and opening matches featuring the top seeded players and local favourites. Opened in 1978 the next largest court is the Louis Armstrong Stadium, containing 5,500 seats followed by the adjoining Grandstand Stadium, there are three other courts boasting a capacity of over 1,000.

Fun Facts about the US Open

The total prize money for the 2010 US Open was a staggering $22.6 million. The winner of the men’s and women’s titles received $1.7 million apiece with the runners up receiving $850,000 each. Those players knocked out in the first round received $3,000.

When Arthur Ashe won the US Open in 1968 he was classed as an amateur due to his position as a lieutenant in the U.S Army and was not allowed to accept the $14,400 prize money, instead, he went home with his $20 per diem.

The youngest man ever to win the US Open was Pete Sampras, who, in 1990 won aged 19 years, 0 months and 28 days.

The youngest woman to win was Tracey Austin in 1979 at the tender age of 16 years, 8 months and 28 days.

The US Open trophy is made by Tiffany and Co.

The fastest serve recorded at the US Open was in 2004 when the USA’s Taylor Dent served at a massive 145mph.

The player who can boast the most overall US Open titles is Martina Navratilova, who won 16 titles over the course of her career: 4 singles titles, 9 doubles titles and 3 mixed doubles titles.

The most men’s titles won by a single player since the beginning of the Open era in 1968 is five, and three players have managed it: Jimmy Connors, Pete Sampras and Roger Federer.

The most consecutive US Open titles won by a single player are the five titles won by Roger Federer, winning in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008.

Chris Evert holds the record for the most women’s singles titles having won 6 times, and also holds the record for the most consecutive women’s titles having won in 1975, 1976, 1977 and 1978.