OPERATION Dog Show this year, several All Elite Wrestling events over the past three years, the Fortnite World Cup Finals in 2019, APP professional pickleball and a number of high school and college graduations and other ceremonies year-round. All of those non-tennis events we see as a wonderful opportunity to introduce new audiences to our grounds.” The biggest ever The heart of the entire site is Arthur Ashe Stadium. The venue was opened in 1997 and it adds to the list of top international locations in the United States. “Arthur Ashe Stadium is and has been the largest tennis stadium in the world since its construction, and there’s certainly no venue like it in America, or in tennis,” says Danny Zausner. “Having two stadiums at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center with retractable roofs, in Arthur Ashe Stadium and Louis Armstrong Stadium, not only keeps us at the forefront of innovation among worldwide sports and events – we welcomed 888,044 fans over the three weeks of the US Open in 2022 – but it’s opened a number of possibilities for us as a year-round home for major events outside of the tennis world, especially in a market that so many iconic venues call home.” The highest single-day attendance at the US Open was 72,065 – set in 2022. The tournament is played in August and September annually and requires upwards of 7,000 seasonal and fulltime employees every year to operate the event. The tournament has already written many stories and broken records: Since the beginning of the Open Era in 1968, Jimmy Connors, Pete Sampras and Roger Federer have been the most successful with five victories, Federer even won his five titles in a row. Connors achieved the feat of being the only player to win the US Open on three different surfaces. Nowadays, the games are played on a hard court made by Laykold, a leading surface for major events in the USA and Canada, with eight of the 15 most important hard court events in their portfolio. After more than 40 years, the tournament got the new surface in 2020. “The US Open is known for being the fastest hard-court tournament in professional tennis, with tournament organizers and players demanding precise pace on both practice and competition courts – 43 courts in total,” the supplier and installer explains. “Laykold was chosen by the United States Tennis Association to provide a new court surface for their biggest tournament because they trusted our quality, consistency and our ability to meet their grand slam needs.” Laykold surfaces are also used at Miami Open, Canadian Open (Toronto), Dallas Open, San Diego Open as well as the WTA Finals (ladies), among others. New roof in 2016 However, the change of the sports floor was not the only investment made by the operators. Since no open tennis stadium is immune to bad weather, the decision was made in 2013 to spend about 150 million US dollars (138 million euros) to install a retractable roof. The construction work was completed in 2016. “The retractable roof over Arthur Ashe Stadium is the largest retractable roof for a tennis stadium in the world,” says Zausner. “So large, in fact, that Wimbledon’s entire Centre Court would fit through the 62,500-square-foot opening. More than 6,500 tons of steel form the superstructure, which contains 1,700 structural beams and 115,000 bolts. A total of 176 steel and concrete-filled pilings, driven 180 feet below the surface, anchor the 24 steel columns that support the superstructure.” Louis Armstrong Stadium also features a retractable roof. But it holds another highlight, as Zausner explains: “Louis Armstrong Stadium is the world’s first naturally ventilated tennis stadium with a retractable roof, eliminating the need for air conditioning, even with the roof closed. Thousands of angled, 16-inch-long louvers make up much of the north and south walls of the stadium, creating massive, open ends behind both baselines. These terra cotta louvers act like giant window blinds, pulling a natural breeze into the stadium.” A “responsibility to the game” Similar to many other venues, the continuous improvement of the fan experience is also on Zausner’s agenda, even though the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center is already a very special ensemble. Zausner formulates his objectives as follows: “Year over year we continue to elevate our on-site experience to new and in many ways unprecedented levels, so that hopefully any attendee of the US Open is inspired to either pick up a racket for the first time or keep on playing that much more. The sport has seen tremendous growth in America over the last three years, to the tune of 5.9 million new and returning players.” Their “ultimate responsibility,” says Zausner, “is to ensure that number keeps on growing, and the more fans we can deliver an amazing experience to at the US Open only increases our ability to do that.” Zausner continues: “Above all we have a responsibility to the game of tennis and to the mission of the USTA, which is to grow and promote the game of tennis to new and diverse populations all across America. By continuing to make the US Open more successful through our facilities and the on-site experience, we also make tennis more successful and increase our ability to deliver on our mission.” 30 | SPORTS VENUES 2023/24 www.stadiaworld.com Picture: USTA
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