Summer heat hung over Flushing Meadows on August 25, 1997, but anticipation cut through the haze. For the first time in US Open history, players and fans gathered not at the familiar Louis Armstrong Stadium but at a new arena: Arthur Ashe Stadium. Before the first ball was struck, the tournament paused to honor the man whose name now adorned tennis’s newest cathedral.
Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe, widow of the late Arthur Ashe, stood among an assembly of 38 former US Open champions. Whitney Houston then took the stage and delivered “One Moment in Time” to an audience of 23,000 in the world’s largest tennis stadium.
The dedication ceremony was both a tribute to Ashe’s legacy and the start of a new chapter for American tennis.
US Open’s search for a new home
The US Open had never missed a year since its inception in 1881, but its venues changed as the tournament grew. First played at the Newport Casino in Rhode Island, the event moved in 1915 to the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills, New York. A 14,000-seat Center Court was built there in 1924, but demand had outgrown its capacity by the late 1970s.
In 1978, the US Open left Forest Hills for the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows. Louis Armstrong Stadium became the main court, also with a 14,000-seat capacity. By the 1990s, player criticism of the Flushing Meadows environment, especially constant noise from planes overhead at nearby La Guardia Airport, prompted the United States Tennis Association to reconsider the tournament’s location. The USTA chose to renovate and expand the site rather than move the event.
Arthur Ashe Stadium became a key part of that transformation. The decision to name it after Ashe, the 1968 US Open champion and a pioneering figure in American tennis, was unanimous. Its 23,000-seat capacity honored history while addressing the tournament’s need for a bigger stage.
The first match and a new era for tennis
After the ceremonies, attention shifted to the court. Tamarine Tanasugarn won the first official match in Arthur Ashe Stadium, defeating Chanda Rubin 6-4, 6-0 in the opening round.
For Tanasugarn, the victory was a personal milestone. For the US Open, it was the first match at a venue built to host the sport’s biggest occasions.
Its scale and modern facilities immediately made Arthur Ashe Stadium the largest tennis venue in the world. The new center court gave the US Open a stage worthy of its status as a Grand Slam, drawing larger crowds and setting the scene for future champions.
Arthur Ashe Stadium changed the Flushing Meadows skyline and the tournament experience for players and fans. Roger Federer and Serena Williams were among the legends who added to its legacy in the years that followed.
Naming the stadium for Ashe reflected the tennis world’s respect for one of its greatest champions. On August 25, 1997, the US Open opened its new center court in his name.
