Arthur Ashe Stadium Tickets

Arthur Ashe Stadium
Arthur Ashe Stadium is the main tennis stadium of the US Open. It is located within Flushing Meadows Park in Flushing, Queens, New York at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

The stadium is named after the famous the famous African American tennis player Arthur Robert Ashe, Jr. who lived from 10th July, 1943-6th February 1993.Born and rose in Richmond, Virginia, Arthur Robert Ashe, Jr. was a professional tennis player.

He got the opportunity to become the first black man to win a Grand Slam event in 1968. During his career, he won three Grand Slam titles. The name Arthur Ashe still lives on in the hearts and minds of many who remember him as one of the top tennis players and humanitarians in American history.

The stadium has hosted the fundraising event for breast cancer research, the first ever regular season professional basketball game, men or women, to be played outdoors when the WNBA Indiana Fever beat the host New York Liberty, 71-55, in July, 2008. The annual Arthur Ashe Kids Day also takes place here.

With a four-level structure, the Arthur Ashe Stadium is designed by Rossetti Associates Architects, the same Birmingham, Mich., firm that designed the stadium at the Tennis Center at Crandon Park in Miami, which is the home of the Nasdaq-100 Open and the USA Tennis High Performance offices.

Arthur Ashe Stadium features state-of-the-art broadcast and audio systems, 90 luxury suites, five restaurants, a two-level players' lounge, and individual seating for 22,547 fans.

It is so far, the largest outdoor tennis-only venue in the world. The Stadium, like the other 32 courts in the facility, has a Deco Turf cushioned acrylic surface.

The Arthur Ashe Stadium replaced Louis Armstrong Stadium as the primary venue for the tournament in 1997. Louis Armstrong stadium was the original centerpiece of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center until the expansion of the facility in 1997.

The increased concession stands, increased restroom facilities and individual seating are some of the most obvious differences between Arthur Ashe Stadium and its progenitor, Louis Armstrong Stadium.

The other subtle differences which are beneficial for the Arthur Ashe Stadium include, the loge box seating, which is almost 10 feet closer to the center of the court; two-fold increase in the number of entranceways for fans with upper-level seats and a 30-fold increase in seating availability for people in wheelchairs.

Not only for the audience, the stadium is quite beneficial for its players as well, as it is equipped with the Hawk-Eye electronic system which allows tennis players to challenge the umpire's decision on calls made throughout championships.

The color schemes for the courts were changed from green to electric blue inner courts and a light green outer court and now all US Open Series events use this color scheme. The change in court colors were to aid television viewers in tracking the ball since blue contrasts against the yellow tennis balls better.

The only criticism which the stadium has received so far is the lack of a retractable roof for inclement weather. Whereas, no provision for the addition of a roof was included in the facility"s original design, however, a lot of discussions have been taken place, concluding the possibility of adding one in the near future as the US Tennis Association has announced that it is about to open a new 60 million-dollar indoor facility on the grounds of the US Open tournament.

With the completion of the 12-court facility after three years of construction, the organization would be able to expand its existing tennis development programs and it is a major upgrade of prior indoor facilities.