USTA Officially Unveils Arthur Ashe Stadium’s New Roof

The days of Monday men’s singles finals at the US Open are a thing of the past. The United States Tennis Association held a public demonstration on Tuesday of the new $150 million roof opening and closing over Arthur Ashe Stadium, ensuring that the final Grand Slam of the year will finish on time.

Billie Jean King and Jeannine Ashe, the wife of the late Arthur Ashe, were in attendance and pushed the buttons to open and close the 270,400 square-foot roof. When rain delays do take place, it takes less than six minutes to close the structure. A cooling system then immediately kicks in to control the humidity and heat inside the stadium.

“We told you we were going to transform the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center and we were going to redefine spectacular,” said Gordon Smith, USTA Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer. “We told you the US Open deserved nothing less than the best tennis venue in the world and we knew that the most world class of cities deserved nothing less.”

Rain delays at the US Open resulted in the men’s singles final being pushed from Sunday to Monday for five consecutive years between 2008-2012.

The new roof is just part of the overall transformation of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. New additions for 2016 include a new 8,125-seat Grandstand and 10 rebuilt outer courts, while the 2018 US Open will have a new Louis Armstrong Stadium with a retractable roof.