US Open venue to undergo US$800 million transformation

NEW YORK – The site of the US Open will undergo a US$800 million (S$1.03 billion) transformation, the United States Tennis Association (USTA) said on May 19, with a “top-to-bottom” modernisation of the famed Arthur Ashe Stadium and a new player performance centre planned for the sprawling Queens campus.

Work at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Centre will be completed by the 2027 US Open, with construction taking place in phases to avoid interruptions to the 2025 or 2026 editions of the Grand Slam tournament.

The project will be entirely self-funded by the USTA, a non-profit organisation whose mandate is to develop tennis in America.

There would not be use of any public funds or taxpayer money, the sport’s national governing body said, calling it the largest single investment in US Open history.

“This project enables us to maintain the greatest stage in tennis – Arthur Ashe Stadium – which was constructed more than 25 years ago, and modernise it in a way that will set it up for the next 25 years,” USTA chief executive officer and executive director Lew Sherr said in a statement.

“It also provides us the opportunity to give the players that compete in that stadium an unparalleled space that will enable them to perform at their best and enjoy a higher level of luxury and comfort while they are off the court.”

The Arthur Ashe Stadium upgrades include the addition of a new “grand entrance” to the facility, 2,000 new seats to the courtside-level bowl and two new luxury suite levels. The stadium, by far the largest tennis facility in the world by capacity (currently 23,771), will also have upgraded concourses, dining and retail shops.

A two-storey, US$250 million player performance centre will include expanded indoor and outdoor fitness and warmup areas, improved indoor player dining facilities and redesigned locker rooms that promise a “spa-like experience”.

New York City owns the 18.6ha in the park that houses the Billie Jean King National Tennis Centre.

The city leases it to the USTA – just as it leases the land that the New York Yankees and New York Mets stadiums sit on to the teams’ owners.

The renovations are a far cry from the days when players could expect a keg of beer in the men’s locker room to be the best amenity on offer, four-time winner John McEnroe told reporters at a Manhattan event.

“Back in our day, we’d be like ‘What the hell is this’?” said 66-year-old McEnroe, a native New Yorker.

“To see the level that USTA is going to for the US Open... I know the players are going to be absolutely thrilled to see this.”

The announcement comes seven years after the USTA completed a five-year, US$600 million renovation project at the grounds.

The architect for the project is Rossetti, the same firm that originally designed Ashe, along with most of the other recent upgrades on the grounds.

Stacey Allaster, the tournament director, said that the new performance centre will help ensure that players are fit and able to perform at a high level for hundreds of thousands of spectators after a long season of competition.

“Happy players, happy fans,” she added.

Alongside Ashe, the 14,000-capacity Louis Armstrong Stadium opened in 2018 to replace the 1978 stadium of the same name, boasting a retractable roof.

The US Open welcomed more than one million fans, a record, in 2024. The tournament’s main draw has been expanded to last 15 days in 2025, with the added day allowing main-draw access for another 70,000 attendees or more, the organisers said. REUTERS, NYTIMES