Perhaps the most sweepingly beautiful change on the grounds of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in 2016 was the unveiling of the new Grandstand, located on the far end of the facility, attracting fans from the beginning to the end of the tournament.
The new Grandstand could not be more appealing. It is much larger than the old one and more modern in its own way. It swiftly became a substantial gathering place for aficionados in search of compelling matches in a different setting. I spent a considerable amount of time over there last year, and loved every minute of it.
But while the future is now on the new Grandstand, those of us who have attended every US Open held at Flushing Meadows since the first one in 1978 are somewhat wistful about losing the old Grandstand. The intimacy of that court was unmatched in my view by any other setting at a major tennis tournament.
As you watched matches featuring all of the top players on that court, the noises of Louis Armstrong Stadium would carry over into the neighboring Grandstand, adding to the drama and flavor of the proceedings, making the atmospherics extraordinary.
There were a good many grippingly consequential contests played on the old Grandstand. I watched a lot of them. In 1979, Chrissie Evert and Evonne Goolagong collided in a quarterfinal that the American won in straight sets, but considering that they had met in the finals of the Open in 1975 and 1976 at Forest Hills, this confrontation felt like a title round meeting.
Two years later, New Yorker Vitas Gerulaitis ousted Ivan Lendl – who reached every final from 1982-89 – in a five-set classic. 1978 US Open finalist Pam Shriver took on the swiftly ascending Steffi Graf in 1985 and all three sets went to tiebreaks before the German prevailed.
There were more outstanding Grandstand moments. As a 16-year-old, Tracy Austin took on countrywoman Kathy Jordan in a 1979 round of 16 dandy, escaping in a final set tie-break. She went on to defeat Evert to capture the title.
I could mention a bundle of others. But not to be left off the list was Donald Young's victory over the Serbian Viktor Troicki in 2015. It was the last singles match ever played on the old Grandstand, and Young made a spectacular comeback.
After losing a hard fought first set, Young was beaten 6-0 in the second set, and so he trailed two sets to love. Young sought treatment from the trainer and then managed to squeeze out the third set in a tiebreak.
Spurred on by a vociferous crowd, the left-handed American swept through the last two sets to win 4-6, 0-6, 7-6 (3), 6-2, 6-4. Coming into that US Open he had a 0-17 career record when trailing two sets to love but he climbed back to cut down No. 11 seed Gilles Simon in the first round before coming through with a four set win in the second round.
Remarkably, he did it again from two sets down against Troicki and the Grandstand fans were more than appreciative; they were euphoric.
Young explained his impressive comeback this way: "Even though I lost 6-0 in the second set, I had some game points. I felt I still had more to give. Even if it wasn't enough I would have been satisfied because I was out there competing my butt off."
Young bowed out in the round of 16, dropping a four set clash with Stan Wawrinka. That was back in Arthur Ashe Stadium. Losing hurt, as it always does, and always will.
But Young could be proud that he had closed the curtain on the old Grandstand in style, with a five set triumph from two sets down, with grit and gumption, and ultimately with brio.
