When Arthur Ashe Stadium opened its gates in 1997, it simultaneously opened a new era for the US Open. The arena, named for one of tennis’ all-time champions and grandest ambassadors, quickly established itself as the game’s greatest stage; a spectacular centerpiece for an event whose global appeal had spurred its remarkable growth. With its 23,000-plus seats, Arthur Ashe Stadium allowed more fans the chance to witness first-hand the tournament’s singular sizzle, while simultaneously affording the game’s greatest talents a fitting floorboard upon which to showcase their incredible talents. Like its host city, Arthur Ashe Stadium is unapologetically large and loud; the electricity generated within its high walls creating a wave of energy that has come to define the US Open as an event unlike any other. It is as iconic as the man for whom it is named.
In the 25 years since Arthur Ashe Stadium opened, this grand arena has hosted countless memorable moments—many of them integral pieces in constructing the US Open’s global reputation as one of the world’s most spectacular sporting events. So many great matches; so much incomparable drama; so much unforgettable magic.
Throughout the summer leading up to the 2022 US Open, USOpen.org will recount 25 of the most memorable moments from these 25 years of Arthur Ashe Stadium. Some obvious; others, less so; every one of them helped establish this unequaled arena as our game’s greatest stage.
Moment No. 18 is not just about Arthur Ashe Stadium, but the land it calls home. In 2006, the then-USTA National Tennis Center was renamed in honor of one of the game's, and life's, greatest champions: Billie Jean King.
She has always had poor eyesight and remarkable vision. She knew, even as a child, where life’s journey would take her—that greatness would be the ultimate destination and that she was perfectly capable of driving herself there. She understood, from the start, that she was different, and she knew that she wanted to make a difference. Fiercely determined, highly competitive and supremely talented, she surely would have succeeded in any pursuit—tennis just happened to be the vehicle she chose to drive through walls.
From the first time Billie Jean King set foot on the public courts of Long Beach, Calif., she knew that she wanted to be the No. 1 player in the world. From that day to this day, she has never lowered that bar of expectation.
King, of course, became the world’s No. 1, a position she held six times between 1966 and 1974. She captured a total of 67 singles titles, including 12 Slam singles crowns. Her 20 Wimbledon titles is a record. At the US Open, she won a total of 13 titles in singles, doubles and mixed doubles.
But for King, earning the top spot in this sport was not an end but a beginning—a starting point from which to push off in pursuit of larger and more meaningful goals. “It was important for me to get to No.1,” King said. “Because I knew if I wasn’t No. 1, no one would listen to me.”
And there was so much to say.
King used her status as a champion to champion those causes in which she believed. Inside the lines and out, the causes have been many, but one theme has remained constant: Nothing is fair if it’s not fair for all. Life, like sport, is much more fun and fair on a level field of play.
For all she has done, King likely will be best remembered for a straight-sets win over a 55-year-old man in a made-for-TV exhibition. Her victory over Bobby Riggs in 1973’s “Battle of the Sexes” proved a watershed moment for a sport and a society, suggesting that “woman” and “athlete” might not be mutually exclusive terms after all, and that woman in all walks of life ought not to be satisfied with a seat on the sidelines when there were so many big stages to be shared with the other half of the population.
King never wanted to be labeled, and yet she has. Champion. Pioneer. Crusader. Irresistible force. Icon.
In 1997, the USTA named its new centerpiece stadium after another legend who likewise fit all of those descriptions—Arthur Ashe. And so in 2006, when it came time to put a name on the entire 46.5 acres that is home not only to Arthur Ashe Stadium but also to the dozens of other courts and amenities that define it as the world’s largest public tennis facility, the choice was an obvious one.
The USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center is, of course, home to the US Open. But more, as a public park facility, it hosts every level of play—and player—for the 49 weeks of the year that it’s not hosting the game’s greatest. Attaching King’s name to this place was an altogether fitting honor for the pioneer who started her long journey to greatness on the public park courts of Southern California.
“This is a show of faith and respect,’’ King told The New York Times in 2006. “And with it a sense of responsibility. I don’t think I’ll ever comprehend this. Arthur and I are now side by side, and we’re both public-park kids. We were born the same year, and we fought for human rights.”
Indeed, there are any number of champions in sport who have achieved great success, but only a select few have used that success to truly make a difference. Billie Jean King has done just that.
“No one changes the world who isn’t obsessed,’ she said.
