Each year, the cacophony of sounds heard around the grounds during the three weeks of the US Open perfectly capture the hustle and bustle of the city that never sleeps: the singular ping! of a tennis ball hitting the sweet spot; the vroom! of cars speeding down on the Grand Central Parkway, just beyond the confines of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center (and the horns that blare when that traffic’s doing anything but moving); the unmistakable roar of 23,000 fans inside Arthur Ashe Stadium—the one that shakes you to your very core—when a highlight-reel winner just kisses the line.
But if your ears were finely attuned at this year’s US Open, you no doubt heard a new sound: the voice of Blair Henley.
Henley, a Floridian by birth who now lives in Texas, has been a fixture in the tennis media landscape over the last decade-plus—first, as a writer and editor, and now, as an on-camera host and emcee. But in her ninth year working the US Open, she tried something new: She stepped inside the sky-high announcer’s booth in inside Arthur Ashe Stadium and served as the colloquial “voice-of-god” on the Open’s biggest court for the first time. Having previously been the announcer on Louis Armstrong Stadium, Grandstand and Court 17 in her US Open career, Henley shared the microphone in the big house this year with Andy Taylor—the voice of the tournament for two decades.
Henley called Taylor a “legend” and “incredibly encouraging,” as well as someone who’s always willing to lend an ear and give feedback. Before her debut, he welcomed her into the booth for a trial run, or as a fly-on-the-wall whenever she wanted to be.
"Andy is that warm, familiar, auditory hug that envelops tennis fans when they walk through the gates of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center and into Arthur Ashe Stadium,” Henley said. “My hope is that my voice was able to complement his, and serve as a reminder of how diverse the tennis community is.
“We always talk about the value of hearing from different voices, and this was a very literal interpretation of that concept.”
“When people think of a stadium voice, they often think of something big and booming. As a result, voice-of-god work is an area of sports presentation that is still primarily male. As with anyone who is ‘first,’ I wanted to do the position justice."
Henley’s star turn began on the first night of the tournament, and will end Saturday with the women’s singles final between Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka. While the responsibilities of the Ashe announcer can seem straightforward on the surface—introducing players as they walk on the court, detailing their career resumes (from bios that Henley said she wrote and researched herself each day), and reading in-match promotions—they also include narrating special celebrations held in conjunction with the day’s on-court action. For Henley, this meant hearing her voice not just in stadium, but on the world feed broadcast, when US Open held its Opening Night ceremony commemorating a half-century of equal prize money for men and women tennis players at the tournament.
“This job is all about energy management and timing—when to be big, when to pull back, when to give facts,” Henley said. “But on a night where we celebrated 50 years of equal prize money at the US Open, with appearances by trailblazers like Billie Jean and Michelle Obama, it certainly added to what was already a pretty high adrenaline level.
“When you’re on camera, there’s room for some humanity—even imperfections—in your delivery. That’s not the case with voice-of-god work, so there was some extra pressure knowing that my voice was going to lead a ceremony in the largest tennis stadium in the world on a broadcast that goes out to countries around the world."
Making her debut on the Open’s biggest stage for an iconic celebration of an iconic champion in King—and a game-changing moment in tennis history—was something she described as “an incredible honor.”
But it was also incredibly fitting, because Henley is changing the game, too.
“When people think of a stadium voice, they often think of something big and booming,” Henley said. “As a result, voice-of-god work is an area of sports presentation that is still primarily male. As with anyone who is ‘first,’ I wanted to do the position justice. I’m humbled that US Open Tournament Director Stacey Allaster and Michael Fiur, the US Open’s executive producer for entertainment, trusted me in this role.”
A popular figure around the tennis tour for her effervescent kindness and warm personality, Henley’s debut has been met with rave reviews from fans and colleagues alike—plus a Grand Slam champion, too. During one of Henley’s evening sessions, 2022 US Open women’s doubles champion Barbora Krejcikova, with whom Henley built up a rapport when the season-ending WTA Finals were held in her hometown of Fort Worth, Texas last year, stopped by to see how the sausage is made.
Much like a professional tennis player, Henley knows her style might appeal to some fans more than others, but she’s committed to—in athlete speak—"putting in the work.”
“When you hear this job done well, it adds to the whole spectacle of what events like the US Open are supposed to be,” she said. “But, as a fan, you also know when it’s not done well, so trying to find the right balance is key. Ultimately, getting your reps in, and having people who support you, root for you, and are willing to give you constructive feedback, are integral in doing that.
“I’ve been blessed to have all of those things. I’ve learned a lot already this year, but there’s still so much more I can learn, which is exciting.”
