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Arthur Ashe Stadium, located at the United States Tennis Association National Tennis Center, in Flushing, Queens, New York City, New York, United States, is the main stadium of, and houses the main hard tennis court for, the United States Open, contested each in year in August as one of the sport's four Grand Slam tournaments.
Named for American Arthur Ashe, who claimed the United States Open men's singles title, defeating Dutchman Tom Okker in the final, of the tournament's inaugural iteration in 1968 and thereafter won the 1970 Australian Open men's singles—over Australian Dick Crealy—and the 1975 The Championships, Wimbledon men's singles—over countrymate Jimmy Connors—championships, the stadium and concomitant court replaced those of the Louis Armstrong Stadium, itself opened in 1977 as a replacement to the Singer Bowl, in 1997 as part of a Tennis Center expansion, offering a seating capacity more than double that of its predecessor—the stadium includes 22,547 individual seats and 90 luxury suites, as against the 10,000 individual suites of the Armstrong Stadium—expanded space for player locker rooms, and five restaurants.
Since its opening, Ashe Stadium has hosted the men's singles and women's singles championship during each Open contested; each of American Serena Williams, countrymate Venus Williams, Swiss Roger Federer, and Australian Patrick Rafter has won two titles on the court, and five players—each Williams, Swiss Martina Hingis, American Andre Agassi, and countrymate Pete Sampras—have each appeared in three singles finals on the court. During the 2006 Open, the Ashe and Armstrong courts will be equipped with Hawk-Eye technology so as to permit, for the first time in a Grand Slam tournament, instant replay; each player or team will be permitted two challenges per set—challenges resulting in the overturning of a call shall not count against the restriction—and one additional challenge during any tiebreak contested.
