Dates
26 Aug - 9 Sep 2013 (25 Aug - 8 Sep 2014)
Venue
Flushing Meadows
Queens, New York, USA
Surface
Outdoor hard (DecoTurf)
Main stadiums
Arthur Ashe Stadium - 22,547 capacity
Louis Armstrong Stadium - 10,200 capacity
Official website
USOpen.org
Title holders
Men's singles
Rafael Nadal (ESP)
Men's doubles
Leander Paes (IND) / Radek Stepanek (CZE)
Women's singles
Serena Williams (USA)
Women's doubles
Andrea Hlavackova / Lucie Hradecka (CZE)
Mixed doubles
Andrea Hlavackova (CZE) / Max Mirnyi (BLR)
Boys' singles
Borna Coric (CRO)
Boys' doubles
Kamil Majchrzak (POL) / Martin Redlicki (USA)
Girls' singles
Ana Konjuh (CRO)
Girls' doubles
Barbora Krejcikova / Katerina Siniakova (CZE)
History
Early days
The first US National Singles Championships took place in 1881 for men only. Richard Sears won the first seven titles. In 1887, the women’s championships were introduced and at the turn of the Open Era in 1968, all five men’s and women’s singles and doubles events merged to become the US Open. It’s the second-oldest major sporting event in the USA, behind the Kentucky Derby, and the only Grand Slam tournament that has been played every year since its inception.
Location
The tournament has been held at nine different venues during its history. It was first staged at the Newport Casino in Rhode Island and the women’s at the Philadelphia Cricket Club. In 1915 it moved to Forest Hills, New York, which remained its permanent base until 1978 when Flushing Meadows became its present-day home.
Grounds
Arthur Ashe stadium, named after the African-American tennis player who won the inaugural US Open in 1968, is the largest tennis arena in the world, seating 23,500. The stadium is the focal point of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Centre in Flushing Meadows, which was renamed after the former player at an official night-time ceremony in 2006.
Surface
The US Open has been played on three different surfaces in its time: grass (1881-1974), clay (1975-1977) and hard court (1978 to present). DecoTurf is the surface used since 1978 and is known to produce a lower bounce compared to other hard courts. In 2005, all US Open and US Open Series tennis courts were unified in blue with a green outer court.
All-time greats - men
US Open men’s history belongs to Americans Richard Sears, Bill Larned, and Bill Tilden who won a record seven titles each between 1881 and 1929. Jimmy Connors and Pete Sampras won five, as did Roger Federer consecutively in 2004-2008.
All-time greats - women
American women have also had most success at their home Grand Slam. Chris Evert is the Open Era record-holder with six titles, one short of all-time great Helen Wills Moody who won seven in the 1920s/30s. Other recent American multiple-US Open winners are Billie Jean King, Tracy Austin, Martina Navratilova, Lindsay Davenport, and Serena and Venus Wiliams.
