Roof Planned for Home of U.S. Open

The United States Tennis Association (USTA) will reveal plans tomorrow for a retractable roof over the centre court at Arthur Ashe Stadium as part of a major overhaul of Flushing Meadows, the home of the U.S. Open.

In recent years, bad weather has caused chaos with the tournament’s schedule, and the last five men’s finals have had to be moved to Monday.

USTA have called a press congerence for Thursday, where the plans will be announced in full. As well as the new roof, two stadiums will be built at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Centre.

Only last year, the USTA ruled against a roof, citing logisitical issues. The Arthur Ashe stadium opened in 1997 and is the biggest tennis stadium in the world, housing 22,500 spectators. The stadium’s sheer size has posed the main obstacle to a roof in the past – the USTA previously stated a roof would be “technically complex and financially challenging”.

This year’s U.S. Open begins on 26 August, and the official final day falls on a Monday for the first time. This is unique amongst the four grand slam events, and the change has been criticised by the ATP, the men’s governing body.

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