Louis Armstrong Stadium

For the original venue, see Louis Armstrong Stadium (1978).

Louis Armstrong Stadium

Location	USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, Flushing, Queens, New York City
Owner	USTA
Capacity	14,053
Surface	DecoTurf
Construction
Opened	2018
Architect	Rossetti Architects
Tenants
US Open (USTA) (2018–present)

Louis Armstrong Stadium is a 14,000-seat tennis stadium at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, one of the venues of the US Open. It opened for the 2018 US Open as a replacement for the 1978 stadium of the same name.

Features

The stadium has a retractable roof, the largest of its kind among the No. 2 stadiums at Grand Slam venues. At the time of its opening it was the 13th largest tennis venue in the world (based on capacity). On each side of the stadium, there are façades covered with terra cotta louvers, optimally positioned to keep rain out and, at the same time, allow for natural ventilation. Designers say the terra cotta material contextually relates to the traditional brick buildings on the site while using the material in a new way.

History

The first official match was played on August 27th, 2018 between Simona Halep and Kaia Kanepi. Kanepi won in two sets, which was the first time a WTA No. 1 had ever lost in the first round of the US Open.

Provisional venue

For the 2017 tournament, while construction was still ongoing on the new Louis Armstrong Stadium, a temporary 8,800-seat stadium was built on the site of the demolished ticket office and East Gate entrance, on Parking Lot B, close to the boardwalk ramp to the subway and LIRR trains.