HIstory of the US tennis Open

The first US tennis event was held in August 1881 at the Newport Casino, Newport, Rhode Island. It was for men only. The championships were known as the US National Singles Championship for men.
Only clubs that were members of the United States National Lawn Tennis Association were permitted to enter.
In 1900, the US National Men's Doubles Championship was held for the first time. Tournaments were held in the east and the west of the country in order to determine the best two teams. These two teams would then compete in a play-off: the winner would play the defending champions in the challenge round.
Six years after the men's nationals were held, the first official US Women's National Singles Championship was held at the Philadelphia Cricket Club in 1887, followed by the US Women's National Doubles Championship in 1889.
The first US Mixed Doubles Championship was held alongside the Women's Singles and Doubles.
Only American amateurs could compete in all these preceding events.
The Open Era began in 1968 when all five events were merged into the newly named US Open at the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills, Queens. This 1968 combined tournament was opened to professionals.
That year, 96 men and 63 women entered the event with prize money amounting to $100,000. British tennis player, Virginia Wade won the first woman's US Open final, five months after she turned professional and Arthur Ashe won the first US men’s Open.
The US Open was originally played on grass until Forest Hills switched to hard courts in the mid '70s.
In 1978, the event moved from Forest Hills to its current home at Flushing Meadows.
The main court is located at the 23,000 seat Arthur Ashe Stadium, named after Arthur Ashe, the great African American tennis player who won the inaugural men's final of the U.S. Ashe died in 1993 of AIDS, which he contracted from a blood transfusion during heart surgery. Court Number 2 is Louis Armstrong Stadium, which stood as the main stadium until the completion of Ashe stadium.
The surfaces of all its courts are hard, so the US Open always provides tennis at a very high speed.

Why I like tennis

Why I like tennis
Tennis isn't always interesting and I've been wondering what makes for an exciting match.
Firstly though, my history with tennis, plays a part in my enjoyment of the game. Sports that I have never participated in are less interesting than those I have. Much of the male only sports like football (of all types) and cricket (though women do play this now) and motor sports, I have no interest in. Sports too which Australians don't play a lot of, are of no interest like baseball and curling. So, one's interest in a particular sport is much decided by what country you live in or even what region you live in.

Whether one likes sport at all is determined by many factors, probably most to do with the interests of one's parents. Although my father had a professional job as did I, he always maintained an interest in his beloved sport (AFL football rules). He never played that, but here in Melbourne, Australia if you don't barrack for an AFL team you are considered a bit of an oddity. Somewhat like in the USA if you don't follow a baseball team, I suppose.

My father also constantly made reference to a fit body and a fit mind. He maintained his fitness throughout his life by walking and playing golf. I haven't exactly followed suit in that regard because in the 60's when I went to university, women playing sport were considered to be weird or lesbian. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but in those days feminism hadn't exactly hit the scene in Australia.

So, from university on the only sport I played was social tennis, after having been involved all my high school years in swimming, hockey, tennis, gymnastics and softball. I knew the feeling of catching a softball at a crucial time. I loved my flat fast forehand in tennis. I loved the movement of the body. But now at a more advanced age, I don't play sport anymore and watch tennis and swimming instead. My partner, on the other hand, hates all sport. He went to one of those male only schools where, if you didn't play sport, you were a homosexual. He is very handy with a tennis racket however.

I started watching tennis on TV in 1978, so missed seeing the great Australian male tennis players. But it wasn't too late to see Evonne Goolagong, both on TV and in the flesh. She has been the only indigenous tennis player Australia has produced. She had such grace and I saw her at the Australian Open at Kooyong playing when she was 3 months pregnant with her first child.

I wasn't just interested in Australian players though, but then not as many countries were developing tennis. It's only in the last decade that people from Asian countries have played. Other new countries participating and doing very well now are Russia and all the countries in the Russian Federation or the independent countries after the breakup of the USSR. Spain and other countries in South America who are usually great clay courters, have now started to adapt to the grass courts and hard courts.

That brings me to the court surface. I generally don't like clay court games as much as grass. But grass has been deleted from the Australian tennis season now, using only hard courts or rebound ace. That's a pity in my view although let's hope Wimbledon will always stay on grass. It delivers the best kind of play, the serve volleyer, the best chance to win. Lleyton Hewitt was the first Australian player to change that kind of play. He is a baseliner and has been successful at that, so we in Australia are beginning to appreciate this kind of play more. I'll never forget the serve volleyers like Patrick Rafter (my all time favourite), Mark Philippoussis and Pat Cash though.

Why do I like tennis? It's a one on one game rather than a team game except for the Davis Cup. It is never the same game. It is like a game of chess. It requires fitness, practice and physical skills but at the top it requires a mental ability. The best players are mentally aware of where they are on the court and where the other player is. They are patient. They wait for the right shot to make a winner. They have good court sense. They fight for each point. And when they win they are exuberant. And when they lose they are very upset, whether they show it or not.

It's a passionate game. Every player can get better. There are records to be broken. There is enormous pressure. There are the chokers and those who cope better with the pressure. It is a psychological game and it therefore continues to be interesting. It isn't like barracking for a team. It is about appreciating great shots when they come. It's about appreciating athleticism and movement. And it is bathed in history.

History of tennis

Tennis wasn't always played in the open. It used to be played inside mansions by the aristocracy. About 1200 AD a game called 'Jeu de Paume' was played in Italy and France and continued during the middle ages. By the13th century it was being played in the United Kingdom. The racquets then allowed players to hit the ball faster so the French came to start calling out 'tenez', meaning 'hold' [the tennis racquet] to warn their opponents that they were going to hit the ball. This indoor game then developed to be called 'tennis' except in Britain where it was called 'real tennis'.



The first strung racquet is believed to have been introduced in the 15th century by an Italian : Antonio da Scalo.

'Real tennis' developed in Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries. Indoor courts were very costly to build so this game of tennis was still only being played by the aristocracy and royalty.

It is known that a Spaniard, JB Perera and Major Gem played outdoor tennis on the lawn of Perera's house in Birmingham in 1859. They later played at the Manor House Hotel in Leamington Spa. Dr Frederick Haynes and Dr Arthur Tompkins formed the first lawn tennis club called Leamington Club.

In 1874, a Major Wingfield patented the game of 'lawn tennis'. He called it 'sphairistike' and published a book of rules called 'New and Improved Court for Playing the Ancient Game of Tennis'. Major Gem had also founded the club in Leamington which he called 'lawn racquets' and it was played on a grass rectangular court. The game soon came to be known as lawn tennis and it now involved the middle classes.

Later the Marlybone Cricket Club changed the rules of tennis which had been created by Major Wingfield and Major Gem.

Tennis was first played at London's Princes Club in 1870.

In 1868 the All-England Croquet Club was founded and two years later it opened its doors at Worple Rd, Wimbledon. In 1875 the club agreed to allow the playing of tennis. The first standardized set of lawn tennis rules were drawn up within 2 months.

The first game of tennis in the USA was played by Dr James Dwight and FR Sears in 1874.
The first American Club was established at Staten Island by the end of 1875.

The All-England Croquet Club had changed its name in 1877 to incorporate the words 'lawn tennis'. By 1899 it was called the All-England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club.

In June 1877 the first World Amateur Championships were held at Wimbledon. The event was called the Championships in Lawn Tennis and it involved 21 players. The first winner was Spencer William Gore.

In 1881 the United States Lawn Tennis Association was founded and in that same year the first Championships were held at Newport, Rhode Island. This was just for men.

Women played their first championships at Wimbledon in 1884 and later in America in 1887.

Men's doubles began at Wimbledon in 1884, but the women's doubles and mixed tennis did not begin until 1913.

The first French Championships were held in 1891 but were only open to members of French clubs. The French did not introduce international tennis until 1925.

The Australian Championships began in 1905.

The International Tennis Federation was formed in 1913.

Seeding was first introduced in 1922 at the US Championships. Wimbledon followed suit two years later.

At first, the champion of the year before, only had to play one game. The others played what was called a 'knockout tournament' to decide who would be the challenger.

After this form of the tournament was changed to how it is today, we see a new lot of champions.

In 1938 the American Don Budge was the first man to win the Grand Slam, the winning of all four major championships in one calendar year.

Australia's Rod Laver achieved the same feat in 1962 and 1969.

As for the women, Maureen Connelly was the first to achieve the Grand Slam in 1953 and Margaret Court from Australia performed the same feat in 1970. Steffi Graf also did it in 1988.

Originally tennis tournaments were for amateurs only. By the 1950's and 60s however, professional tennis was being introduced and many players crossed over to these events.

Tennis became an 'open' event in 1968 which meant that the professional could play in the grand slams. Rod Laver from Australia won Wimbledon that year as a professional.

It is difficult to compare players of the amateur and professional eras because clearly it was only those who could afford it who could travel around the world as amateurs.

The tie-break was introduced in 1970.

Now, we know that lawn tennis, except for at Wimbledon, is a dying game. Most surfaces now are hard courts or clay. The Australians used to grow up on lawn courts and became servers and volleyers as a result. Now the best Australian player, Lleyton Hewitt plays from the back of the court.