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| Sunset Over Ashe |
The USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center is the largest public tennis facility in the world. Operated by the USTA for the City of New York, the facility opened in 1978 when the USTA moved the US Open from the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills, NY. It is, most certainly, a “Tennis Welcome Center.” The USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center includes 33 outdoor courts – not including Arthur Ashe Stadium, Louis Armstrong Stadium or the Grandstand courts – and nine indoor courts, which are available for year-round use by the public. There are 22 field courts located within the gates of the tennis center, and 11 additional courts built by the USTA at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, which is adjacent to the main entrance. These 11 courts are run by the New York City Parks Department and are used as practice courts during the US Open.
Although the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center is best known as the home of the US Open, a number of other exciting events are held at the facility each year. Tournaments include the Women’s College Tennis Invitational (an ITA event), the Jana Hunsaker Memorial Eastern Wheelchair Championships (an ITF event), the USTA National Open Indoor Championships, the "Turn Back The Clock" (wood racquets only) tournament and a host of USTA Eastern sectional tournaments for juniors, adults and seniors.
The USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center professional staff also conducts community tennis programs, including USA Tennis 1-2-3, USA Team Tennis, and USA League Tennis (36 level-of-play teams). During the summer, there are three junior summer tennis camps which run concurrently and two popular weekend adult tennis camps. Components of USA Tennis High Performance training for elite junior players occur at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center as well. These include the USA Tennis Competition Training Center (CTC), for top ranking boys and girls in the 14s and 12s divisions of the USTA Eastern Metro Region and an ongoing USA Tennis High Performance “Pilot Program” for the top nationally ranked American players in the northeast.
The USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center is open to the public seven days a week, 11 months a year and closes only on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day.