NEW YORK: The site of the US Open will undergo an $800 million transformation, the USTA said on Monday, with a “top-to-bottom” modernisation of the famed Arthur Ashe Stadium and a new player performance center planned for the sprawling Queens campus.

Work at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center will be completed by the 2027 US Open, with construction taking place in phases to avoid any interruption of the 2025 or 2026 editions of the tournament.

The project will be entirely self-funded by the USTA, without the use of any public funds or taxpayer money, the sport’s national governing body said, calling it the largest single investment in US Open history.

“This project enables us to maintain the greatest stage in tennis — Arthur Ashe Stadium — which was constructed more than 25 years ago, and modernise it in a way that will set it up for the next 25 years,” USTA CEO and Executive Director Lew Sherr said in a statement.

“It also provides us the opportunity to give the players that compete in that stadium an unparalleled space that will enable them to perform at their best and enjoy a higher level of luxury and comfort while they are off the court.”

The Arthur Ashe Stadium upgrades include the addition of a new “grand entrance” to the facility, 2,000 new seats to the courtside level bowl and two new luxury suite levels.

The stadium, by far the largest tennis facility in the world by capacity, will also have upgraded concourses, dining and retail shops.

A two-story, $250 million player performance center will include expanded indoor and outdoor fitness and warm-up areas, improved indoor player dining facilities and redesigned locker rooms that promise a “spa-like experience”.

The renovations are a far cry from the days when players could expect a keg of beer in the men’s locker room to be the best amenity on offer, four-times winner John McEnroe told reporters at a Manhattan event.

“Back in our day, we’d be like ‘What the hell is this?’,” said 66-year-old McEnroe, a native New Yorker and the last man to win a major with a wooden racket. “To see the level that USTA is going to for the US Open ... I know the players are going to be absolutely thrilled to see this.”

The announcement comes seven years after the USTA completed a five-year, $600 million renovation project at the grounds.

The more than 14,000-capacity Louis Armstrong Stadium opened in 2018 to replace the 1978 stadium of the same name, boasting a retractable roof.

The US Open welcomed more than one million fans, a record, in 2024. The tournament’s main draw was expanded to last 15 days in 2025, with the added day allowing main draw access for another 70,000 attendees or more, organisers said.

Published in Dawn, May 21st, 2025