10 Fun Facts about US Open Part - I

Posted by courtcouturetennis on January 16th, 2018

1. Arthur Ashe won the first U.S. Open as an amateur, and the main stadium at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center — the largest tennis-specific stadium in the world — is named after him. Virginia Wade won in women’s singles.

2. Men and women receive the same amount of prize money — a tradition that started in 1973. This designated tennis as the first sport to pay equal prize money for men and women.

3. The trophy is designed by Tiffany & Co.

4. In 1975, the U.S. Open became the first Grand Slam tourney to have night games.

5. A shot rang out during a game between John McEnroe and Eddie Dibbs’ match in 1977. The commotion in the crowd briefly stopped play, but the game quickly resumed, and McEnroe won the match (but not the tournament). It was later discovered that a fan had been shot in the leg by a stray bullet from outside the grounds.

6. Since 1978, matches have been on a hard-court surface covered with DecoTurf II.

7. In the other Grand Slam tournaments, there’s no tiebreaker like there is in the U.S. Open; opponents just play until one person has two more winning games.

8. Americans usually dominate the singles finals. U.S. male players have won 85 titles; male players from Australia have won 18; and male players from Great Britain and Switzerland have, respectively, won five. In women’s singles, the U.S. has won 93 titles; Australia six; and Belgium and Germany, respectively, five.

9. Venus and Serena Williams became the first sisters to meet in a U.S. Nationals/U.S. Open final in 2001.

10. The 2015 singles winners will each earn .3 million. Doubles winners (per team, men and women) will receive 0,000.

10 Fun Facts about Tennis at Wimbledon

Fact 1: Yellow tennis balls were used at Wimbledon for the first time in 1986.

Fact 2: The fastest server in the women’s tennis was done by Venus Williams who recorded a serve of 205 km/h.

Fact 3: Henry “Bunny” Austin was the first player to wear shorts at Wimbledon in 1932.

Fact 4: Every year, 24 tons of Kent strawberries are ordered for the Championships at Wimbledon.

Fact 5: Wimbledon is the only major tennis tournament still played on grass.

Fact 6: Margaret Smith Court holds the record with 24 Grand Slam singles titles.

Fact 7: The first women to play in the Wimbledon tournament wore full length dresses.

Fact 8: The game of tennis comes from Great Britain.

Fact 9: Venus and Serena Williams became the first set of sisters to ever win Olympic gold medals in tennis.

Fact 10: The first African American to win the US open was Arthur Ashe.