Changing Courts: The U.S. Open’s Many Surfaces

In the 129-year history of the U.S. Open, the event has been played on three different court surfaces. From its inception in 1881 until 1974, the tournament was played on grass. In 1975, the U.S. Open switched from green lawn to green clay (Har-Tru) after mounting player complaints about the ball’s bounce at Forest Hills. The clay-court run was short-lived, however. Just three years later, the U.S. Open moved from the West Side Tennis Club in Queens to the USTA’s National Tennis Center in nearby Flushing, N.Y. The brand new facility was built with hard courts (DecoTurf II), and the U.S. Open has been played on them ever since.