On This Day, 25 years ago: USTA dedicates Arthur Ashe Stadium 

When it comes to glitter and glamour, dazzling stars and bright lights, nothing on the planet comes close to those evenings when New York City comes alive. Twenty-five years ago tonight marked the tennis version, when the USTA officially dedicated Arthur Ashe Stadium—the biggest tennis stadium in the world, holding 23,000 seats.

By day, a trio of fine matches kicked things off quite nicely. The first-ever match inside Ashe Stadium saw Thailand’s Tamarine Tanasugarn defeat American Chanda Rubin, 6-4, 6-0. Next had been the US Open debut of 17-year-old Venus Williams, the promising teen fighting back to earn a 5-7, 6-0, 6-1 victory over Latvian Larisa Neiland. The day session finished with an All-American matchup, Davis Cup stalwart Todd Martin upsetting former world No. 1 Jim Courier, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.

Then came evening, the sparkling ceremony the culmination of a grand rebuilding effort that had commenced in 1993 and cost $254 million. On-court that evening: 38 past champions, as well as Ashe’s widow, Jeanne Moutassamy-Ashe, former New York City mayor David Dinkins, and USTA president Harry Marmion. “Arthur loved this city, “said Moutassamy-Ashe. “He won the US Open here. We met here. Our daughter has spent her life here.”

The gallery of tennis greats was dazzling. Among the notables: Don Budge, Stefanie Graf, Rod Laver, three players who’d all capped their calendar year Grand Slams (two for Laver) with victories in New York. Continue with the great rivals, Chrissie Evert and Martina Navratilova. Then there were such icons as Billie Jean King, Tracy Austin, John McEnroe, Monica Seles, Boris Becker and Stefan Edberg, as well as legendary Australians John Newcombe, Roy Emerson, and Fred Stolle—and many more.

As fireworks lit up the sky, Whitney Houston dedicated a song in Ashe’s memory—“One Moment in Time.” Said Houston, “This is incredible—an incredible evening of champions. Like Arthur, each of you had your moment in time. So tonight, I would like to dedicate this song to all of you.”

Ashe had died in 1993, packing into his 49 years an incredible set of moments. Inside the lines, in 1968 he’d won the US Open, becoming the first Black man to win a major. Fittingly, that victory had come in the first year of Open tennis, the start of the sport’s transformation from old school amateurism to contemporary Technicolor. Seven years later, Ashe earned a compelling singles triumph at Wimbledon. Those were just two highlights of a career that kept Ashe at the very top of the game for much of the ‘60s and ‘70s. Describing his approach to competition, Ashe said, “Always have the situation under control, even if losing. Never betray an inward sense of defeat.”

Beyond what Ashe did with his racquet, he addressed a wide range of social issues and causes, including a groundbreaking trip to South Africa in 1973 that aided the quest to end that nation’s oppressive system of apartheid. “From what we get,” said Ashe, “we can make a living; what we give, however, makes a life.”

This was the legacy all had come to honor. Addressing Ashe, Evert said, “I don’t think he’s the only player who transcended tennis, but what made him different was that certainly with him, it was never just about tennis. It was about people, about helping out.”

Following the ceremony, the tennis that evening also featured two superstars who between them by then had won the US Open six times—Seles and Pete Sampras. Each won their opening matches in straight sets, Seles over Kristi Boogert, Sampras beating Todd Larkham. Said Seles on participating in the ceremony and then competing soon after, “It’s one of those nights you maybe have ten moments like this in your tennis career.”

So it was that tennis honored a man who had accomplished great things on the tennis court—and even more off it. Ashe’s journey had been concurrently motivational and practical. As he once said, “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” The stadium named for Ashe endures as a beacon of what tennis can mean to the world.

Perhaps Marmion said it best, citing Ashe’s stature as a role model: ''He set the standard by which other athletes will be judged in the future.”