USTA Commenting On A Roof At The US Open

Written by: Staff on 27th August 2012

USTA Commenting On A Roof At The US Open

epa02900749 Fans line the top edge of Arthur Ashe (top R) Stadium to look down into Armstrong Stadium (L) to watch the Novak Djokovic of Serbia versus Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine fourth round match on the eighth day of the 2011 US Open Tennis Championship at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA 05 September 2011. The US Open runs through 11 September 2011. EPA/JUSTIN LANE |

Top USTA officials are saying that a roof is in the future of the US Open, even though recently they announced a series of improvements that will cost $500 million that did not include a roof for either Arthur Ashe Stadium or Louis Armstrong stadium.

“Technology has not quite gotten us there, but we are very encouraged by where we are going – so much so that we do believe that we will get there,” USTA COO Gordon Smith told USA Today “We are getting close.”

Smith added that while Ashe Stadium cannot support a heavy roof, he did say that parts of the upper deck could someday be replaced with light-weight materials that would make a roof feasible. “I cannot tell you when that will be,” Smith said. “I can’t tell you what it will cost, though it will clearly be over nine figures.”

There are plans to replace the 34-year-old Armstrong stadium sometime in the next six years and officials say that it will be roof ready.

USTA President Jon Vegosen added: “Nothing would please me more than to have a roof,” Vegosen said. “We are going to have one, one day,” he added. “I can’t tell you when.”

Smith also told the newspaper that the US Open would add a day of rest between the men’s semifinals and finals in 2013.

©Daily Tennis News Wire