98 Fun Facts About US Open

The US Open tennis championships are played in which New York City borough?

Queens: the tournament grounds sit in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, Queens, next to Citi Field and the old World's Fair site.

Where does the US Open fall in the calendar of the four tennis Grand Slams?

It is the fourth and last Grand Slam of the season, following the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon each late August into September.

Since 1978 the US Open tennis has been played on which surface?

Acrylic hard courts arrived with the 1978 move to Flushing Meadows; the original DecoTurf surface was replaced by Laykold, another acrylic system, in 2020.

Between 1975 and 1977 the tennis championships were played on which surface?

Clay (green Har-Tru) was used from 1975 to 1977 after complaints about uneven bounces on the old grass; floodlit night play arrived in the same 1975 switch.

Which man is the only player to have won US Open singles titles on all three surfaces the event has used?

Jimmy Connors, whose first title came in 1974 and last in 1983, is the only man to win the championship on each of the three playing surfaces the event has used.

The first US National Championships in 1881 were held at the Newport Casino, which is now home to what?

The Newport Casino has housed the International Tennis Hall of Fame since its founding in 1954; Richard Sears won that first 1881 event and six more in a row.

In 2006 the US Open tennis venue was renamed after which four-time singles champion?

Billie Jean King, singles champion in 1967, 1971, 1972 and 1974, had the USTA National Tennis Center renamed for her in August 2006.

The main tennis stadium is named after which player, who won the first US Open of the Open Era in 1968?

Arthur Ashe won the first Open-era title in 1968 while still an amateur and a U.S. Army lieutenant; the stadium that opened in 1997 carries his name.

With 23,771 seats, the main show court at Flushing Meadows holds what distinction?

With 23,771 seats it is the largest tennis stadium in the world; Wimbledon's Centre Court and Roland Garros's Court Philippe-Chatrier each hold roughly fifteen thousand.

In what year did the main tennis stadium get its retractable roof?

The retractable roof was finished for the 2016 tournament after five straight rain-delayed men's finals between 2008 and 2012 made the case for it.

Which is the second-largest show court at the tennis US Open?

Louis Armstrong Stadium, rebuilt with about fourteen thousand seats and reopened in 2018, is second only to the main stadium; its upper tier is general admission.

What is the US Open's Court 17 nicknamed, partly because its surface is sunk eight feet into the ground?

Court 17 earned the nickname The Pit because its playing surface sits below ground level; it opened with temporary seating in 2011 and holds about 2,800, all general admission.

Since 2005, what colour has the playing area inside the lines been painted?

It is trademarked as 'US Open Blue' and was chosen to make the ball easier to see; outside the lines stays green.

In 1970 the US Open became the first Grand Slam to use what to settle sets that reached 6–6?

The tiebreak debuted at the 1970 US Open as a sudden-death best-of-nine-points game; the familiar 12-point version replaced it from 1975.

In 1973 the US Open became the first Grand Slam to do what?

John Newcombe and Margaret Court each collected $25,000 that year.

In 2006 the tennis US Open became the first Grand Slam to use which system for line-call challenges?

Hawk-Eye challenges debuted at the 2006 US Open, the first Slam to use them, after the 2004 Serena Williams–Jennifer Capriati quarter-final was marred by bad line calls.

In 2018 the tennis US Open was the first Grand Slam to introduce what?

A 25-second serve clock between points was introduced in the 2018 main draw to speed play, after trials in the 2017 qualifying rounds.

What was 'Super Saturday' at the tennis US Open?

From 1984 the women's final was played between the two men's semi-finals; players hated the lack of rest, and from 2001 the women's final moved to a Saturday night slot.

The tennis US Open is the only Grand Slam that has been what?

Neither world war nor the pandemic stopped it; the 2020 edition simply went ahead without spectators.

Why was the 2020 tennis US Open played without spectators?

The COVID-19 pandemic kept fans out in 2020; the Cincinnati Masters was moved to New York as well so both events could run inside one bio-secure bubble.

The 2025 tennis US Open's total prize money of $90 million made it what?

At $90 million the 2025 purse was the biggest of any Grand Slam to that point, with each singles champion collecting $5 million.

The middle weekend of the tennis US Open coincides with which American holiday?

Labor Day, the first Monday in September, lands on the middle weekend because the main draw begins in the last week of August and runs a fortnight.

Which woman won a joint-record six US Open singles titles between 1975 and 1982?

Chris Evert won in 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1980 and 1982; Serena Williams later matched her six singles titles.

Serena Williams won her first Grand Slam singles title at the US Open in which year?

In 1999, aged 17, Serena Williams beat world number one Martina Hingis in the final for her first major title.

In which year did Serena Williams play her final professional match, at the US Open?

Serena Williams's last professional match was a third-round loss to Ajla Tomljanović at the 2022 US Open, after she called the decision an 'evolution' away from tennis.

Through 2025, which three men shared the Open Era record of five US Open singles titles?

Connors, Sampras and Federer each won five times; Federer's came in a row from 2004 to 2008, and through 2025 no other man had more than four Open Era titles.

Who ended Roger Federer's five-year reign by beating him in the 2009 men's final?

Juan Martín del Potro, then 20, beat Rafael Nadal in the semi-final and Roger Federer in five sets in the 2009 final; it was his only Grand Slam title.

Who became the youngest men's champion in 1990, aged 19?

Pete Sampras took the 1990 title at 19 years and 28 days, the youngest men's champion of the Open Era, beating Ivan Lendl and John McEnroe on the way.

Whom did Sampras beat in the 2002 final to win his 14th and last major before retiring?

It was their 34th and final meeting; Sampras never played another tour match.

Which American won the 2003 men's singles title, his only Grand Slam?

Andy Roddick beat Juan Carlos Ferrero in the 2003 final; he went on to lose four more major finals, every one of them to Roger Federer.

In 2018 which player beat Serena Williams in a stormy final to win her first major?

The final was overshadowed by Williams' row with umpire Carlos Ramos, and Osaka was in tears at the presentation.

Which British teen was the first qualifier to win an Open Era Grand Slam singles title, in 2021?

Emma Raducanu, 18, came through qualifying and won ten matches without dropping a set, beating Leylah Fernandez in the 2021 final.

Which Spaniard won his first Grand Slam title at the 2022 US Open, aged 19?

Carlos Alcaraz beat Casper Ruud in that final, and the title made him, at 19, the youngest men's world number one in ATP history.

Which American teenager won the 2023 women's singles title?

Coco Gauff, 19, came from a set down in the 2023 final and added the 2025 French Open two years later.

Which Belarusian won the women's title in 2024 and successfully defended it in 2025?

Aryna Sabalenka beat Jessica Pegula in the 2024 final and Amanda Anisimova in 2025, the first woman to defend the title since Serena Williams in 2014.

Who reached all four men's major finals in 2025 but lost the US Open final?

Jannik Sinner won the 2025 Australian Open and Wimbledon but lost the French Open final in five sets and the US Open final in four.

Which body stages the U.S. Open golf championship?

The USGA also runs the U.S. Women's Open, the U.S. Amateur and the sport's rules in America.

The U.S. Open golf is scheduled to finish on which holiday?

Father's Day, the third Sunday in June, is the scheduled final round, and the winner-with-family scenes on the 18th green have become part of the tradition.

The first tennis championships (1881) and first golf U.S. Open (1895) were held in Newport, in which state?

Rhode Island hosted both: the tennis at the Newport Casino and the 1895 golf at Newport Country Club, then a nine-hole course.

How was the first U.S. Open golf championship of 1895 played?

It was 36 holes in a single day, four laps of the nine-hole Newport course; ten professionals and one amateur entered, and winner Horace Rawlins collected $150 plus a gold medal.

Which 20-year-old amateur beat Harry Vardon and Ted Ray in a playoff to win the 1913 U.S. Open?

Francis Ouimet grew up across the street from The Country Club in Brookline; his playoff win over Vardon and Ray is often called the birth of American golf.

Which of these golfers won a record-equalling four U.S. Opens?

Jack Nicklaus won in 1962, 1967, 1972 and 1980, and played 44 consecutive U.S. Opens from 1957 to 2000.

Who is the only golfer to win three consecutive U.S. Opens, from 1903 to 1905?

Willie Anderson, a Scottish-born professional, won in 1901 and then 1903, 1904 and 1905 in a row; he died in 1910 aged 31.

Ben Hogan's 1950 win, sixteen months after a near-fatal head-on crash with a bus, became known as what?

The Miracle at Merion: doctors had doubted Hogan would walk again, yet he won a three-way 18-hole playoff over Lloyd Mangrum and George Fazio on aching legs.

Who holds the record for most U.S. Open runner-up finishes, with six?

Phil Mickelson finished second six times, the last behind Justin Rose in 2013; it is the one major he has not won, so the career Grand Slam has eluded him.

Tiger Woods won the 2000 U.S. Open by a record margin of how many strokes?

A 15-stroke margin: Woods finished 12 under at Pebble Beach while nobody else broke par, the largest winning margin in any major championship.

Whom did Tiger Woods beat in sudden death after an 18-hole playoff at the 2008 U.S. Open?

Rocco Mediate, 45, fell at the 19th hole of the Monday playoff; Woods had played on a double stress fracture and a torn knee ligament and missed the rest of the season.

Since 2018, how is a tie after 72 holes at the U.S. Open golf settled?

A two-hole aggregate playoff, adopted in 2018 to replace the 18-hole Monday round, with sudden death after that if scores remain level.

Which course hosted its record tenth U.S. Open golf championship in 2025?

Oakmont Country Club, near Pittsburgh and famous for its Church Pews bunker, staged its tenth championship in 2025.

Who set the U.S. Open 72-hole scoring record of 268, sixteen under par, in 2011?

Rory McIlroy won his first major by eight shots at Congressional, two months after his final-round collapse at the 2011 Masters.

Who is the oldest U.S. Open golf champion, winning in 1990 at 45?

Hale Irwin, 45, played on a special exemption and beat Mike Donald at the 19th hole of their Monday playoff at Medinah.

Who made the cut at the 1973 U.S. Open at the age of 61, the oldest ever to do so?

Sam Snead, 61, tied for 29th in 1973, 36 years after finishing runner-up on his U.S. Open debut in 1937.

Who won the 1968 U.S. Open at Oak Hill with four rounds in the 60s?

Lee Trevino shot 69-68-69-69 at Oak Hill for 275, the first champion to keep every round in the 60s, and won by four strokes.

An amateur may enter U.S. Open qualifying if their handicap index is no higher than what?

Amateurs need a Handicap Index of 0.4 or better; roughly half of the 156-man field is exempt and the rest come through local and sectional qualifying.

Andy Zhang, the youngest ever U.S. Open golf qualifier, was how old in 2012?

Andy Zhang was 14 when he played the 2012 championship at the Olympic Club, getting in as an alternate after Paul Casey withdrew days before.

U.S. Open golf sectional qualifying is billed on television as what?

Golf's Longest Day is the Golf Channel's name for the main sectional-qualifying Monday, when 36-hole qualifiers run at around ten U.S. sites at once.

A U.S. Open golf champion is exempt from qualifying for the championship for how many years?

Ten years: a champion is exempt from qualifying for the next 10 U.S. Opens, and also gets five years in the other three majors and The Players Championship.

Which architect nicknamed the 'Open Doctor' is best known for toughening courses ahead of the U.S. Open?

Rees Jones earned the 'Open Doctor' tag for pre-championship renovations such as Torrey Pines South before 2008; his father Robert Trent Jones filled the same role a generation earlier.

Par at a U.S. Open golf course is usually set at what?

Par 70 is typical: short par fives are converted into long par fours, which is why winning scores so often hover around even par.

The four non-American U.S. Open golf champions of 2004–2007 all came from where?

All four came from the Southern Hemisphere: Retief Goosen (South Africa), Michael Campbell (New Zealand), Geoff Ogilvy (Australia) and Ángel Cabrera (Argentina).

In 2010 who became the first European to win the U.S. Open golf since Tony Jacklin in 1970?

Graeme McDowell, from Northern Ireland, won at Pebble Beach in 2010, the first European champion in forty years; three more Europeans won within the next four years.

Who holed a 15-foot par putt to win at Pinehurst in 1999, months before dying in a plane accident?

Payne Stewart's par putt on the 72nd hole at Pinehurst No. 2 won by a single stroke; a statue of his fist-pump celebration stands behind the 18th green.

Who won the 2020 U.S. Open as the only player under par in the final round?

Bryson DeChambeau, who had bulked up dramatically that year, shot a final-round 67 and won by six strokes over Matthew Wolff.

Who won the 2023 U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club?

Wyndham Clark won by one shot in 2023, the first U.S. Open held at the club; Rickie Fowler and Xander Schauffele had opened with record 62s.

Who won the 2025 U.S. Open, having considered quitting the tour a year earlier?

J. J. Spaun holed a 64-foot birdie putt on the final green in pouring rain to win the 2025 championship by two strokes.

What does Roy McAvoy refuse to do on the last hole of Tin Cup?

He refuses to lay up short of the water, keeps firing at the green, and finally holes out for a 12 that costs him the championship.

Which network took over U.S. Open golf television rights in 2020 after Fox handed back its contract?

NBC took over in June 2020; Fox had signed a 12-year rights deal in 2013 but could not fit the pandemic-delayed September event around its football schedule.

The first U.S. Women's National Singles Championship of 1887 was held where?

The Philadelphia Cricket Club hosted it; teenage Philadelphian Ellen Hansell won, six years after the men's event began.

Which Black trailblazer won back-to-back US National singles titles in 1957 and 1958?

Althea Gibson, who had broken the colour line at the 1950 championships after Alice Marble's open letter shamed the tournament into inviting her, won in 1957 and 1958.

Who won the 2009 women's title unranked, in just her third tournament back from retirement?

Kim Clijsters entered on a wild card, became the first mother to win a major since Evonne Goolagong in 1980, and defended the title a year later.

Who became the youngest US Open women's singles champion, winning in 1979 aged 16?

Tracy Austin was 16 years and 9 months old and beat the top two seeds in the semi-final and final on the way to the 1979 title.

Who won the 2015 women's final, the first all-Italian singles final at a major?

Flavia Pennetta, 33, beat childhood friend Roberta Vinci in straight sets, then announced at the trophy ceremony that she would retire at the end of 2015.

Who won the 2020 men's title, the first man born in the 1990s to win a major?

Dominic Thiem came from two sets down against Alexander Zverev in a final settled by a fifth-set tiebreak, played in an empty main stadium.

Whose straight-sets win in the 2021 men's final denied Novak Djokovic a calendar Grand Slam?

Daniil Medvedev won 6-4, 6-4, 6-4; Djokovic had won the other three majors in 2021 and was one match from the first men's calendar Slam since 1969.

Rod Laver sealed his 1969 Grand Slam by beating which fellow Australian in the final?

Tony Roche lost the 1969 final in four sets, 7-9, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2; Laver's sweep is the only men's calendar-year Grand Slam of the Open Era.

Whom did Steffi Graf beat in the 1988 final to complete her calendar Grand Slam?

Gabriela Sabatini lost the final in three sets; only Maureen Connolly and Margaret Court had completed the calendar Slam before, and Graf's Seoul Olympic gold weeks later made it the first 'Golden Slam'.

Whom did Novak Djokovic beat in the 2011 final for his first US Open title?

Rafael Nadal lost the 2011 final in four sets, a year after beating Djokovic in the 2010 final for his own first US Open title.

Which Japanese player lost the 2014 final, the first Asian man to reach a major singles final?

Kei Nishikori beat world No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals, then lost in straight sets to Marin Čilić, who was also playing his first major final.

Who beat world No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the 2016 final for the third of his three major titles?

Stan Wawrinka won in four sets; the Swiss beat the reigning world No. 1 in all three of his major finals, having beaten Nadal at the 2014 Australian Open and Djokovic at the 2015 French Open.

On his 39th birthday in 1991, Jimmy Connors came from 2–5 down in the fifth set to beat whom?

Aaron Krickstein lost a fifth-set tiebreak after 4 hours 41 minutes; Connors, ranked 936th a year earlier, went on to the semi-finals and called it 'the best 11 days of my tennis career'.

Who in 2019 became the first Canadian, man or woman, to win a Grand Slam singles title?

Bianca Andreescu, 19, beat Serena Williams in straight sets in the 2019 final, a month after Williams retired injured against her in the Toronto final.

Who won six straight US men's singles titles from 1920 to 1925?

Bill Tilden won every year from 1920 to 1925 and again in 1929; in 1920 he had also become the first American man to win Wimbledon.

Which Norwegian-born player won a record eight US women's singles titles, the last in 1926?

Molla Mallory, born Molla Bjurstedt, worked as a masseuse after emigrating, won the first of her eight titles in 1915 and took the last, aged 42, in 1926.

Arnold Palmer wiped out a seven-shot deficit in the 1960 final round at which Colorado course?

Cherry Hills, near Denver: he drove the green at the par-4 1st, shot a 65 and held off a 20-year-old amateur who would become his greatest rival.

Who shot a final-round 63 in 1973, the first 63 in any major, and won?

Johnny Miller began the final day six shots off the lead, won by one with his 63, and later spent 29 years as a lead television golf analyst.

The 1974 championship, won at seven over par, became known as 'The Massacre at' which course?

Winged Foot's 1974 set-up was so brutal that players suspected revenge for the 63 shot a year earlier; the winning score of seven over was the highest since 1963.

Who nearly collapsed in 100-degree heat during the 36-hole final day in 1964, yet still won?

Ken Venturi, dehydrated and disoriented, had a doctor walk the last 18 holes with him at Congressional; 1964 was the last U.S. Open to finish with a double round on the Saturday.

Tom Watson's 1982 win at Pebble Beach hinged on a chip-in for birdie at which hole?

At the par-3 17th, told by caddie Bruce Edwards to 'get it close', he replied 'I'm going to sink it', and the ball hit the flagstick and dropped.

Which Iowa municipal-course pro beat Ben Hogan in a 1955 playoff, denying him a fifth title?

Jack Fleck, a Davenport municipal pro, won the 18-hole playoff at the Olympic Club using clubs made by Hogan's own company; Hogan won only one more tour event, the 1959 Colonial.

Dustin Johnson won the 2016 title despite a disputed one-stroke penalty for what?

The penalty was for his ball moving on the 5th green; told on the 12th tee that it might be applied after the round, he still won by three strokes.

Why was the 2002 championship at Bethpage Black billed as 'The People's Open'?

Bethpage Black was the first true public course to host the championship; Tiger Woods was the only player to break par, and a sign at the first tee warns that the course is for highly skilled golfers only.

Who won at Chambers Bay in 2015, the youngest champion since Bobby Jones in 1923?

Jordan Spieth, 21, won by a stroke when Dustin Johnson three-putted the 72nd green from eagle range, at the first U.S. Open held in the Pacific Northwest.

Needing par at the 72nd hole in 2006, the leader missed the fairway and made what?

A double bogey six, after his drive hit a hospitality tent and his second shot a tree; 'I am such an idiot,' he said, as Geoff Ogilvy won by one.

Bobby Jones won the 1930 title, the third leg of his Grand Slam, at which Minnesota club?

Interlachen, in Edina: his 'lily pad shot' skipped across a pond at the 9th after two spectators ran onto the fairway mid-swing, and he got up and down for birdie.

Brooks Koepka's 2018 defence was the first back-to-back win since whom in 1989?

Curtis Strange won in 1988 and 1989, and the 1989 title turned out to be his last win on tour; since the Second World War only Ben Hogan in 1950–51 had otherwise gone back-to-back.

Who won the 1965 title to become the first non-American to complete the career Grand Slam?

Gary Player, 29, beat Australia's Kel Nagle in an 18-hole playoff at Bellerive in St. Louis, and gave his winnings to junior golf and cancer research.

Who became the first Spaniard to win the U.S. Open, at Torrey Pines in 2021?

Jon Rahm closed with a 67, birdying the last two holes, two weeks after being pulled from the Memorial with a six-shot lead following a positive coronavirus test.

Which Long Island club hosted its sixth U.S. Open golf championship in 2026?

Shinnecock Hills, one of the five founding clubs of the national governing body, has an 1892 Stanford White clubhouse often cited as America's first purpose-built golf clubhouse; it is scheduled again for 2036.