8. The U.S. Open has Been the Site of Many African American Breakthroughs

Serena Williams serving at the U.S. Open

The U.S. Open at Forest Hills is where Althea Gibson broke the color barrier to become the first African American woman to compete on the world tennis tour, and she won a Grand Slam in 1956. It is also where Arthur Ashe became the first African American to win the U.S. Open in 1968, the inaugural men’s final when the tournament officially became the “U.S. Open.”

The main stadium at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, the name of the complex today at Flushing Meadows is the Arthur Ashe Stadium. According to the website, Arthur Ashe Kids Day is the “largest single-day, grassroots tennis and entertainment event in the world, with chart-topping music acts and today’s best tennis players coming together to celebrate tennis legend and humanitarian Arthur Ashe.”