3. The U.S. Open Was Not Always at Flushing Meadows
From 1881 to 1914, the U.S. National Singles Championship was held at the Newport Casino in Rhode Island. The push to move the tournament to New York City began as early as 1911 by a group of New York tennis players. A New York Times article from February 1911 that covered a contentious vote about the club’s move stated that “The arguments were powerfully arrayed against Newport,” but there was no “bona-fide application from any responsible club to hold the tournament elsewhere.” As a result, those in favor of the move lost the vote 60 to 95. By 1915, however, 100 members signed a petition to move the club and won the official vote.
From 1915 to 1921, the tournament occurred at the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills, Queens, following a few years at the Germantown Cricket Club in Philadelphia during which the Forest Hills Tennis Stadium was being built. In 1968, the tournament became the U.S. Open, and in 1978, the tournament moved to Flushing Meadows-Corona Park to accommodate larger crowds. The West Side Tennis Club still attempted to block the move.
