US Open: A Grand Slam with many firsts
While the coronavirus crisis has ensured changes to the format of the 2020 US Open, the year’s final major tournament has always been a trendsetter when it comes to making innovative changes
The 2020 US Open is the 140th edition of the tournament. It will be first major tournament to be held in the post COVID-19 scenario. Even as health, safety measures and the organizer’s plans to mitigate the risk of infection remain the talking points there are also question marks as regards the field, with defending men’s singles champion Rafael Nadal leading a host of big name withdrawals.
Due to the pandemic the organizers have announced a slew of changes, including making it a shorter tournament, doing away with the mixed doubles competition altogether as well as cancelling the qualifying rounds.
While these are coronavirus-enforced changes the US Open has always been unlike the other major tournaments, in that the organizers have never hesitated in bringing in innovative changes as and when required. It was been a trailblazer and a trendsetter among the four grand slam tournaments, so to speak.
Listed below are a few firsts in the US Open’s repertoire.
Equal prize money
Equal prize money has been an issue that’s been the bone of contention ever since tennis became a professional sport in 1968.
In the initial years, the women’s singles champions at majors took a little more than a third of what the men’s champion earned.
After debates that raged on for years, the Australian Open allowed equal pay only at the turn of the century (2001). The French Open did so five years later. The women demanded equal pay for years at Wimbledon before the tournament obliged, in 2007.
However, when it came to the US Open there’s no scope for debate. The tournament has been awarding equal prize money for the past 40 years.
In 1973, both the champions, John Newcombe and Margaret Smith Court, were awarded checks of US $25,000.
Competition…Uninterrupted!
The US Open tournament was first played in 1881, with the women’s competition starting six years later. It’s been a regular feature on the calendar ever since.
All the other three majors suffered interruptions twice in their history, with no tournament held during the years of the two World Wars (1914–19 and 1941–45).
However, with Europe being the epicenter, the US Open wasn’t quite affected by the wars.
On Location
The French Open is played in Paris since its inception. The All England Club is always the venue for Wimbledon. The US Open, on the other hand, has had to endure many relocation of venues.
First played at the Newport Casino, Rhode Island, it moved to the West Side Tennis Club at Forest Hills in 1915. Between 1921 and 1923 the tournament was played at the German-town Cricket Club in Philadelphia before it returned to Forest Hills in 1924.
Finally, the tournament moved to the Flushing Meadows in 1978, and has been there since.
Along with the Australian Open, this is one tournament that has had its share of travels.
Surface Tension
The US Open is the only Grand Slam to be played on three surfaces. First played on the grass courts of Newport, the green lawns were continued with even when the tournament moved to New York (Forest Hills).
However, between 1975–77, the tournament was played on clay courts, albeit of the American variety. The green American clay was a faster surface than the European red clay but not as popular.
From 1978 to 2019 the tournament was played on hard courts, on a surface called Pro DecoTurf. From 2020 the tournament organizers confirmed Laykold will be the surface used for the next five years.
The Russian Roulette
In 1970, the US Open became the major to use a tie-breaker to decide a set that reached a 6–6 score in games.
From 1970 through 1974, the US Open used a best-of-nine-point sudden-death tiebreaker before moving to the ITF’s best-of-twelve points system. Soon after it became the lone major to have tie-breaks in every set, including the last.
The other three major tournaments have tie-breaks in every set other than the last, meaning it continues until a two-game lead is reached.
In New York, they like to keep it short.
Let there be light!
In 1975, floodlights were introduced at the US Open for the first time, thereby ensuring night play for the first time. Since then the tournament has regularly featured night matches.
In fact, in recent years all the big ticket fixtures have taken place under the lights.
Super Saturday and prime-time television
Attempting to cash in on the increasing popularity of women’s tennis, the tournament became the first Grand Slam to schedule its women’s final in prime-time network television. In 2001, the women’s final was moved to the evening so it could be played on prime-time television. The move was a big hit, as expected.
In fact from 1984 through to 2015, the tournament made a total deviation from traditional scheduling practices with what was referred to as the Super Saturday concept. The women’s singles final was held in between the two men’s semi-final matches.
Recently in 2013 and 2014, the organizers deliberately scheduled the men’s singles final on a Monday, a move praised for allowing the men an extra day’s rest following the semi-finals.
However, the move drew the ire of the ATP for further deviating from the structure of the other Grand Slams. In 2015, the Super Saturday concept was dropped, and the US Open returned to a format similar to the other Grand Slams, with the women’s and men’s singles finals on Saturday and Sunday respectively.
Instant Replay
More recently, in 2006, the US Open became the first major to use instant replay reviews of calls on the stadium courts.
The Hawk-Eye system was brought into operation and each player was allowed three challenges per set, and an additional one during the tie-break. Mardy Fish became the first player to challenge a call in Grand Slam tournament history.
The move was an instant success.
Stop Gap
In 2018, the US Open was the first Grand Slam tournament that introduced the shot clock to keep a check on the time consumed by players between points. The timepiece is placed in a position visible to players, the chair umpire and fans.
This change was incorporated to increase the pace of play, and was a resounding success. Beginning 2020, all the other Grand Slams, as well as the ATP and the WTA tournaments have started applying this technology.
