What's the
National Tennis Center?
 The USTA National Tennis Center is the largest public tennis facility in the world.
Operated by the USTA for the City of New York, the facility opened in 1978 when the USTA moved the US Open from the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills, NY.
The USTA National Tennis Center includes 33 outdoor courts – not including Arthur Ashe Stadium, Louis Armstrong Stadium or the Grandstand courts – and nine indoor courts, which are available for year-round use by the public. There are 22 field courts located within the gates of the tennis center, and 11 additional courts built by the USTA at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, which is adjacent to the main entrance. These 11 courts are run by the New York City Parks Department and are used as practice courts during the US Open.
Although the USTA National Tennis Center is best known as the home of the US Open, a number of other exciting events are held at the facility each year. Tournaments include the Eastern Wheelchair Tennis Championships, the Mayor's Cup Scholastic Championships, the USTA Zone Team Championships for players’ 12-and- under, the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference championships for men and women, the USTA National Open Indoor Championships, the "Turn Back The Clock" (wood racquets only) tournament and a host of USTA Eastern sectional tournaments for juniors, adults and seniors. The USTA National Tennis Center professional staff also conducts community tennis programs, summer tennis camps, group and private lessons and USTA programs, such as USA League Tennis, USA Team Tennis and USA Tennis 1-2-3.
The USTA National Tennis Center is open to the public seven days a week, 11 months a year and closes only on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day. National Tennis
Center Grounds
 
Although the US Open itself is 120 years old, the competition has only been held in Flushing Meadows since 1978. Ten years previously the US competitions were consolidated into one Open event in New York City at Forest Hills. The switch to the National Tennis Center also heralded a return to the hard court surface after an experimental period on clay.
“The U.S. Open is different; it’s lively,” says former top tennis star Cliff Drysdale, now an ESPN and ABC tennis commentator. “It takes a toll on some, but fuels the fire in others.” "Quiet, please," is also missing from the vocabulary of officials at Flushing Meadows, simply because the request is always met with even more noise
Other Sources of NYC Travel Info
|
Where is the National
Tennis Center?
It's in Flushing Meadows, an area of New York city located in the borough of
Queens on
Long Island. Both LaGuardia and JFK airports are nearby.
Directions to National Tennis Center
You can fly, drive, take the train, the ferry, or the subway
to the Open.
By Public Transportation
- Subway: Take
the #7 Flushing subway bound for Queens from either Times Square or Grand Central to the
Shea Stadium/Willets Point Station ($2.00 one way). The National Tennis Center is a
short walk down the ramp from the station. The ride takes about thirty minutes.
Or you can take the IND E or F trains to Roosevelt Avenue and
transfer upstairs to the #7 train and follow the directions above.
For $7 you can buy a Fun Pass that allows you unlimited access to all of the city subways and busses for one day. It is sold at many hotels and tourist attractions around town.
How to Ride the NYC
Subways
- Purchase a Metrocard or tokens at the booth in the subway station. Buy enough for a few round trips.
- In order to use the free transfer onto the bus, you must use the
Metrocard.
- Metrocard offers a 1-day Fun Pass and a 7-day unlimited ride
pass. Can only be used by 1 person at a time.
- Plan your route beforehand.
- Stand away from the edge and in the middle of the platform.
- Make sure you are on the correct direction side.
- Don’t get on an express line unless you know where it will stop!
- More
tips for riding the NYC subways.
Train: The
Long Island Railroad/Port Washington branch can get you to the National Tennis Center
during the US Open (the Shea Stadium Station). Contact the railroad for schedule
information at (718) 217-5477
While the #7 train is the low cost way to get to the US Open, the Long Island Railroad offers faster train service to the
National Tennis Center. The ride between Penn Station and Flushing Meadows
is under 20 min, halving the time the #7 train takes from Times Square. The faster ride
is more than double the $1.50 the subway costs each way. Still, if you want a more comfortable ride with a predictable schedule of departure, opt for the LIRR.
By Car
- From Manhattan: Take the Tri Boro Bridge to the Grand Central Parkway
and take the Shea Stadium Exit. Or from mid town use the tunnel to the Grand Central and
take the Shea Stadium exit. Follow signs to USTA National Tennis Center.
- From Brooklyn: Take the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway to the Grand
Central Parkway and take the Shea Stadium Exit. Follow signs to USTA National Tennis
Center.
- From Long Island: Take the Long Island Expressway to the Grand
Central Parkway and take the Shea Stadium Exit. Follow signs to USTA National Tennis
Center.
- From Connecticut: Take I-95 to the Whitestone Bridge to the Grand
Central Parkway and follow signs to exit 25A East/Northern Blvd./Shea Stadium. Follow
signs to USTA National Tennis Center.
- From Northern New Jersey: Take the George Washington Bridge to the
Harlem River Drive, then to the Triboro Bridge to Grand Central Parkway and take exit 25A
East/Northern Blvd./Shea Stadium. Follow signs to USTA National Tennis Center.
- From Southern New Jersey: Take the Verrazzano Bridge to the
Brooklyn/Queens Expressway to the Grand Central Parkway and follow the signs to exit 25A
East/Northern Blvd./Shea Stadium. Follow signs to the USTA National Tennis Center.
-
Parking is available at Shea Stadium except during
certain periods when parking will be available in parking lots 1-7 (Free shuttle service
to the National Tennis Center will be available).
Parking near the National Tennis Center will be
difficult when the Mets play because the Shea Stadium lot is off limits to
tennis fans.
Overnight parking at hotels may cost $30-$40/day
One final note about driving around NYC:
Driving your own car is tantamount to insanity in a city where traffic is horrendous, parking costs
are astronomical and petty thievery is commonplace. New York car rentals are also notoriously expensive - you'll have to budget at least $95 a day (plus tax and insurance) for a medium-sized car - and
gas in the city costs far more than elsewhere in the USA.
|
