NEW YORK — The world’s biggest tennis stadium is undergoing renovations that have changed the look and feel of this U.S. Open, but the name remains the same.
Arthur Ashe Stadium remains named after the pioneering champion who won the first U.S. Open in 1968 before his life of athletic excellence and activism ended far too soon, dying at age 49 in 1993.
Ashe’s impact has been especially visible this year, with Black men taking up more spots atop men’s tennis than ever before. There are four Black men in the ATP’s Top 12; two of them contested the recent final in Cincinnati: Fils and Tiafoe.
But for this story, I want to focus on another similarity between Ashe and Fils that has gotten less discussion: their shared first name.
Because of Ashe’s namesake stadium, the name Arthur fittingly appears all over the grounds of the building itself and the wider Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
But “Arthur” is also more visible than ever on the courts themselves.
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