Billie Jean King Tennis Center in Queens | LeFrak City

With three stadiums, 33 courts, and a combined capacity of well over 30,000, the United States Tennis Association's (USTA) Billie Jean King National Tennis Center is one of the largest tennis complexes in the world, attracting visitors not only from nearby Corona apartments but from all over the world.

The Billie Jean King Tennis Center started out as the Singer Bowl—a stadium built by the Singer Sewing Machine Company for the 1964 World's Fair that hosted Olympic trials; concerts by The Doors, The Who, and Jimi Hendrix; and professional boxing. In the 1970s, when the USTA was looking for a new place to host the U.S. Open, the USTA's incoming president spotted the aging Singer Bowl from a LaGuardia Airport-bound plane—and he asked the City of New York for permission to use the stadium (and its adjoining land) for the U.S. Open's new home.

The stadium was heavily renovated in 1977 to become two venues: the expanded Louis Armstrong Stadium (named for the jazz icon and Corona, Queens resident) and the adjacent Grandstand. The National Tennis Center opened in August 1978 and has hosted the U.S. Open every August since.

More renovations began in 1995, and the 22,000-capacity Arthur Ashe Stadium replaced the Louis Armstrong Stadium as the main court in 1997. The facility was rededicated as the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in 2006. Two years later, the center opened a new 12-court facility with classrooms, fitness facilities, a pro shop, a hospitality center, a museum, a food commissary, and more. Court 17—the 3,000-capacity show court colloquially known as "The Pit"—opened in 2011, with the new Grandstand following in 2016.

That same year, the old Louis Armstrong Stadium and old Grandstand were demolished to make way for a new Louis Armstrong Stadium—with the largest retractable roof among the No. 2 stadiums at the Grand Slams—to open in time for the 2018 U.S. Open.

Getting to the Billie Jean King Tennis Center

Like the surrounding Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, the Billie Jean King Tennis Center is just a short walk or bike ride away from LeFrak City's Corona apartments—or take the #7 subway train to Mets-Willets Point, the Port Washington LIRR train to Mets-Willets Point, or the Q88 bus to College Point Blvd. Parking is available on-site, with additional parking at nearby Citi Field available during the U.S. Open.

LeFrak City: Living Near the Billie Jean King Tennis Center

LeFrak City's short distance to the Billie Jean King Tennis Center is just one of its many benefits. Contact us for more information about LeFrak City's Corona apartments or schedule a visit to LeFrak City today!