August 25 is an historic day for the United States Tennis Association and the U.S. Open as it was on this date in 1997 that the new Arthur Ashe Stadium was christened in a moving on-court ceremony, as documented in the book ON THIS DAY IN TENNIS HISTORY by Randy Walker ($19.95, New Chapter Press, www.TennisHistoryBook.com). August 25 also marked the day that Pete Sampras officially ended his miraculous career in another memorable on-court ceremony, while August 26 marks the date when the 2002 U.S. Open kicked off paying homage in an opening ceremony to the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York City by raising the American flag that flew over the World Trade Center over Arthur Ashe Stadium. Events from August 25 and August 26 are documented below in this exclusive book excerpt.
1997 – The United States Tennis Association dedicates Arthur Ashe Stadium with a dramatic on-court ceremony featuring Ashe’s widow Jeanne Moutassamy Ashe, Whitney Houston and 38 former champions. Tamarine Tanasugarn wins the first-ever match on Arthur Ashe Stadium defeating Chanda Rubin 6-4, 6-0. Future world No. 1 and two-time U.S. Open champion Venus Williams makes her U.S. Open debut, also on Arthur Ashe Stadium Court, and defeats Larisa Neiland of Latvia in the first round 5-7, 6-0, 6-1.
2003 – In an emotional on-court ceremony at Arthur Ashe Stadium on the opening night of the U.S. Open, five-time U.S. Open champion Pete Sampras officially announces his retirement from professional tennis. Just 12 months earlier, Sampras, seeded No. 17, brushing off the critics that say he is washed up and dramatically wins the U.S. Open – ending a tournament title slump of nearly 26 months – beating arch rival Andre Agassi 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 in the final. Sampras appears on the court with his wife Bridgette and his 9-month-old son Christian, whom he carries in his arms as he takes one final victory lap around the center court at the U.S. Open. “I’m going to miss playing here,” Sampras tells the crowd. “I really loved playing in New York, loved playing in front of you guys. But I know in my heart, it’s time to say goodbye.”
1927 – Althea Gibson, the woman who broke the color barrier at the U.S. Championships in 1950 and became one of the world’s most talented and accomplished players, is born in Spring, S.C. Gibson is the first black player to win a major title at the French Championships in 1956 and also becomes the first black player to win at Wimbledon (1957-1958) and at the U.S. Championships (1957-1958).
1950 – Play begins at the 50th anniversary edition of the Davis Cup Challenge Round as the United States and Australia open up play at the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills, N.Y. Australia takes a 2-0 on the Davis Cup holders as Frank Sedgman defeats Tom Brown 6-0, 8-6, 9-7 and Ken McGregor defeats Ted Schroeder 13-11, 6-3, 6-4. Australia goes on to claim its first Davis Cup title since 1939 the next day as Sedgman and John Bromwich defeat Gardnar Mulloy and Schroeder 4-6, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 giving Australia an insurmountable 3-0 lead. Brown prevents an Australian shutout on the third day of play as he comes back from two-sets-to-love deficit to defeat Ken McGregor 9-11, 8-10, 11-9, 6-1, 6-4 in the fifth and final match. Brown, a finalist at Forest Hills in 1946 and at Wimbledon in 1947, continues to play competitive tennis well into his 70s. In 1994, he undergoes shoulder replacement surgery where his arm was disconnected from his body and surgically re-attachment with an artificial shoulder.
2007 – James Blake wins his 10th career ATP singles title, defeating good friend Mardy Fish 7-5, 6-4. in the final of the Pilot Pen Championships in New Haven, Conn., just down the road from Blake’s childhood home of Fairfield, Conn.
August 26
1933 – Helen Wills Moody’s 45-match winning streak at the U.S. Championships ends in controversial circumstances as she quits her match with rival Helen Jacobs while trailing 0-3 in the final set of the women’s singles final at the West Side Tennis Club at Forest Hills. Trailing 0-3 in the final set, Moody walks to the chair umpire and informs him that she can no longer continue due to pain in her back. Jacobs pleads with Moody to continue, but the seven-time U.S. champion retreats to the dressing room, giving Jacobs the 8-6, 3-6, 3-0, ret. victory in front of a shocked crowd of 8,000 fans. Moody’s loss is the first of any kind, in any circumstance since 1926. Moody issues a statement that reads, “In the third set of my singles match, I felt as though I was going to faint because of pain in my back and hip and complete numbness of my right leg. The match was long and by defaulting I do not wish to detract from the excellence of Miss Jacobs’s play. I felt that I have spoiled the finish of the national championship, and wish that I had followed the advice of my doctor and returned to California. I still feel that I did right in withdrawing because I felt that I was on the verge of a collapse on the court.” The loss marks the first loss for Moody in the championship since the 1922 U.S. women’s final.
1951 – Frank Sedgman and Ken McGregor clinch the first Grand Slam in doubles, defeating fellow Aussies Mervyn Rose and Don Candy 10-8, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 in the doubles final of the U.S. Championships, played at the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills, N.Y.
1986 – John McEnroe suffers his first – and only – first round loss at the U.S. Open, when fellow Long Island native Paul Annacone fires 23 aces and dismisses the four-time champion 1-6, 6-1, 6-3, 6-3 on the opening day of the tournament. McEnroe, the four-time U.S. Open champion, plays only his third event after returning from a six-month sabbatical from the game that featured him being married to actress Tatum O’Neal and the birth of his first child. Says McEnroe of his lack of vigor in his first-round exit, “I have to look at myself in the mirror and ask whether I have the enthusiasm. There’s not much sense in pretending it’s there.” Says Annacone of the victory, “I kind of felt awkward beating him. He’s a great champion. He’s entertained so many millions of people and done so much for the game. I want to see him come back, but I feel he has got to get some more matches under his belt.” While McEnroe is beginning the downward path of his career, Andre Agassi, a standard bearer for the next generation of American tennis, makes his U.S. Open debut as a 16-year-old. The future two-time U.S. Open champion also loses in the opening round, falling to Jeremy Bates of Great Britain, 7-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.
1991 – No. 8 seed Andre Agassi commits 61 unforced errors in his 7-5, 7-6, 6-2 first round loss to Aaron Krickstein at the US Open. Says Krickstein simply of Agassi and the upset-win,” He had a lot more to do with what happened than I did.” Says Agassi, who lost in the finals of the U.S. Open to Pete Sampras the previous year, “I don’t know what is harder, to lose in the first round or to lose in the finals.”
2002 – The United States Tennis Association pays tribute to the City of New York nearly one year after the Sept. 11 World Trade Center tragedy with a moving on-court “Opening Night” ceremony at Arthur Ashe Stadium. The World Trade Center flag that flew over the Kandahar Airport in Afghanistan is unfurled on-court, then raised over the stadium. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Tony Bennett, actor Judd Hirsch, Queen Latifah, John McEnroe and Billie Jean King join New York City police and fire fighters during the ceremonies.
1949 – Twenty-one-year-old Richard “Pancho” Gonzales makes his Davis Cup debut defeating Frank Sedgman 8-6, 6-4, 9-7 to help the United States to a 2-0 lead over Australia after the first day of the Davis Cup Challenge Round at the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills, Queens, N.Y. Born of Mexican parents in Los Angeles, Gonzalez wins the singles title at the U.S. National Championships at Forest Hills the year before in 1948 and goes on to defend his title in 1949. Following his triumph at Forest Hills in 1949, Gonzales, short of money, turns professional thus not being eligible to play Davis Cup again until the advent of Open tennis in 1968.
1974 – Bjorn Borg, who earlier in the year wins the Italian and French Championships, wins the U.S. Pro Championships in Boston, defeating Tom Okker in the final, 7-6 (3), 6-1, 6-1. Borg rallies from being down 2-5 in the first set to easily capture his first title in the United States. In the semifinals, Borg comes back from a 1-5 deficit in the fifth set to beat Jan Kodes 7-6 (7-3), 6-0, 1-6, 2-6, 7-6 (7-4) in the semifinals.
1991– After mysteriously skipping Wimbledon earlier in the summer, Monica Seles is unveiled as the spokesperson for the blue-jean manufacturer “No Excuses” in a press conference in New York. Seles, who absence from Wimbledon was the only blip on a season that saw her win the other three major tournaments she entered, used the excuse of shin splits for her Wimbledon withdrawal after weeks of speculation and secrecy regarding the reasoning for her no show.
2006 – Nikolay Davydenko of Russia defeats Agustin Calleri of Argentina 6-4, 6-3 in the final of the Pilot Pen Championships in New Haven, Conn., to win his eighth career ATP singles title. Davydenko wins the crown in New Haven – his first title in North America – without losing a set.