Top 10 Stories from the 2016 U.S. Open

Sep 1, 2016; New York, NY, USA; A general view as the sun sets over Louis Armstrong Stadium during the match between Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland and Naomi Broady of the United Kingdom Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

10. Last matches for Louis Armstrong and the Grandstand

Flushing Meadows now has a stadium with a roof, and soon it will have two. But that second comes at a cost. The Louis Armstrong Stadium and the old Grandstand are now to be bulldozed, so the new roofed Louis Armstrong can be built. With a new Grandstand already in action, the old Grandstand wasn’t even supposed to be used. But when one of the new TV courts had surface issues, it got one last tournament.

Before the Arthur Ashe Stadium opened in 1997, Louis Armstrong was the US Open’s center court, its main stadium. The Grandstand never was, but it was much loved, as a stadium much smaller and more intimate than most, where one could sit close to the players as they played. The matches that went on with both stadiums did so with a feeling of history and finality in the air. The very last matches on both were upsets in the men’s doubles. In Armstrong, it involved Spaniards Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez(no relation), taking down the famous Bob and Mark Bryan. Interviewed afterwards, Feliciano was quick to agree on the significance of ending the stadium’s run with a victory over the best team of the age.  “Everything today was very special and very emotional,” he said, summing it up perfectly.

Next: Johanna Konta’s Collapse, Extended Break, and Victory