As the 2016 US Open unfolds, exciting new additions beckon as part of a USD 600 million makeover. The most conspicuous of them being, a brand new retractable roof.
The new roof will be used over the Arthur Ashe Stadium for the first time, as the US Open gets underway on Monday, August 26 at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Centre in Queens, New York.
The roof will ensure that matches can be played without interruption, irrespective of the elements.
Other features include a new 8000 seat Grandstand court, as well as a relocation of most of the outdoor courts to provide more walkways and retail space for the convenience of the audience. The 40-acre site will now also have 50 per cent more Wi-fi accessible points, which would come in handy to upload the selfies and videos of the on-court action.
Fans will now be able to receive push notifications of their favourite players, courtesy an upgraded US Open mobile app.
"You don't sit with that boomer mentality and just watch a sport," he said. "You want to engage it, you want to engage your friends, so there's this whole new technology of consumption going on,” said Matt Rossetti, a Detroit architect who masterminded the plan.
These upgrades have happened just as newer players have started competing professionally and spectators will get to see a new side of the US Open.
Interestingly, this will be the first grand slam since 1999 when Roger Federer – who is out injured – won’t be seen in action.
"We are transitioning from what many have described as a sort of 'golden era,'" said Lew Sherr, chief revenue officer for the United States Tennis Association.