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ON THIS DAY IN US OPEN HISTORY... T O AUGUST 23 U R I N N F 1926 – Molla Mallory fights off a match point and a 0-4 final-set deficit to win the U.S. women’s A O singles title with a 4-6, 6-4, 9-7 victory over Elizabeth Ryan. M E 1931 – Helen Wills Moody wins her record seventh U.S. women’s singles crown, defeating Eileen N Bennett Whitingstall, 6-4, 6-1, in the final. T 2011 – The first day of the 2011 US Open Qualifying Tournament features an earthquake that mildly rattles the grounds of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. The 5.9-magnitude earthquake has its epicenter near Richmond, Va., but is felt as far north F as Boston. There is no disruption in play, nor do the grounds sustain any damage. G A R C O I L U AUGUST 25 I T N Y D & 1997 – The United States Tennis S s e Association dedicates g a m I Arthur Ashe Stadium with a y t t dramatic on-court ceremony e featuring Ashe’s widow, G Jeanne Moutassamy Ashe, A E C Whitney Houston and 38 V T E I N former champions. V T I T S Tamarine Tanasugarn I E & defeats Chanda Rubin, 6-4, S 6-0, in the first match played in Arthur Ashe Stadium. Venus Williams makes her US Open debut, also on Arthur Ashe H I Stadium court, and defeats S The dedication of Arthur Ashe Stadium T Larisa Neiland in the first O R round, 5-7, 6-0, 6-1. Y 2003 – In an emotional on-court ceremony at Arthur Ashe Stadium, five-time US Open champion Pete Sampras announces his retirement from professional tennis. 2008 – On Opening Night, the US Open celebrates 40 years of Open Tennis with a performance by Earth, Wind and Fire and a parade of champions featuring singles winners from the past 40 years. Also making an appearance representing 1968 men’s champion Arthur C Ashe was Ashe’s widow, Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe, and daughter, Camera Ashe. H A P James Blake closes the night with his second night-match five-setter in two years, M A P S holding off 19-year-old Donald Young, 6-1, 3-6, 6-1, 4-6, 6-4. I T O N AUGUST 26 S 1933 – Helen Wills Moody’s 45-match winning streak at the U.S. Championships is ended as she is forced to retire, citing a back injury, trailing Helen Jacobs, 0-3, in the final set of the women’s singles final . R 1986 – John McEnroe suffers his first and only first round loss at the US Open when Paul S E T C Annacone dismisses the four-time champion, 1-6, 6-1, 6-3, 6-3. Andre Agassi makes his A O T I R US Open debut as a 16-year-old, losing to Jeremy Bates, 7-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, in the first S D T I S round. Agassi will not miss a US Open through his retirement in 2006. C S 1991 – Andre Agassi, having reached the final in three of his past four Grand Slam events, commits 61 & unforced errors in his 7-5, 7-6, 6-2 first round loss to Aaron Krickstein. 2002 – The USTA 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 R P E L Bloomberg, Tony Bennett, Judd Hirsch, Queen Latifah, John McEnroe and Billie Jean King C A O Y join New York City police and fire fighters for the ceremony . R E D R 2013 – American fan favorite James Blake announces his retirement effective at the end of the S tournament. The two-time US Open quarterfinalist and former world No. 4 who inspired the “J-Block” bows out two days later in a five-set defeat to Ivo Karlovic in Louis Armstrong Stadium. 97 2014 – Fifteen-year-old CiCi Bellis defeats No. 12 seed and 2014 Australian Open runner-up Dominika Cibulkova, 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, on the new Court No. 6—delighting the crowd with her enthusiasm and, afterwards, wowing reporters with her poise. With the victory, Bellis, who T N earned a wild card into the Open by winning the USTA Girls’ 18 National Championships, E M becomes the youngest player to win a singles match at the US Open since Anna O A F N Kournikova in 1996. N I R U O T AUGUST 27 1903 – Laurie Doherty of Great Britain becomes the first foreign player to win the U.S. Championships, defeating William Larned, 6-0, 6-3, 10-8, in the men’s singles final in Newport, R.I. 1909 – Larned wins his fifth U.S. men’s singles title with a five-set victory over William Clothier in S & D Y Newport, R.I. N T I U L 1928 – Helen Wills needs only 33 minutes to win her fifth U.S. women’s singles title, defeating I O C R Helen Jacobs, 6-2, 6-1, in the final. A G F 1975 – In front of a crowd of 4,949 at the West Side Tennis Club, Onny Parun of New Zealand defeats Stan Smith, 6-4, 6-2, in the first night match ever played at the US Open. 1985 – Mary Joe Fernandez, at the age of 14 years and eight P A R / days, becomes the youngest player to win a match at the s m a US Open when she defeats Sara Gomer, 6-1, 6-4, in the d A S s s & first round. E u I R S T I 1991 – Fifteen-year-old Lindsay Davenport makes her US Open T V N I debut, losing in the first round to fellow American Debbie E T V C E Graham, 6-3, 6-2. A 1996 – Stefan Edberg begins his 14th and final US Open (the last of his 54 consecutive Grand Slam tournaments played) with a 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 victory against reigning Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek. 2007 – The USTA commemorates the 50th anniversary of Althea Y Gibson’s triumph at the 1957 U.S. National Championships Mary Joe Fernandez R O with an Opening Night celebration themed, “Breaking T S I Barriers.” The tribute includes a celebration of African-American women who broke H barriers in the world of sports, entertainment, politics and the arts. Among the featured pioneers are Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Ambassador Carol Moseley Braun, Dr. Mae Jemison, Roberta Flack and Aretha Franklin. The ceremony is followed by back-to-back singles matches featuring two-time US Open women’s singles champions Serena Williams and Venus Williams—the first time in US Open history that Opening Night featured back-to- S back women’s matches. N O 2013 – Seventeen-year-old American qualifier Victoria Duval stuns 2011 US Open champion T I S P Samantha Stosur, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4, earning praise for her composed, mature performance and A M P A delighting the crowd with her unbridled enthusiasm. H C AUGUST 28 1950 – Althea Gibson becomes the first black player to compete in the U.S. Championship when she takes the court in the first round of the women’s singles at the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills, N.Y. Gibson wins her first round match, defeating Barbara Knapp of & S C S Britain, 6-2, 6-2. I T D P S R 1975 – In the first women’s night match at the U.S. Championships, I A T O R / A Chris Evert defeats Leslie Hunt, 6-1, 6-0, at the West Side s C T m E a S R Tennis Club in Forest Hills, N.Y. d A s 1984 – Fifteen-year-old Steffi Graf makes her US Open debut and s u loses in the first round to countrywoman Sylvia Hanika, 6-4, R 6-2. 1989 – Eighteen-year-old Pete Sampras wins his first US Open singles match, defeating Agustin Moreno of S R D Mexico, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4, 6-1, on Court 18 at the USTA National E R Y O A Tennis Center. C L E P 1990 – Stefan Edberg becomes the first No. 1-seeded player since R John Newcombe in 1971 to lose in the first round of the US Open when he is defeated by Alexander Volkov of the USSR, 6-3, 7-6, 6-2. Stefan Edberg 98 1991 – In the early hours of the morning (1:35 a.m. to be exact), Jimmy Connors defeats Patrick McEnroe, 4-6, 6-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-4, in one of the most dramatic first round matches ever at the US Open. Connors, ranked No. 174 and five days shy of his 39th birthday, trails T O McEnroe 4-6, 6-7, 0-3, 0-40 before rallying to victory. U R I N 1995 – After a two-year absence, Monica Seles returns to the U.S. Open and defeats Ruxandra N F A O Dragomir, 6-3, 6-1, in the first round—28 months after being stabbed in the back during M E a changeover in Hamburg, Germany.

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