145 years of U.S. Open tennis: It all started in Newport

NEWPORT, R.I. — In August 1881, 145 years ago, the first U.S. National Lawn Tennis Championship got underway on the grass courts of the Newport Casino in Newport, Rhode Island. The tournament that would eventually become what is know today as the U.S. Open.

Twenty-five men competed in that inaugural championship, a much smaller beginning for an event that would grow into one of the biggest tournaments in international tennis.

But the story of the Newport Casino itself may be just as interesting.

According to a long-told Newport story, newspaper publisher James Gordon Bennett Jr. had a falling out with the Newport Reading Room after a friend he brought as a guest rode a horse into the club. Bennett responded by creating a social club of his own just up Bellevue Avenue.

Construction on the Newport Casino began in January 1880, and the complex opened that summer. Designed by McKim, Mead & White, it became one of the architectural firm’s first major projects and is now recognized as an important example of American Shingle Style architecture.

And despite the name, this wasn’t a gambling casino. In the 1880s, “casino” could describe a social and recreational gathering place. The Newport complex featured lawns, tennis courts, a theater, dining and other activities.

Just one year after opening, tennis history was made there.

Newport remained home to the U.S. National Championship for more than three decades before the tournament moved to Forest Hills, New York. Over time, it evolved into the U.S. Open we know today.

Now, 145 years after that first championship began on August 31, 1881, tennis is still being played on the historic Newport grass courts. The Newport Casino is also home to the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

From 25 players on the grass in Newport to a tournament watched around the world — a major piece of American tennis history started right here in Rhode Island.