20 Things You Didn't Know About the U.S. Open

Learn more about the 133-year-old tournament.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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The 133rd U.S. Open begins today. As one of the oldest tournaments in American sports history, the U.S. Open not only serves as a finale to Grand Slam season but gives our country a chance to put on a show for tennis enthusiasts around the world. That's right, FOH with the strawberries and cream and bring in the Grey Goose carts!

Aside from all the day drinking, there actually is some world class action to catch on the courts. After all, we know you're going to find yourself checking out a possible Novak Djokovic/Rafael Nadal match-up or simply checking out Serena Williams. So, find out which player won the first "open era" tournament, how a serve once killed a line judge, and more in 20 Things You Didn't Know About the U.S. Open.  

Linesman Dick Wertheim was killed by serve from Stefan Edberg while officiating a junior match.

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It was originally called the U.S. National Championship.

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Serena Williams has gotten real volatile with officials on more than one occasion at the U.S. Open.

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Since 1881, there have only been seven years when an American player has not appeared in either the men's or women's singles final.

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Jimmy Connors is the only male to win the U.S. Open on all three playing surfaces.

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The U.S. Open is the second-oldest major sporting event in America, behind the Kentucky Derby.

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U.S. Open referee Lois Goodman was arrested for allegedly murdering her husband with a coffee mug.

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Reneé Richards was barred from playing in the 1976 U.S. Open unless she submitted to chromosomal testing.

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From 1977 to 2009, the U.S. Open men's champion was won by a current or former world No. 1 ranked player.

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The U.S. Open was first held in August 1881 on the grass courts at the Newport Casino in Newport, R.I.

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In 1973, the U.S. Open became the first Grand Slam tournament to offer equal prize money to male and female winners.

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$100,000: Total prize money at the first Open Era tournament in 1968.

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$2.6 million: the amount given to each 2013 men's and women's singles champion.

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The U.S. Open was the first of the Grand Slam tournaments to utilize a tiebreak at the end of the set. It is also the only Grand Slam tournament that decides the final outcome of the 5th set with a tiebreaker.

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Pete Sampras threw up during a fifth-set tiebreaker with Alex Corretja in the 1996 quarterfinals.

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The very first U.S. Open of the "open era" took place in 1968 at the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills.

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Surprise, surprise. Arthur Ashe won the first U.S. Open tournament.

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Arthur Ashe Stadium holds the largest capacity in tennis at 23,157.

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It's the only major tennis tournament to be interrupted by a shooting.

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