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Roof Planned for French Open

An arms race has broken out in tennis, particularly among the hosts and organizers of the four majors, and it's going to cost hundreds of millions of dollars to play. Wimbledon unveiled its new Centre Court, complete with retractable roof, earlier this month. Construction of the roof was part of renovation of the stadium that was estimated to at least $146 million. With the roof, Wimbledon can now avoid the interminable rain delays that seem to plague it every year.

The French Tennis Federation, organizer of the French Open, being French, will not let the English gain an advantage for long and so just announced a planned construction of a new stadium for Roland Garros which will include a retractable roof. The new center court will seat 14,000 is estimated to cost 120 million euros and should be completed in time for the 2013 or 2014 French Open.

The USTA has contemplated adding a roof to the 22, 547 seat US Open Stadium for years, but has done little more than discuss it. Last year, the USTA did begin to accept architects plans for the project, which may mean a move towards construction of a roof. However, the cost is estimated to be in excess of $100 million and rain has not historically been a major issue for the US Open, unlike the other three majors. Given the cost and the configuration of Arthur Ashe Stadium, it seems unlikely that the USTA would begin construction anytime soon. That would leave the US Open as the only major without the possibility of being played under a retractable roof as the Australian Open has retractable roofs over two of its stadiums.

Full post as published by Sports Biz on May 27, 2009 (boomark / email).