What was the US Open originally known as?

The US Open was originally known as the U.S. National Championships. That name covered the tournament during its amateur-era history, before the modern “US Open” identity became standard.

The first championships were held in 1881 at the Newport Casino in Newport, Rhode Island. The initial competition included only men’s singles and men’s doubles, and Richard Sears won the inaugural singles title. Women’s singles was added in 1887, when Ellen Hansell became the first champion.

The tournament later moved to the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills in 1915 and then to the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows in 1978. Its surfaces also changed: grass was used through 1974, clay from 1975 to 1977, and hard courts from 1978 onward.

A common mix-up is treating the modern name as if it had always been used. “US Open” is the current title; “U.S. National Championships” is the historically correct name for the earlier era.