US Open has selected Laykold as the new court surface for the 2020 US Open.  USTA reached an agreement with Advanced Polymer Technology (APT) that will stay in place for five years.

APT is a member of Sport Group, the world’s largest business that designs and builds sports surfaces.  Laykold provides court surfaces for many professional tennis events around the world, including the Miami Open and New York Open.  In addition, three Fed Cup ties held in the United States have been on the Laykold surface.

Here is a time-lapse video showing how APT  built the courts for 2019 Miami Open.

This is the first big change to the US Open surface in 40 years.  Since 1978, US Open has been played on Pro DecoTurf.  DecoTurf is designed and built by California Court Surfaces.  In 2005, DecoTurf worked with the USTA to develop a blue tennis court named US Open Blue.

The USTA said in its press release that APT was awarded the contracted after an extensive RFP process.  It is worth noting that these big-name contracts involve the supplier (APT, in this case) paying the USTA.  It is likely that the current provider DecoTurf balked at USTA’s demands.

The USTA completed a $600 million project over five years to upgrade facilities at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center two year ago.