America Tennis Affiliation has no love for the household of the person who created the Nationwide Tennis Middle, erasing his legacy from the famed sports activities advanced in Queens whereas squeezing his heirs for practically half 1,000,000 {dollars}, a lawsuit claims.
The youngsters of William “Slew” Hester declare the USTA has violated a decades-old settlement settlement by demolishing their field in Arthur Ashe Stadium and providing “inferior” seats to the US Open — and provided that they pay a whopping $460,000.
The beautiful price ticket left Hester’s surviving kids, Invoice and Kathryn, with no selection however to sue — for a second time — the group their dad as soon as led, they advised The Publish.
“It’s disappointing that the USTA’s present board doesn’t have a greater understanding of who Slew Hester was, and what he did for the USTA and the US Open,” Invoice Hester stated.
A Mississippi oil man and one-time USTA president, Slew Hester was stated to have been flying into NYC within the Nineteen Seventies when he noticed what was then generally known as Singer Bowl, a city-owned facility used for the 1964 World’s Truthful that had fallen into disrepair.
Hester met with metropolis officers and satisfied them to construct what grew to become Louis Armstrong Stadium to host the US Open, ripping the competitors from the staid, personal West Aspect Tennis Membership in Forest Hills the place it had been held and thrusting it onto a much more outstanding — and profitable — stage.
Building was completed in a lightning quick 10 months, in time for the 1978 US Open.
A grateful USTA rewarded Hester lifetime field seats for him and his heirs; a memorial plaque gracing the doorway and a namesake restaurant, his household stated in a federal lawsuit.
“There was no higher seat in the home” than the Hester household field, which Slew “treasured,” his kids stated in courtroom papers.
Hester and his youngsters attended the open yearly at “The Home That Slew Constructed” till his demise in 1993 at age 80.
The USTA’s “perspective towards the Hester household modified” after his demise, they alleged in Manhattan Federal Courtroom papers.
When Arthur Ashe Stadium was constructed and have become the primary venue for the US Open, the USTA charged the household a $45,000 annual payment and caught their seats “in a nook, with sightlines blocked by the umpire’s chair,” they alleged.
They sued, prompting a 1998 settlement settlement which included higher seats in Field 35G, common bus and restaurant passes, and continued lifetime rights to attend the Open so long as Invoice and Kathryn are alive, proceed to pay the payment, and the competitors is held on the Nationwide Tennis Middle, in accordance with the authorized submitting.
“Within the 30 years since, the USTA has at each flip labored to undermine the settlement settlement and freeze the Hesters out,” Invoice and Kathryn alleged.
Not solely did the worth tag for his or her seats soar to a staggering $215,416 in 2025 — their field has since been eradicated in the $800 million renovation of the tennis middle, which eliminated “all lower-bowl seating, together with Box35G,” in accordance with the lawsuit.
In December the USTA claimed the household’s solely selection for 2026’s competitors was to take common seats costing $460,000 — a price ticket which might soar to $560,000 by 2030.
“The USTA’s choice to get rid of the Hesters’ lifetime field and supply as a comfort prize inferior seats at greater than double the fee is however the newest chapter within the USTA’s makes an attempt to freeze the Hesters out and diminish Slew’s legacy,” they stated within the lawsuit.
Including damage to the already-Grand Slam stage insult, the household claims Slew Hester’s memorial plaque has been eliminated.
“No rationalization has ever been given to us as to why the plaque was taken down,” Invoice Hester, 78, stated.
“Whereas the USTA doesn’t touch upon pending litigation, it ought to be famous that the USTA has fulfilled its dedication to the Hesters by offering them the chance to buy seats in a location in step with their prior seats and on the identical foundation as different purchasers,” a USTA spokesman stated.
