From the Archives of the International Tennis Hall of Fame

The story of the United States Open is best told through the objects associated with the event — a staggering number of them are now housed at the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, R.I.

The consensus greatest hits of tennis history are on display in the hall’s museum, but another 25,000 or so objects and 300,000 photographs are tucked away in storage. Hidden away are some 1,100 notable tennis rackets, countless boxes of ephemera and rack after rack of clothing.

The museum is in the process of photographing and digitizing its enormous archive which, when completed, will be available on the hall’s website.

Many of the items pictured here, all associated with the U.S. Open, remain in the Hall of Fame’s archive awaiting digitization.

Fashionable

Tracy Austin, 1977: The dress was made for her by a family friend, Marilyn Kosten, for Austin’s U.S. Open debut as an unseeded 15-year-old amateur.

Martina Navratilova, 1978: The dress was made by Ted Tinling, who insisted his clients wear a different dress for each match

Kim Clijsters, 2009: She was the first unseeded player to win the U.S. Open.

Juan Martín del Potro, 2009: His win over Roger Federer that year was one of the biggest upsets in modern tennis.

Flying High

Macy’s provided the balls for the 1968 Open. Virginia Wade, the women’s winner, said the balls were on the light side and particularly suited her style of play.

Kind Words

Jackie Robinson sent Arthur Ashe a telegram in 1968 after Ashe became the first African-American man to win a major.

Playtime

A draw sheet from the 1977 Open, the last to be played at the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills.

The First

A Wilson “Tony Trabert” model racket, used by Arthur Ashe when he won the inaugural U.S. Open in 1968. Because Ashe entered the tournament as an amateur he was not allowed to accept the $14,000 prize money for winning the event.

Golden

Steffi Graf’s Dunlop Max 200G racket, with which she beat Gabriela Sabatini in the 1988 Open finals on her way to a Golden Slam, winning all four major tournaments and an Olympic gold medal in the same calendar year.

Pasta, Anyone?

The spaghetti string racket. The string configuration was banned in 1977 after the little-known player Mike Fishbach upset Stan Smith using this racket. The extra set of strings greatly increased the ball’s spin rate.

Back to the Future

Jimmy Connors’s Wilson T-2000 racket, with which he won the 1983 Open, defeating Ivan Lendl. Wilson debuted the racket in 1967, but it was designed by the tennis player and polo shirt magnate René Lacoste in 1953.

The End

A Dunlop Maxply belonging to Andres Gimeno. John McEnroe used a Dunlop frame very similar to this one during his 1981 Open victory, when he became the last player ever to win a Grand Slam tournament with a wooden racket.

Upset Special

The Slazenger “Challenger No.1 Championship” racket used by Manuel Orantes during his 1975 victory over the defending champion Jimmy Connors. It was the first of three years the Open was played on clay.

Personal Touch

A Donnay Borg Pro, Bjorn Borg’s personal racket. Borg played in two of his four Open finals with a version of this racket. He lost all four finals; twice to Jimmy Connors and twice to John McEnroe.

Walk This Way

From left: Andy Roddick’s Babolat shoes, worn during his last U.S. Open match in 2012; Rod Laver’s shoes, worn during his 1969 U.S. Open victory, which was played on grass; Billie Jean King’s signature Adidas shoes.

Picture, Please

A camera belonging to Russ Adams, known as “the dean of tennis photographers.” He died last year at 86.

Nostalgia

Three seats from the original Louis Armstrong Stadium, which was demolished after the 2016 U.S. Open. Pete Sampras’s trophy for winning the 2002 U.S. Open final over Andre Agassi, Sampras’s last professional match. Cassette tapes, used by the eight-time wheelchair champion David Hall to hype himself up for matches.