2015 us open “valley of ashes” campaign

The Valley of Ashes project was born as NB Tennis looked at the history of tennis and its premiere event in the United States. With NB Tennis, we make efforts to tie into the history of tennis in New England, so Bob Smith and Milos Raonic started by looking at the history of New York Tennis for inspiration.

They were quickly drawn to the 1920s. It was a turning point as the premiere US tennis event, which returned from Philadelphia in 1924. Off the court, the world was emerging from the Great War and prospering in the Roaring Twenties. Around the world, Art Deco was the theme and in New York City the Chrysler Building was climbing into the sky.

Bob & Milos in their talks quickly looked to one of The Great American novels that is set in the twenties and New York City. As they dug further into this history, Valley of Ashes quickly rose to the forefront for its perfect double meaning. The Corona Ash Dump evolved first into Flushing Meadow-Corona Park and eventually into today’s home of New York City’s premiere tennis event.