Five things we learned about Arthur Ashe Stadium’s new roof

5:19 PM ET

Billie Jean King stood at the modest speaker’s stand Tuesday afternoon, patiently jabbing at the controller used to open and close the new $150 million roof over Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Nothing happened.

Flustered, King hit the button a few more times while concerned USTA officials huddled and communicated with the control center. After a delay of about 10 minutes, the steel and polyester fabric roof slid open even quicker than it had closed (5 minutes, 12 seconds), concluding the initial test drive.

For the first time in US Open history, there will be a roof will be in place over center court to protect against inclement weather. Alex Goodlett/Getty Images

Later, USTA executive director Gordon Smith and National Tennis Center chief operating executive Danny Zausner explained the glitch.

“There are 16 clamps that engage and trigger sensors when the roof is properly engaged,” Smith said. “One of the sensors signaled that it was out of alignment and asked for a system reboot. It was basically saying, ‘Hold everything, check me out.'”

With that, here are five things to know about the roof and how it might affect play — and spectating — at the upcoming US Open:

1. It blocks the rain … and the sun

One reason the roof opens and closes so quickly is because a large portion of the roof is permanently in place. Much of the air space above the north and south portions of the stadium is covered with a steel framework and the same durable PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) fabric as the two panels that slide together from the east and west to form the completed roof.

This will have some practical benefits for players and spectators alike: large portions of the least expensive seats in the upper section of the 24,000 seat stadium will have …

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