One of his contributions to the game was the development of the Van Alen Streamlined Scoring System (VASSS) which, among other elements, advocated a sudden-death tie breaker to end prolonged sets and matches.

Van Alen actively promoted his system and in 1970 the U.S Open became the first Grand Slam tournament to introduce, on an experimental basis, the tie-break.

He was a great fan of Clement C. Moore's famous poem A Visit from Saint Nicholas which is more commonly known as Twas the Night Before Christmas.

He purchased and restored the Clement C. Moore house on Catherine Street in Newport, RI and would make an annual public reading of the poem to children during the Christmas season.

Two days after Van Alen’s death, on July 5, 1991, in a Wimbledon semifinal, Stefan Edberg lost to Michael Stich 6–4, 6–7(5–7), 6–7(5–7), 6–7(2–7) without losing his serve once throughout the match.

In the first round of the 2010 Wimbledon Championships, American John Isner and French qualifier Nicolas Mahut played the longest match in tennis history, measured both by time and number of games.