US Open to Recognize and Remember Those Affected by Tragic Events of 9/11
September 10, 2021
FLUSHING, N.Y., September 10, 2021 – The USTA will recognize and remember all those affected by the terrorist attacks that took place in New York, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C., twenty years ago on 9/11/01.
Prior to the start of the Women’s Singles Championship on September 11, a special ceremony will be conducted on-court in Arthur Ashe Stadium. Two-time Tony Award nominee, and co-star of the recently released film adaptation of “In the Heights,” Daphne Rubin-Vega will perform the National Anthem. Rubin-Vega will be accompanied by a guitarist and string trio comprised of Broadway musicians. During the performance, female cadets from the U.S. Military Academy in West Point will unfurl a giant American Flag across the court. The US Open will apply a 9-11-01 stencil on the court surface as it has done on previous 9/11 remembrances.
“9/11 is a very solemn day in our nation’s history, and it is important to recognize and honor all that we lost on that day twenty years ago,” said USTA Chairman of the Board and President Mike McNulty. “Yet it is equally important for all of us to honor those affected by that tragedy and remember those lost by giving back to our communities. That is our challenge to the entire tennis community here in the U.S.”
Earlier in the tournament, on Lt. Joe Hunt Military Appreciation Day, the US Open conducted an on-court ceremony that featured a presentation of flags to three families who lost family members at the three terrorist attack locations. The families receiving the flags, the Homer Family, the Vigiano Family and Pycior Family, each lost a family member at one of the three terrorist attack locations. In Pennsylvania, LeRoy Homer was the First Officer on Flight 93. Joe Vigiano was New York Police Officer, and sadly his brother John, a member of the FDNY, also died responding to the attack. Joseph Pycior, a Navy Petty Officer First Class, was on active duty serving at the Pentagon on 9/11.
The USTA and the USTA Foundation are supporting the world-wide efforts of the 9/11 Day of Service and Remembrance. The organization’s ongoing mission is to transform the anniversary of 9/11 into a worldwide day of unity and doing good, and to encourage millions of people to remember and pay tribute each year on 9/11 through good deeds that help others and rekindle the extraordinary spirit of togetherness and compassion that arose in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 tragedy. Through the efforts of the USTA Foundation and its NJTL network of community tennis organizations that provide opportunities for underserved youth, tennis is committing to 100,000 good deeds to help the 9/11 Day organizers reach its goal of 20 million good deeds for the 20th Anniversary of 9/11.