This year, tennis is helping people heal in more ways than one
Sports like tennis may not be able to change what’s happened in the past. That would require a time machine made out of a DeLorean or a hot tub, the Quantum Realm, or some combination of the two. But tennis can help heal wounds from the past and serve both the present and the future. The U.S. Open has been close in more ways than one to the tragic events that happened on September 11,2001, otherwise known as 9/11. Every year, this Grand Slam tennis tournament takes place at the United States Tennis Association (USTA) Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park. This Center is located in Queens, New York City, only about ten miles from where the World Trade Center twin towers used to stand before airplane terrorist attacks took these iconic buildings down as part of the 9/11 tragedy. In addition to being close in proximity to the 9/11 Ground Zero site, the tournament takes place close in time to September 11 each year. The U.S. Open typically starts on the last Monday of August and then stretches for two weeks into September so that it either includes or immediately precedes September 11. And this year, the final Saturday of the tournament tomorrow will be on the 20-year anniversary of the September 11,2001, terrorist attacks that claimed nearly 3,000 lives, left many more with long-term health problems, and indelibly changed American society forever. So, the 2021 U.S. Open has been doing several things in remembrance of 9/11. Actually, make that over 100,000 things. First of all, they honored the families of 9/11 victims as part of their annual Lt. Joe Hunt Military Appreciation Day. Each year, on Labor Day for the past nine years, the U.S. Open has invited veterans of the five U.S. military service branches and their families to the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center to watch and play some tennis.
