11 September 2026: 25th U.S. Open 9/11 Editon

The Williams sisters 2001 U.S. Open finals match marked the first women’s singles final broadcast in prime time, the first-ever all-Black and first sister-versus-sister Grand Slam final in modern tennis history. Venus, who remains on tour today — did not lose a set during the entire championship. 

Over in the men’s draw, Australian Lleyton Hewitt (whose own son, 17-year-old Cruz Lleyton ( ATP No. 354 ) reached the 2026 Boys Wimbledon Final) destroyed “Pistol” Pete Sampras, 7-6(7-4). 6-1, 6-1, and in those days (August 27 to September 9, 2001) writers could still use verbs like ‘destroyed’ over ‘bageled,’ as well as a gun adjective when describing a player. Relish Pistol Pete: It may be the last time you see it. The 2001 U.S. Open can safely be called the last Grand Slam before my generation (Generation X) did lose “our innocence.” It was bound to happen, hwoever, even without the devastating event to mark it. Hewitt was the first millennial male to win a major title and to hoist the Tiffany Cup, 7–6 (7-4), 6–1, 6–1.

Just days before the Twin Towers fell, Andy Roddick — the future of American tennis — served to stay in his quarter-final match against Hewitt, but a code violation sent him spinning and Hewitt passed him down the line for a 6-7, 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 victory in three hours and 40 minutes. “I don’t remember anything about the match after that point,” Roddick said. “I told myself to stick to my guns and try to keep playing. I really needed to push it out of my mind. It’s pretty disheartening when you fight for that long and something like that happens.”

Two days later, he told ESPN that he had tickets to a concert in New York City when the planes hit the Twin Towers. “I was in New York, and I woke up the next morning at my parents house and just saw it,” Roddick said. “Like anybody else, you’re just shocked. You know, it was a place you were the day before.”

Originally scheduled to be played directly on the 10th anniversary of 9/11, officials delayed the 2011 US Open men's singles final to Monday, 12 Sept. “to heavy rains” earlier in the tournament. Novak Djokovic took the court in an FDNY cap to pay tribute during the trophy ceremony.

9/11 Anniversaries at Queens

On 11 September 2021 — the 20-year anniversary of 9/11 and just a year after the eerie Covid-19 2020 Pandemic Open (possibly how the U.S. Open might have felt had Al Qaeda chosen to strike the Twin Towers on 4 September 2001) — England’s ultimately fizzled breakthrough, Emma Raducanu (WTA No 70), defeated Canada’s ultimately fizzled breakthrough, Leylah Fernandez (WTA No. 33) in the women’s championship final to become the first British woman to win a singles major since Virginia Wade at the 1977 Wimbledon Championships. Raducanu has not won anything since. On the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 Attacks, over in Flushing Meadows, Novak Djokovic (ATP No. 5) defeated Alexander Zverev (ATP No. 2) in five sets, while Daniil Medvedev (ATP No. 8) picked off Felix Auger-Aliassime (ATP No. 4) followed by Djokovic in three hits of 6-4 to take home the Tiffany Cup — a final repeated two years later with victor reversed.

The doyen of tennis reporting, Christopher Clarey (top left), says nothing much has improved about the US Open’s dive-bar-closing time (bottom right) matches — such as those of Zheng Qinwen (WTA No. 121) and Alexander Zverev (ATP No. 2) since the 2001 U.S. Open, which ended two days before the modern world changed forever. 

More on 9/11 anniversaries, but first… the news

While the journalists and pundits may have dispensed complaining about influencers, the topic du jour has been the beyond-dive-bar-late match finishes. If the U.S. Open doesn’t do something about the scheduling, the journalists — and the city — might make them an offer they can’t refuse. Even the “doyen of tennis” Christopher Clarey made clear that he could still be a wild-eyed night owl — and 2 a.m. matches could be great for latecomers (sneaking down from nosebleed to court side; no traffic on the way home) — he grumbled (!) and accused the USTA of sleep deprivation (!!). “The US Open, based on recent studies… likes to promote tennis as ‘the world’s healthiest sport’: even deploying the slogan as a digital on-court graphic in Ashe Stadium,” he wrote in his Tennis & Beyond Substack. “Depriving top athletes and their entourages of quality sleep and proper recovery makes a mockery of this.”

Today men’s singles semifinals take place — happening the 25th anniversary of, 11 September puts Alexander Zverev (ATP No. 2) against the unseeded Karen Khachanov (ATP No. 50)l followed by an all-American historic showdown between Ben Shelton (ATP No. 9) and Frances Tiafoe (ATP No. 12), guaranteeing there will be a Black man in the U.S. Open Final since Arthur Ashe in 1972. (Their semi-final match is the very first time ever two Black men have played against each other at a U.S. Open semifinal. 

On the Women’s Women’s Singles draw, for the first time since 1975, the top four seeds in the women’s singles have reached the semi-finals at the New York major. Aryna Sabalenka (WTA No. 2), Elena Rybakina (WTA No. 1), Jessica Pegula (WTA No. 4) and Coco Gauff WTA No. 3) survived three-set East-coast nail biters to create the first Top-4 seed prediction since Chris Evert (WTA No. 1) won the first of her four U.S. Open Finals in 1975. She defeated the determined Martina Navratilova (WTA No. 3), the day before Navratilova (Evert’s friend and rival) defected to the United States. At the other end of the draw, Evonne Googalong Cawley (WTA No. 4) took out Britain’s last great hope [Wimbledon champ Virginia Wade (WTA No. 2). Chris Evert defeated Evonne Cawley in the final, 5–7, 6–4, 6–2 

The last time the seeds came out as predicted — WTA Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4 — took place in a year when Virginia Wade (the last Brit to win Wimbledon) succumbed to Goolagong and Evert ended Martina Navatilova’s Open final AND defection dreams. She declared without the trophy in hand.

Fifty years later, a two-time defending champion Belarusian “Le Tigre” Sabalenka toppled a good portion of American goodwill when taking out New Yorker Jessica Pegula (WTA No. 3) 7-5 6-2 to advance to her TK final in TK years. Just a few hours later Russian-Kazakh, Elena Rybakina (WTA No.. 1) — and friend of Pegula — dared do the same after Coco Gauff (WTA No. 4) allowed her to crawl back from one set down to defeat her. Rybakina is guaranteed to end Sabalenka’s 99-week reign as WTA No. 1 whether she wins or she doesn’t on Monday. Rybakina could only could rub more salt in Sabalenka’s wounds if she can deny her a third successive US Open title. 

Back to the U.S. Open Honors 9/11 

Pete Sampras, the 2001 U.S. Open runner-up in 2001, won his fifth US Open title, and his 14th and final Grand Slam title, defeating his rival Andre Agassi in the 2002 final in four sets. 

The first anniversary of 9/11/01 — the day on which two commercial airlines driven by Al Qaeda Islamist terrorist group hit the skyscrapers most associated with U.S. capitalism — even though 9/11/2002 didn’t fall within the tournament date, the USTA put on the “Salute to Heroes,” a special tribute to the “Big Apple’s enduring grit,” it said, with NYPD, FDNY and Port Authority color guards receiving standing ovations for unfurling a large “Heroes Flag” across the court. Tony Bennett sang “America the Beautiful,” while Queen Latifah performed the American national anthem. All four of the semifinals had an American competitor, which New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg called “special” on opening night. 

Ten+ years later after Ground Zero

By the time the 2011 U.S. Open rolled around — the tenth anniversary of the 11 September attacks — the Williams sisters were still trying to take each other out in the second weeks, dancing around eight, white characters (09/11/01) painted on the green area surrounding the blue acrylic court surface of Arthur Ashe Stadium. Before the women’s singles final played on 11 September 2011, Queen Latifah once again made an appearance and delivered a soulful rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” backed by the Jubilation Choir while the Heroes Flag coming out again. 

Andy Roddick playing in the fourth round of the 2001 U.S. Open just three days before the Twin Towers in downtown Manhattan fell. 

The USTA, by then, had developed a standing tradition of honoring 9/11 victims and heroes, beginning at the 2002 US Open, then whenever the date fell within the schedule (ultimately another 13 times). And even though the pressure of the most significant tennis match of Australian Samantha Stosur’s (former WTA No. 4) life fell on the day before 11 September 2011, the patriotism may have rattled Serena Williams (former WTA No. 1), who had missed half of the 2011 tennis season due to a pulmonary embolism, just enough to forget her power. The 2011 was Stosur’s only Grand Slam singles title and not only the last U.S.Open for an Australian player since, but also the first one for an Australian woman since Margaret Court (Ashleigh Barty only ever made it to the fourth round of the U.S. Open before retiring in 2022. 

The younger Williams practically melted on the home acrylic arena giving Stosur her first and only grand slam singles trophy. It had been Williams’ fourth 14th Grand Slam appearance, overall; Stosur also overcame a tirade unleashed by Williams against the umpire, Eva Asderaki — then a young Greek in her eighth year — who called a hindrance during a Williams winner. “‘You’re a hater and unattractive inside. What a loser,’ Williams let rip at Asderaki.” The Guardian reported then. Two days later, Novak Djokovic took the court in an FDNY cap to commemorate the fall of the World Trade Center while accepting the Tiffany Cup for winning the tournament over defending champion Rafael Nadal — 6–2, 6–4, 6–7(3-7), 6–1 — in a rematch of the previous year’s final. The day marked Djokovic’s first U.S. Open title and fourth major title overall. Andy Roddick, America’s last, great hope, had retired by then. 

The simple marking reads "9/11/01” and was added Friday night ahead of the four 2021 U.S. Open matches to be contested to be contested on the 20th anninversary weekend...

Prior to the start of the 2021 US Open women’s singles championship on 11 September, USTA Officials conducted another special ceremony on-court in Arthur Ashe Stadium with two-time Tony Award nominee Daphne Rubin-Vega, who performed the national anthem. Prior to the Emma-Raducanu/Leylah-Fernandez record-setting — and Alexander Zverev’s second — Grand Slam final defeats, the USTA and the USTA Foundation also promoted the 9/11 Day of Service and Remembrance — an ongoing mission to transform every 9/11 anniversary into a worldwide day of unity and good works, as well as to encourage millions to rekindle “the extraordinary spirit of togetherness and compassion in the immediate aftermath of 9/11.” 

20+ years later after Ground Zero

Good luck with that — at least while trying to get good courts in large American cities. The coronavirus and then the prolonged after-effects of Covid-19 — the need for a fun, social distancing sport — drove a 22 per cent increase in tennis participation throughout the early 2020s, setting a new high in 2025 to 27.3 million American players. This marked a consistent upward trajectory with a participation rate of close to nine percent of the U.S. population. 

Pictured above: Daphne Rubin-Vega performs the national anthem during the 9/11 observance ahead of the 2021 US Open women's singles final.. 

Five years later, the US Open plans to mark the 25th anniversary of the 11 September Twin Tower 2001 attacks on Friday. Starting with scheduled moments of silence, special pre-match recognition ceremonies, and visual tributes throughout the grounds of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, the USTA has also decked out Arthur Ashe Stadium in glowing light blue from dusk until dawn — a so-called “Tribute in Light” honoring the lives lost and celebrating New York’s unbreakable spirit and strength with the words “Never Forget” and the date “9/11/01” prominently displayed on the LED Screens inside of Arthur Ashe Stadium and around the grounds. All American flags across the Billie Jean King U.S. Tennis Center have been ordered half-mast and throughout the morning, the grounds will pause operations and hold site wide moments of reflection, acknowledging the timeline of the towers’ fall in New York, the crash on the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and the plane crash in Shanksville, Pa. 

Each of the two main draw sessions will feature dedicated ceremonies to honor the victims and survivors of the 11/09/01 attacks, starting with a moment of silence.Before the 3 p.m. men’s semifinal, retired U.S. Army Sergeant Major MaryKay Messenger, who served at West Point at the time of the attacks, will perform the national anthem, as the Port Authority Police Department rolls out the colors and conducts a coin toss ceremony. Ahead of the second men’s singles semifinal, acclaimed pop/R&B artist JoJo will deliver "The Star-Spangled Banner," joined by New York Vocal Collective and the colors presented by the NYPD Color Guard and the FDNY Honor Guard.

The artist Blair (Breitenstein) Williams sells her giclee print on heavyweight, museum-quality etching paper with a velvety smooth surface at www.blairbreitenstein.com

RALLY SMASHES: US Open Artists 

New York attracts creatives at every corner — in the subways, on the bridges, copying the greats in the museums — tennis courts prove no exception. In fact, several New York City public tennis court instructors are also artists, Most, however, just bring their medium of choice to the BJK Courts, grab a gimbal or a film friend, make a painting, dash off a quick film and share it in TikTok or Instagram. Buying original art — from the typewriter dashings of James Cook Artwork to TK at the Open doesn’t require an Honor Titus-size load from Gagosian, either. Grab some of that paper the old folks used to call cash and wander around the outer-court matches. Within about 15 to 30 minutes, a creative with a pad and paper on easel has popped up in the stands. Either that, or they have posted a quick TikTok or Instagram using #U.S.Openartwork #tennisartwork search and something turns up. One artist, Blair Breitenstein (above), influenced by high fashion photography, takes fashion forward photos and uses pastels and watercolours to draw the viewer into her own new quirky, abstract world. 

Tennis star Aryna Sabalenka (left) wore a Nike player kit and jewelry suite by Material Goods to wear during he 2026 US Open Tennis Championships. The jewels amounted to a 127-carats mix of sapphires, garnet and zircon,. 

RALLY SHANKS: U.S. Open Kit

While the Ralph Lauren collection announced for the first time that it would sponsor a player — Alex de Minaur (ATP No. 7)— the rate of influencers and officials wearing their shoes (as bright as some of their camera lights) could get the major brand slapped with hindrance calls. But the All-American brand as well as its rivals Nike and Lululemon, and some of the others, might also take a cue from the acrylic runway: no more florescents; no more basketball-inspired jerseys; no more see-through Times-Square-themed dresses. 

But Sabalenka — after having a go at The Athletic reporter, Matthew Futterman who semi-suggested that the former WTA No. 1 was over-committed — defended her divisive US Open Nike kit that’s received mixed reviews. “I love it,” Sabalenka said of the orange and black mesh dress she sported during the tournament. “So who cares about people, right? All that matters for me is that I love it… Plus it’s really cool for pictures,” she added. Naomi Osaka only added to the runway, fashion-week atmosphere by wearing Nike-sponsored warm-ups inspired by basketball player Alan Iverson and others. Taylor Townsend and others have started taking Naomi’s cue. Every few years Glastonbury takes a year off to heal the land; Rally is wondering is the U.S. Open fashion district needs a breather, too. 

The Fort Lee Racquet Club, a year-round indoor facility with lots of court time, lessons, groups and competition, about 10 minutes over the GW Bridge.

TENNIS CLUB OF THE WEEK: The Fort Lee Racquet Club

Fort Lee Racquet Club (Tennis Prime): This a no-muss, no-fuss kind of tennis club, but just five to ten minutes from the GW Bridge, the Fort Lee Racquet club gets the job done — at about 30 percent less than the BJK Tennis Center in Queens, probably the least expensive option in the city. Built in the early 1970s, the Fort Lee Racquet Club has nonetheless maintained its five “Deco Turf” acrylic courts and added LED lighting, as well as a lounge. As far as coaching and competition, Fort Lee has recently added the services of Tennis Prime, a high-performance, mostly junior-oriented school of tennis led by Ivan Krcelic, a good-looking, good-natured Argentinian who has helped juniors win championships, secure scholarships and excel in top tournaments. But Fort Lee, a community tennis center open to all, also helps pickleball-adverse adults.

The Althea Effect. Jordan Lee, U,S. Open Juniors, Words and photos by Rex Miller

The Althea Effect: Jordan Lee

Notes from a cinematographer.

Jordan Lee.
There’s an explosiveness to his tennis that photographs well.
Explosive legs. Explosive racket.
And the instincts of a shotmaker.
He sees the court.

US Open, 2026.Words and pictures by Rex Miller