JoJo at the U.S. Open will mark the 25th anniversary of 9/11 with ceremonies during day and night sessions this year. Kathleen Maycen, whose daughter Lindsay Stapleton Morehouse was at the U.S. Open in 2001, said she will be there despite the date still feeling painful.
“Sometimes I have chosen to be out of the country on purpose. It’s very painful still, but this year I’m going to be here,” Maycen said. The tournament is set to pause for remembrance during both sessions, giving the anniversary a public place inside Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Arthur Ashe Stadium and 9/11
This is the 11th time since 2001 that the U.S. Open has played matches on Sept. 11. In 2001, the USTA stenciled “9-11-01” on the Arthur Ashe Stadium court ahead of finals weekend for the 10-year anniversary, and the tournament again used the date to mark remembrance in later years.
Players have also carried the date into match play. Novak Djokovic wore an FDNY hat during his walk-out and post-match celebration in 2011, Stan Wawrinka referenced the attacks in 2016, and Casper Ruud did the same in 2022. Leylah Fernandez paid tribute after losing the 2021 final to Emma Raducanu.
Morehouse and Maycen
The anniversary reaches beyond the court because Lindsay Stapleton Morehouse was on the 89th floor of the South Tower on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001. She had played mixed doubles at Pine Orchard Yacht & Country Club in Branford, Conn. during championship weekend in 2001, when the 2001 U.S. Open championship weekend was the last major New York sporting event before 9/11.
Venus Williams and Serena Williams had already reached the first Grand Slam final between two siblings in modern tennis history on Friday, Sept. 7, 2001. That final sat just days before the attacks, and the same event now returns to the date that families such as Maycen’s still mark in public and in private.
The open question is which specific ceremonies and tributes will be held during the day and night sessions this year. For readers heading to the U.S. Open, the practical takeaway is simple: the tournament will pause for remembrance, and the day carries the weight of both tennis history and personal memory.
