Veterans invited to U.S. Open tennis series

Veterans are special guests at four popular tennis events this month in Atlanta, Cincinnati, New Haven and Winston-Salem.

Atlanta-area Veterans widely attended the BB&T Atlanta Open Military Appreciation Day games on August 1, 2015. The Atlanta games were the first of the U.S. Open Series that hosts Military Appreciation Days. The others include events in Cincinnati, Oh., as well as events going on now in New Haven, Conn., and Winston-Salem, N.C.

The Emirates Airline U.S. Open Series is the five-week summer tennis season that links seven North American hard-court tournaments to the final U.S. Open Grand Slam. BB&T Atlanta Open offered free tickets to the Atlanta VA Medical Center so Veterans could enjoy the action packed games, and they enjoyed front row seats at the Atlanta matches in recognition of and appreciation for their military service.

“The Department of Veterans Affairs and the U.S. Tennis Association have been working collaboratively to extend tennis events such as this to Veterans,” explained Atlanta VA spokesperson Eric Brown.

BB&T Atlanta Open assistant tournament director Peter Lebedevs said, “We were proud to host a Military Appreciation Day and look to grow the initiative in the future.”

VA and the USTA Foundation have a national partnership that makes tennis more accessible to Veterans. The partnership facilitates the formation of tennis clinics at VA medical facilities, links VA medical facilities with community resources and provides consulting and design services for VA facilities interested in upgrading or building tennis courts.

Lelia Jackson is the Director of VHA’s Office of Community Engagement which serves as a facilitator and entry point for public and private organizations interested in partnering with VHA in the service of Veterans.