By Ashley Marshall, USTA Foundation
The USTA Foundation, the charitable arm of the USTA, is the official charity of the BNP Paribas Showdown for the fourth consecutive year, and it will use the World Tennis Day event to raise both awareness of its programs and the funds needed to support them.
The Showdown will take place on March 6, 2017, at Madison Square Garden in New York and will feature three matches. Seven-time Grand Slam winner Venus Williams will face 2016 French Open winner Garbiñe Muguruza, 2009 US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro will square off against 2014 US Open finalist Kei Nishikori and world No. 13 Nick Kyrgios will play rising American star Jack Sock.
“The USTA Foundation is once again proud and honored to be a part of this celebratory event on its extraordinary 10th milestone,” said Dan Faber, executive director of the USTA Foundation. “GF Sports and MSG are outstanding partners as well as supporters, allowing us to use one of the grandest stages in sport to carry out our mission.
"World Tennis Day continues to make a positive impact on kids and families, and we make every effort to do the same. We are excited to collaborate in the spirit of changing lives and creating brighter futures through tennis.”
As well as the trio of exciting matches, the Foundation will also host a World Tennis Day reception, with exclusive packages benefitting Foundation-supported tennis and education programs across the country.
The USTA Foundation World Tennis Day Reception will raise funds to support the organization’s funding of scholarships and programming grants to under-resourced youth and the tennis and education programs they attend throughout the country. The majority of these programs are associated with the National Junior Tennis and Learning (NJTL) network.
The USTA Foundation supports programs nationwide that leverage tennis, education and life skills to prepare under-resourced youth for college and beyond. To date, the Foundation has awarded more than $22 million, benefitting thousands of children and adults through tennis, education and health programs and college scholarships.
"We are proud supporters of the USTA Foundation and glad to share this special event with them as we celebrate a decade of spreading the message of the positive outcomes tennis can have on young people throughout the country and the world,” said Jerry Solomon, executive producer of the BNP Paribas Showdown and creator of World Tennis Day.
Supporters can purchase a variety of packages that include a meet-and-greet with the players, player clinics, courtside tickets to attend the 2017 BNP Paribas Showdown and an exclusive opportunity to watch the players practice just before the event.
All packages as well as sponsorship opportunities are available at www.ustafoundation.com/worldtennisday.
Tickets for the BNP Paribas Showdown are available at the Madison Square Garden box office or through any Ticketmaster outlet.