GLOBAL SUPERSTAR SHANIA TWAIN TO HEADLINE 2017 US OPEN OPENING NIGHT CEREMONY ON MONDAY, AUGUST 28th !

The Reigning Queen of Country Pop to Perform Classic Songs along with New Hits from Her Album “ NOW ” to be Released September 29th....

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July 13, 2017, White Plains, N.Y.  -- The United States Tennis Association today announced that global superstar Shania Twain will headline the Opening Night Ceremony for the 2017 US Open on Monday evening, August 28, in Arthur Ashe Stadium at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.  The ceremony will be televised live on ESPN2 in the United States and by a host of international broadcasters around the world.

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Twain is expected to sing some of her biggest hits, as well as songs from her upcoming album entitled “NOW,” her first album release since 2002.  The album will be released onSeptember 29.  Prior to Twain’s performance, USTA Chairman of the Board Katrina Adams and tennis icon Billie Jean King will kick off the 20th Anniversary celebration of Arthur Ashe Stadium which opened in 1997.  Twain’s performance, which coincides with the 20th Anniversary of her blockbuster album “Come On Over,” will be followed by a special rendition of the National Anthem by a performer to be named later who will be accompanied by the FDNY Color Guard and NYPD Honor Guard for the 16th consecutive year.

 

With more than 90 million albums sold worldwide, Twain is the top-selling female country artist of all time.  She is a five-time GRAMMY Award winner, and is considered the reigning Queen of Country Pop.  Twain’s albums include “Shania Twain,” Twain’s platinum-selling 1993 debut; “The Woman in Me,” her GRAMMY winning, double-diamond selling 1995 release; “Come on Over,” the best-selling studio album in Soundscan history by a female artist in any genre and the best-selling country album of all time with more than 40 million units sold worldwide; and “UP!,” her third consecutive diamond-selling album release.  Twain is the first, and only, female to receive CMT’s Artist of a Lifetime Award, and she recently received the Icon Award at Billboard’s Women in Music ceremony.  

 

Twenty years ago, the US Open was transformed by the introduction of Arthur Ashe Stadium. The new centerpiece of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, Arthur Ashe Stadium provided the game’s greats – and its greatest fans – with a stage unmatched in the sport’s annals. Boasting a capacity of more than 23,000, Arthur Ashe Stadium became the largest tennis-only stadium in the world, allowing the Open to welcome more than half a million more fans than when its namesake won the men’s singles championship in 1968. In 2016, the stadium added a retractable roof, banishing rain delays to the historical record and ensuring that its loyal legion of supporters would continue to experience the grandeur of US Open tennis – and again providing the ultimate showcase for the world’s finest players to complete the toughest two weeks in tennis in the highest of styles.

 

The USTA is the national governing body for the sport of tennis in the U.S. and the leader in promoting and developing the growth of tennis at every level -- from local communities to the highest level of the professional game. A not-for-profit organization with more than 715,000 members, it invests 100% of its proceeds in growing the game. It owns and operates the US Open, the highest-attended annual sporting event in the world, and launched the US Open Series, linking seven summer WTA and ATP World Tour tournaments to the US Open. In addition, it owns approximately 90 Pro Circuit events throughout the U.S. and selects the teams for the Davis Cup, Fed Cup, Olympic and Paralympic Games. The USTA’s philanthropic entity, the USTA Foundation, provides grants and scholarships in addition to supporting tennis and education programs nationwide to benefit under-resourced youth through the National Junior Tennis & Learning (NJTL) network.