Mount Sinai is celebrating its 12th year as the official hospital and medical services provider of the US Open Tennis Championships, which begins with Fan Week August 19-25 and continues with the Main Draw August 26-September 8. It is also Mount Sinai's 10th year in this capacity for the U.S. Teams for the Billie Jean King Cup and Davis Cup events.
Mount Sinai, one of the largest academic medical systems in New York, will continue to provide the highest level of health care in orthopedics, sports medicine, emergency medicine, musculoskeletal radiology, and more to the world's elite athletes onsite at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. The longstanding partnership between Mount Sinai and the USTA is rooted in shared core values of promoting health and wellness, preventing injuries, and meeting the needs of diverse populations.
The US Open, which began in 1881 as a men's-only game on grass courts in Newport, Rhode Island, is now held in Flushing, Queens, at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, named for Billie Jean King, a four-time US Open singles champion. Ms. King is admired as an early pioneer and a fierce advocate for gender and racial equality.
Alexis Colvin, MD, Professor of Orthopedics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (Icahn Mount Sinai), continues her dual roles as Chief Medical Officer of the US Open and U.S. Billie Jean King Cup Team Physician. She is joined again this year by Melissa Leber, MD, Associate Professor of Orthopedics, and Emergency Medicine, at Icahn Mount Sinai, who continues as the Director of Player Medical Services of the US Open. Together, Drs. Colvin and Leber will lead a team of renowned orthopedic surgeons, sports medicine physicians, emergency medicine physicians, musculoskeletal radiologists, and other specialists from Mount Sinai. James Gladstone, MD, Chief of the Sports Medicine Service and Associate Professor of Orthopedics at Icahn Mount Sinai, will also continue as the official U.S. Davis Cup Team Physician, in addition to supporting the Player Medical Services team at the US Open.
Dr. Colvin is the first Asian American and first woman to hold the title of Chief Medical Officer at the US Open, a role she has held since 2013, when Mount Sinai first entered into a partnership (renewed in 2023) with the USTA. A board certified orthopedic and sports medicine surgeon, Dr. Colvin has served as a physician at the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Training Center and serves on the boards of several organizations supporting athletes and health. She is also one of a very small cadre of female orthopedic surgeons (7 percent) in an extremely male-dominated field.
"For the 12th year, we are proud to return to the grounds of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center with our multidisciplinary team of medical experts," Dr. Colvin said. "For the three-week duration of the US Open, our team essentially brings the hospital to the tournament grounds. With a broad suite of services, our expert specialists can cater to virtually any player needs."
Mount Sinai provides a wide spectrum of services on the grounds, including orthopedics, internal medicine, primary care, emergency medicine, musculoskeletal radiology, acupuncture, podiatry, dermatology, an onsite pharmacy, and onsite blood sample draws. Mental health services are also available remotely, along with the full complement of services at The Mount Sinai Hospital itself.
"As one of very few female orthopedic surgeons, I am so proud to serve athletes in a sport such as tennis where women athletes share equal prominence. With so much progress to celebrate, including the emergence of many young, powerful female players, some of whom are mothers, it makes for a truly inspirational event. Adding to this, it is with great pride that I work shoulder to shoulder with the US Open, which has paved the way for female athletes in many important ways, including its impressive track record of more than 50 years of offering equal prize money to female athletes," Dr. Colvin said.
Dr. Leber is a dual board certified physician in emergency medicine and sports medicine and is registered in musculoskeletal ultrasonography. She brings years of experience in sideline sports medicine care, which encompasses prevention, examination, treatment, and rehab, and diagnostic and ultrasound-guided procedures to the athletes at the US Open. An avid tennis player herself, Dr. Leber brings combined expertise in emergency care and sports medicine to her leadership role in in the sports medicine field. Her work has focused on helping ensure a safe environment for play and achieving more targeted and effective results in returning athletes of all ages. She has worked as a physician, medical liaison, and consultant for the NBA, NFL, and other professional sports leagues throughout the United States.
"Tennis is a lifelong sport. As a child, you learn balance and coordination and develop the mental fortitude to improve and continually make tangible gains. Whether children play competitively or just for fun, it's important for them to learn how to win and lose, as this provides a mental and emotional framework for failures and successes as they get older," said Dr. Leber. "For adults, the social, emotional, and physical benefits of tennis are second to none. From the competitive adult tennis player to couples playing together on the weekend, tennis is a sport for everyone to get into to maintain health and well-being. Just because you have an injury or even arthritis, it doesn't mean you can't adjust your game to continue playing."
In addition to the ongoing support of the US Open by the Departments of Orthopedics and Emergency Medicine, this is the 10th consecutive year that the Department of Diagnostic, Molecular, and Interventional Radiology at Mount Sinai will offer onsite diagnostic ultrasound and radiographic examinations to the tennis players for the diagnosis of musculoskeletal injuries. This group, led by Carlos Benitez, MD, Director of Musculoskeletal Imaging at Mount Sinai West and Associate Professor of Diagnostic, Molecular, and Interventional Radiology at Icahn Mount Sinai, works closely with the tournament multispecialty medical team to provide quick imaging consultations.
"Imaging is critical to injury diagnosis and treatment. We leverage the latest radiology technology onsite during the US Open tournament to facilitate radiological examinations that are timely," said Dr. Benitez.
