Deborah Antoine and Jenny Duncalf to Headline 2017 Women in Sports Day at U.S. Open

Deborah Antoine (l) and Jenny Duncalf.

The fourth-annual Women in Sports Day at the 2017 United States Open presented by Macquarie Investment Management will be held on Tuesday October 10 at Drexel University.

Deborah Antoine will be the keynote speaker at Women in Sports Day. Since January, Antoine has served as the CEO of the Women’s Sports Foundation. The WSF was founded by Billie Jean King in 1974 and is one of America’s most important institutions dedicated to creating leaders by ensuring all girls have access to sports.

A nationally-ranked tennis player, Antoine had previously served as the President and CEO of New York Junior Tennis & Learning, the nation’s largest tennis and education program that serves more than 75,000 children in the five boroughs of New York City. “I’m excited to come to Philadelphia and help celebrate Women in Sports Day at the U.S. Open,” Antoine said. “Last month we celebrated the forty-fifth anniversary of Title IX, so this a great moment to stand back and applaud the successes in the squash community to achieve parity, access and equality and to look forward to what we can still do in the future.”

Jenny Duncalf will receive a special Women in Sports Day recognition award. Duncalf, the world No.29 from England, has been the President of the PSA women’s division since the historic merger of the men’s and women’s tour two and a half years ago. “During this critical time of transition in the pro tour, Jenny has been essential,” said Ashley Bernhard, the deputy chairman of the PSA. “She has been a brilliantly thoughtful leader. Her dedication to equality, equal prize money and equal access on the pro tour has helped bring squash to a new level and made it a leader in the global sports community.”

Previous honorees at Women in Sports Day at the U.S. Open include Kasey Brown, the former world No. 5 and pro tour President; Anne Farrell, the longest-serving US Squash employee in history; Alicia McConnell, the former world No. 14 and USOC leader; and last year Maria Toorpakai, the Pakistani squash player and women’s rights advocate.

Women in Sports Day includes a SquashSmarts girls practice run by world-ranked PSA women pros; matches by world-class female athletes on the ASB GlassCourt; and the cocktail reception, remarks and awards presentation beginning at 5pm. The reception will be courtside in the Daskalakis Athletic Center.

Purchase tickets for Women in Sports Day here.