Every day before the day and night sessions begin on the main show court, the national anthem is sung by talented young vocalists from around the country.
A total of 189 children ages 12 and under auditioned for the USTA Casting Call at Radio City Music Hall in June, and 20 were selected to perform patriotic-themed songs in front of sellout crowds in Arthur Ashe during the Open.
Sunday's national anthem was sung by a very talented six-year-old from Kissimmee, Fla., Gina Marie Incandala. Just before Roger Federer and Radek Stepanek took to the court for their Labor Day weekend showdown, Incandala blew the crowd away with her performance of "The Star Spangled Banner."
Incandala, who was diagnosed with autism at the age of 2, earned a standing ovation around the stadium after singing the national anthem with a voice one might expect to hear coming from an experienced adult singer.
Her mother, Michelle, said Gina began singing at 4 years old, when her doctor recommended she use music and singing as a form of therapy for her autism. Singing, Michelle said, has improved Gina's speech skills and is helping her overcome the disability.
Gina's amazing voice and unique story have garnered national attention, and she has done quite a bit of traveling this year to sing at major sporting and charity events.
Her audition tape from an audition in Kissimmee to sing at a Houston Astros spring training game in January helped boost her popularity, and she was soon performing at the New York Mets' Shea Stadium, the Astros' Minute Maid Park and the Florida Marlins' Dolphin Stadium. Her upcoming events, which have her booked through March 2009, include charity events and an Orlando Magic game.
"She has gotten so popular that the bookings just came really quickly," Michelle said, "and now she'll soon have her own CD single coming out, hopefully in September."
While many people might be intimidated at the thought of taking the spotlight in front of an audience of thousands of people, Gina actually prefers the larger audience and feels the most comfortable when she takes the stage.
"She's very comfortable in front of a crowd, and she likes it more than she does performing in small, intimate settings," Michelle said. "But she really enjoys the experience of singing, and you can see it when she performs."
Like many young girls her age, Gina said her favorite songs to sing are those from Disney's popular High School Musical. And when asked what she wanted to be when she grows up, Gina had no hesitation in her reply: "I want to be a rock star."
Seven-year-old Gillian Koch, from Demarest, N.J., is scheduled to sing "America the Beautiful" before Sunday's night session.
Among some of the talent featured throughout the two weeks of the Open are a group of five brothers, Carmine, Francesco, Gaetano, Leonardo and Marconi D'Auria-Gupta, from Rockville Centre, New York, and a sister duo from Brooklyn, Maria and Irena Kogarova.
In addition to Incandela, Koch and the D'Auria-Gupta and Kogarova siblings, other featured performers were Elijah Boothe, Alexis Deblasio, Sasha Delaquis, Brooke Demetri, Owen Doherty, Davia Echols, James E. Keelen, Jr., Elijah Lawrence, Lydia Manuel, Beatrice Miller and Calen Santos.
