Remembering Richard Lynch, The Best Tennis Player Who Died On September 11

By Randy Walker

@TennisPublisher

I never made it down to see the September 11 Memorial in New York City until June 21, 2024.

The memorial was opened on September 12, 2011 and the Freedom Tower was not finished and opened until  2014. For some reason, I didn’t make it down to this hallowed ground until 13 years after it opened, even though I personally saw the towers burn, as I documented when I was driving the U.S. Open men’s singles trophy back to Flushing Meadows, as you can read here https://worldtennismagazine.com/the-u-s-open-trophys-journey-on-september-11-2001/

The 9/11 Memorial features two huge holes in the ground, where the footprint of where towers once stood, and cascading waterfalls depositing water into a reflecting pool below. Around the top outer barrier of the footprint features the names of all of the victims engraved in the bronze.

On that late June afternoon in 2024, as soon as I started to approach the pools, I immediately thought of Richard Lynch, who was the most accomplished tennis player who died in the attack. I never met Richard but I remember watching him play in college when I was at the University of Georgia and he was playing for the University of South Carolina. He was a big guy with a big lefty serve and I remember him playing No. 1 doubles for the Gamecocks when they came to Athens to play our Bulldog team. He was only playing doubles then after having back surgery, but he was a top nationally-ranked junior player from the USTA Eastern section, growing up Douglaston, N.Y., the same hometown as John and Patrick McEnroe. At age, 30 on 2001, he worked at Euro Brokers in the Twin Towers on the 84^th floor. He is the son of Dick Lynch, a former football star with the New York Giants and Notre Dame.

I wanted to find Richard’s name itched in the bronze. The only problem was there are 2,983 names commemorated on the outer rim of the pools and it would probably take a long time to find it. I walked towards the more southeastern tower, and started to focus on the names. I quickly deduced that the names were not listed in alphabetical order, but as I learned later, they were arranged by meaningful adjacencies, such as being co-workers. This would make it a lot more difficult to find his name.

However, after only about two minutes of glancing at names, Richard Lynch’s name appeared before me. I thought it kind of crazy that I could have found his name so quickly. It was almost as though I was guided there. Maybe, spiritually, he guided me to his name so I could help to make sure he was not forgotten. Patricia Jensen, the mother of Luke and Murphy Jensen, called me during this visit and I told her the same at the eeriness of how quickly I found his name. When I look back at the photos I took that day on my Iphone, I noticed that there is a pigeon that is sitting right at the place of where Richard’s name is engraved. There are theories about birds and the spirits of people who have passed away.

Fast forward to years later and I get contacted by Lukas Weese with The Athletic and the New York Times during the 2026 U.S. Open. He was working on a 25th anniversary story on 9/11 and connections to the U.S. Open as he read my article on the U.S. Open Trophy’s Journey on September 11. I began to tell him my story, but then had to tell him about Lynch, who was the best tennis player to die in the attack. I wasn’t sure if he had family still around to talk about him, but Lukas, being the good reporter he is, tracked down his wife and featured him, along with another big tennis enthusiast and player, Lindsay Moorehouse, who also died in the attack in his article that can be read here: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7583828/2026/09/11/us-open-9-11-remembrance-tribute-anniversary/?unlocked_article_code=1.AVE.R22N.Y0r_wAgU9u47&source=athletic_user_shared_gift_article_copylink&smid=url-share-ta

Everyone doesn’t want to be forgotten after they pass away. Twenty-five years after September 11, Richard Lynch is not forgotten.