The 2017 Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships begins Friday, April 21 at 8 am at the Grand Harbor Golf & Beach Club with the start of the 128-player qualifying tournament.
Players from all around the world will compete for eight positions in the main draw of the $15,000 USTA Pro Circuit “Futures” tournament, where they will compete for ATP ranking points and prize money. The qualifying tournament will be played over four days, culminating in Monday’s final round qualifying matches. The eight players who advance through the qualifying rounds will then compete in the 32-player singles main draw that culminates in the singles final on Sunday, April 30.
Play will begin at 8 am on Friday on all 10 courts at Grand Harbor and will likely continue until after 8 pm that evening. Play on Saturday, Sunday and Monday is scheduled to begin at 10 am.
Players expected to compete in the qualifying tournament include Christian Vinck of Germany, 20 years removed from his famous win over Andre Agassi at the 1997 Las Vegas Challenger, as well as local standouts including 2017 “King of the Hill” champion James Van Deinse and his brother Joseph, both from the Vero Beach Tennis Club, as well as 15-year-old Emilio Van Cotthem also of Vero Beach, a past participant in Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation youth tennis clinics and programs.
The qualifying rounds at the Vero Beach event was where 2003 U.S. Open singles champion and 2017 International Tennis Hall of Fame inductee Andy Roddick played his first-ever professional match in 1998 at Grand Harbor.
Played simultaneously with the singles qualifying tournament starting Saturday will be a special “wild card” doubles tournament that will determine a position in the doubles draw of the event. The tournament, which will be played across the street from Grand Harbor at The Boulevard Tennis Club, will use the special “FAST4” scoring format (two-out-of-three set matches, first-to-four-game sets, no-ad scoring, tie-breaker at 3-3, 10-point tie-breaker played in lieu of a third set). The event will feature players competing in the singles qualifying tournament as well as aspiring local entrants, ranging from 15-year-old Van Cotthem to 82-year-old Paul Delaney of Sea Oaks, who will be playing with 67-year-old Vero Beach friend John Drnec of North Beach Realty. Boulevard Director of tennis Christophe Delavant is expected to partner club member Colin Lloyd. Doubles teams can sign up at the singles qualifying sign-in on Thursday, between 4 pm and 6 pm at Grand Harbor or at www.VeroBeachTennisTickets.com with entry fees costing $60 per team, benefitting the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation. Doubles wild card entries close at 1 pm on Friday, April 21. The doubles wild card tournament is open to any and all competitors, but players who win the tournament must have an ITF IPIN number to participate in the main draw of the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships.
The full Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships tournament schedule is as follows. Tournament information can also be found at www.TennisVeroBeach.com
Friday, April 21 – 8 am, First round singles qualifying
Saturday, April 22 – 10 am, Second round singles qualifying, Doubles “wild card” tournament starts
Sunday, April 23 – 10 am, Third round singles qualifying, Doubles “wild card” tournament ends
Monday, April 24 – 10 am, Final round singles qualifying
Monday, April 24 – 5 pm-7 pm Tournament Pro-Am
Monday, April 24 – 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm “Tournament Party”
Tuesday, April 25 – Noon, Main draw singles/doubles starts
Tuesday, April 25 – 7 pm, Feature Night Match – “King of the Hill” winner/runner-up James Van Deinse (Vero Beach Tennis Club), Mike Alford (Quail Valley) first-round doubles match
Wednesday, April 26 – Noon, Main draw singles/doubles continues
Wednesday, April 26 – 7 pm, Feature Night Match
Thursday, April 27 – Noon, Main draw singles/doubles continues
Thursday, April 27 – 7 pm, Feature Night Match (Taco and Margarita Night in Food Court)
Friday, April 28 – Noon, Main draw singles/doubles continues (Kids Day!)
Friday, April 28 – 7 pm, Feature Night Match
Saturday, April 29 – Noon, Main draw singles semifinals
Sunday, April 30 – Noon, Singles and Doubles Finals
The Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships has been played in Vero Beach since 1995 and is regarded as one of the best entry-level professional tennis tournaments in the world. Proceeds from the event benefit the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation (www.MardyFishFoundation.com), the non-profit tennis foundation benefiting children, named for Vero Beach native son Mardy Fish, the former top 10 tennis star and a U.S. Davis Cup standout.
Advance tickets for the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships are available at www.VeroBeachTennisTickets.com. Season tickets for all 10 days of the competition are available for $100. Daily buy-one-get-one free tickets for the qualifying rounds April 21-24 are for sale for $10, with daily tickets for the main draw sessions April 25-30 for sale for $20. A special “Happy Hour” ticket is available for $10 after 5 pm for night sessions on Tuesday, April 25 – Friday, April 28 that includes a featured 7 pm night match. Admission for children 18 and under is free. Tickets are also sold at the front gate. Approximately 3,000 fans annually attend the event, which is seen as one of the best-attended events in the world on the “Futures” level of professional tennis tournaments. The 2016 event featured 13 players who played Davis Cup for their country and was won by Jonas Luetjen of Germany, who defeated Latvian Davis Cupper Martins Podzus in the final.
Some of the past competitors at the USTA Vero Beach Futures have gone on to succeed at the highest levels of professional tennis, winning major singles and doubles titles, Olympic medals and Davis Cup championships and earning No. 1 world rankings. Andy Roddick, the 2003 U.S. Open champion who attained the world No. 1 ranking and helped the United States win the Davis Cup in 2007, competed in Vero Beach in 1999. Thomas Johansson of Sweden, who reached the second round of the Vero Beach Futures in 1995, won the Australian Open seven years later in 2002. Nicolas Massu, the 1998 singles runner-up in Vero Beach, won the singles and doubles gold medals at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, beating Fish in the gold medal singles match. Kyle Edmund, the 2013 champion in Vero Beach, helped Great Britain to the Davis Cup title in 2015. Other notable former competitors in Vero Beach include former world No. 2 Magnus Norman, former world No. 4 Tim Henman, 2016 Wimbledon finalist Milos Raonic among others. Former Vero Beach competitors have combined to win 19 titles in singles, doubles and mixed doubles at Grand Slam tournaments. Six former Vero Beach players have gone on to play Davis Cup for the United States – Roddick, Fish, Taylor Dent, Jared Palmer, Donald Young and Ryan Harrison.
Corporate sponsors and donors for the 2017 tournament include PNC Bank, Boston Barricade, George E. Warren Corporation, Indian River Medical Center, Jake Owen Foundation, Syde Hurdus Foundation, Indian River Oxygen, Citrus Grillhouse, Coastal Van Lines, Rossway Swan, Publix, Ryan A. Jones and Associates, Tom Collins Insurance Agency, Vocap Partners, Riverside Café, Center Court Outfitters, David Walsh and Associates Real Estate, Peter Bernholz Family, John’s Island Real Estate, Gene Simonsen, Michael & Kathleen Pierce, Steve and Karen Rubin, Rob and Mickey Stein, William Barhorst, Dan Holman, John Klein, Mello Financial Services, Ocean Drive Elite Physiques, Rosato Plastic Surgery, Captain Hiram’s Resort, Absolute Protection Team, Minuteman Press, Technifibre, TeamChristopher.com, Fit for Life Strength, Diamond Resorts International, Wilson, Don Herrema and Lori Ford.
Founded in 2007, the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation (www.MardyFishFoundation.com and @MardyFishFound on Twitter) currently supports over 2,100 children in 15 elementary schools and six middle schools in Indian River County, Florida by providing after-school exercise, nutritional and enrichment programs in a safe environment to prepare them for healthy, productive and successful lives. The Foundation introduced the “Six Healthy Habits” in 2012 which are Get Sleep; Drink Water; Exercise Daily, Eat Healthy; Brush and Floss; Make Friends
I have been so blessed to have been introduced to the Marty Fish Children’s Foundation. My grandson wants to pursue a tennis career, and we hope someday he will play as a Pro. This foundation has made it possible for me to afford to help him fulfill that dream. Thank you for everything you do for our kids to give them a better chance at being productive in the tennis world. We can’t think of a better way to spend our time.