Marcus Willis made a successful singles debut Wednesday night at the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships defeating 16-year-old wild card Ivan Yatsuk of Bradenton, Fla. 6-3, 6-1 at Grand Harbor Golf & Beach Club.
Willis, last year’s Wimbledon Cinderella story advancing from a Wimbledon pre-qualifying tournament to a second-round match against Roger Federer on Centre Court, was never threatened by the hard-serving six-foot-four Belarussian born player, breaking him in the opening service game and cruising to the victory in just over an hour in front of over 300 fans.
“He has lots and lots of weapons,” said Willis of Yatsuk. “He was tough. I had to really dig deep there.”
Willis will play twice on Thursday, playing Collin Johns of Columbus, Ohio in his second round of singles at approximately 4 pm, but not before 3 pm. He and partner Josh Milton will also play their quarterfinal doubles match against Vero Beach’s Daniel Garza of Mexico and Japan’s Kaichi Uchida at 7 pm.
Willis reflected on his experiences at Wimbledon in his post-match press on-court interview, saying, “I signed in for Wimbledon pre-qualies and then I did alright there. So that was good. I ended up getting killed by Federer in front of everyone but it was a great experience nonetheless.”
Of the experience of playing Federer on Centre Court, an experience that millions of people dream of doing, “I looked up for a second and thought I was playing tennis on the Xbox for a second. That’s what each player is playing for. Experiences like that”
While the No. 2 seeded Willis had little trouble reaching the second round, top seed Calvin Hemery of France had a much more difficult time defeating University of Florida commitment Oliver Crawford of Spartanburg, S.C., 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 after a two hour and 34-minute battle.
“Oliver played very good. He made the life hard,” Hemery said. “I’m very happy to win today.”
Hemery failed to close out the win while serving at 5-3 in the final set, but persisted through the next game to break Crawford’s serve the next game to win the match.
Hemery is currently being housed by a local family in Grand Harbor with friend and doubles partner Julien Cagnina of Belgium, and he is enjoying every minute of his stay here. Hemery was very popular and personable with fans at the official tournament party and pro-am on Monday night, even pro-actively asking children in the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation programs to hit tennis balls with him. He has even tried his hand at hitting some golf balls.
“I enjoy my week here, it’s very, very nice,” said Hemery, who is turning into a crowd favorite. “You have a beautiful tournament.”
Hemery, ranked No. 298 in the world, has accomplished some impressive feats during his time on tour. The 22-year old Frenchman has played in four ATP World Tour events, including playing doubles at the French Open in 2016.
The most impressive moment of his career so far, though, came in Bastad, Sweden last year when he reached the second round of the ATP World Tour event there, and battled the former world No. 3 David Ferrer of Spain, eventually losing in three sets.
Ty Trombetta of Hollywood, Fla., making his fifth appearance in the main draw in Vero Beach this week, advanced into the second round with a 6-0, 6-2 win over Arthur Surreaux, a native of France who lives in Miami.
“I’ve been rolling so far. Hopefully I can continue,” said Trombetta, who also won four matches in straight sets in the qualifying tournament to reach the main draw.
Trombetta will take on the No. 6 seed Cagnina on Thursday in the second round, and he will be in search of his second quarterfinal appearance in Vero Beach.
“This is one of the really nice Futures,” Trombetta said of the event.
Ricardo Rodriguez of Venezuela, like Trombetta, came through qualifying to earn a spot in the main draw this week. In his first round match on Wednesday, Rodriguez, a member of Venezuela’s Davis Cup team, defeated the No. 5 seed from Japan, Kaichi Uchida, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(2).
Rodriguez saved two match points when Uchida had a 40-15 lead while attempting to serve out the match at 5-4 in the third set. The Venezuelan was able to turn it around in his favor, though, and come back to get the win to set up a second round encounter against Lukas Ollert of Germany.
Thursday’s play will begin at noon with all eight second round singles matches taking place. Each session starts at noon through the remainder of the event with the singles and doubles finals on Sunday, April 30.
The full Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships tournament schedule is as follows. Tournament information can also be found at www.TennisVeroBeach.com
To see Thursday’s full schedule, click here: https://www.usta.com/content/dam/usta/pdfs/20170424_VeroBeach_M_OP.pdf
To see all updated draws, click here: https://www.usta.com/en/home/pro/pro-tennis-events/men-s-tournament-information.html
Thursday, April 27 – Noon, Main draw singles/doubles continues
Marcus Willis vs. Collin Johns at approximately 4 pm (not before 3 pm)
Thursday, April 27 – 7 pm, Feature Night Match (Taco and Margarita Night in Food Court)
Marcus Willis/Josh Milton vs. Daniel Garza/Kaichi Uchida on Stadium; Peter Nagy vs. Felipe Mantilla on Grandstand
Friday, April 28 – Noon, Main draw singles/doubles continues
Friday, April 28, – 3pm to 5 pm (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
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