Marcus Willis, Vero Beach’s leading tennis citizen this week, advanced easily into the quarterfinals of the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Collin Johns of Laytonsville, Md. Thursday in the heat, humidity and wind at Grand Harbor Golf & Beach Club.
Willis is from Great Britain, a country where the majority of tennis is played on grass courts and he became famous for his grass court play during his incredible run from the Wimbledon pre-qualifying tournament to a second-round main draw match against Roger Federer last summer.
This week, however, Willis is playing on the slow, green clay and has been joking on Twitter, calling himself a “clay court specialist” and “Rafa Willis,” a reference to Rafael Nadal, the greatest clay court player of all time, who, like Willis, is also left-handed.
“It’s a completely different ball game,” Willis said of clay court tennis versus grass court tennis. “I don’t think I served and volleyed once today. Normally, on the grass I look to come to the net a lot more, but out here it’s a lot tougher, playing against someone who moves and passes very well. So you’ve got to be a bit careful about coming in. Grass stays super low so you can come almost come in on anything.”
Johns, who hits a left-handed forehand and a right-handed forehand, made it difficult for Willis to find a rhythm early in the match, but Willis used his crafty style of tennis to find a way through in the end.
The theme of today’s action seemed to be dealing with the adverse conditions that the heat, humidity, and wind caused for the players, and Willis admitted that impacted his game.
“The heat and humidity is what you’ve got to watch out for. Plus it’s a little choppy out here, as well,” Willis said. “You’ve got to make sure you’re playing sensibly.”
Willis will next play No. 6 seed Julien Cagnina of Belgium, who defeated qualifier Ty Trombetta of Hollywood, Fla., 6-1, 6-0 on Thursday.
In a battle of teenagers, 18-year old Sam Riffice of Roseville, Calif., defeated 17-year old Santiago Rodriguez Taverna of Argentina 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-1 in two hours and 36 minutes.
“This is what I’ve been working to achieve,” Riffice said of his progress into the quarterfinals of this level of professional tennis. “It really means a lot that it’s starting to pay off.”
Riffice is part of the group that is working with tennis legend Ivan Lendl and the USTA Player Development Program. He has spent a lot of time in and around Vero Beach since the 2016 season began, including training at the Windsor Club and playing in this event last year.
Part of Lendl’s training regimen involves intense physical workouts to go along with the tennis training, and that was a huge part of Riffice’s success on Thursday.
“This was definitely one of the hotter days of the year,” he said. “It was very tough in the first set and a half but I feel like I got my second wind. Ivan is probably the world’s biggest fan of the versa climber.”
In 2016 here in Vero Beach, Riffice received a main draw wild card and lost in the first round to former world No. 46 Evgeny Korolev. This year, Riffice has now won four matches in the qualifying and now two in the main draw to reach his second professional quarterfinal.
Riffice is currently ranked as the No. 30 junior player in the world, but was once as high as No. 18. Now, just a little over a month removed from his 18th birthday, the American is attempting to translate his success on the junior circuit to success on the professional circuit.
He is currently ranked No. 1,565 in the ATP World Tour rankings, but will see that ranking increase after his impressive run this week in Vero Beach.
Riffice won’t be the only qualifier playing in the quarterfinals on Friday, as Ricardo Rodriguez, a member of Venezuela’s Davis Cup team, also won his second round match, defeating Lukas Ollert of Germany, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Rodriguez was the No. 1 seed in qualifying so he earned a bye in the first round of qualifying, but still had to win three matches to get into the main draw. In his first round main draw match against Kaichi Uchida of Japan, the No. 5 seed, Rodriguez fought off two match points in his comeback win. Today, Rodriguez didn’t have to fight off a match point, but he did have to come back from a set down against a higher ranked player.
Another impressive comeback on Thursday came from Gavin van Peperzeel of Australia, who trailed Genaro Alberto Olivieri of Argentina 6-0, 3-1 before coming back to win 12 of the last 16 games to escape with a 0-6, 7-5, 6-2 win.
Play on Friday starts at Noon with all four quarterfinal singles matches. Willis is scheduled for the third match on Stadium Court with a start time of not before 3 pm, but more likely in the 4 pm hour.
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 Friday’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
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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