The 2024 Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships kick off Monday at the Vero Beach Tennis & Fitness Club at Timber Ridge with the start of the 32-player two-round qualifying tournament starting at 11 am. Players will have to win two matches (one Monday and one Tuesday, weather permitting) to enter the 32-player main draw of singles which starts Wednesday.
Three Vero Beach locals snuck into the draw late Sunday – Ching Wang, Juan Sebastian Mendoza and Vero Beach Tennis & Fitness Club co-owner James van Deinse. Wang was able to move into the draw as a direct acceptance into the qualifying tournament, based on player withdrawals, while Mendoza and van Deinse were accorded with wild card entries at the last moment. James Aronson of New York City, whose grandmother lives in Vero Beach, also was able to get into the field after late player withdrawals.
Other leading entries in the qualifying field include Venezuelan Davis Cupper Brandon Perez, 2023 USTA National Boy’s 16s runner-up Lachlan Gaskell of Delray Beach, and up-and-coming USTA juniors Carle Ngounoue, Matisse Farzam, Meecah Bigun and Nikita Filin
Wang, the former teaching pro at Sea Oaks who now teaches for Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation programs, will play at Noon on Stadium against ATP world No. 1,860 No. Jorge Cavero of Peru.
Both van Deinse and Mendoza will play at not-before-5 pm – van Deinse will face Dian Nedev of Bulgaria while Mendoza will face Arizona State commit Mikel Anderson of Hillsboro Beach, Florida. Van Deinse was the winner of the annual “King of the Hill” competition in Vero Beach earlier this year – earning him a main draw doubles wild card with Sea Oaks pros Christian Docter where they are set to play on Tuesday not before 5 pm in the feature doubles match. Mendoza was the No. 1 tennis player for Vero Beach High School in 2023.
Aronson will play at not before 3 pm against Luca Pignation of Brazil.
On Friday, Cody Benton of Chapel Hill, N.C., a soon-to-be freshman at North Carolina State, won the Mardy Fish pre-qualifying tournament defeating Nils Michel of France in the final. Watch the Benton post-match interview here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8blHvrSMcTs&t=54s Benton plays John Horoz Garner of Great Britain in the first round at 3 pm.
To see the full schedule for Monday click here https://www.itftennis.com/en/tournament/m15-vero-beach-fl/usa/2024/m-itf-usa-2024-008/order-of-play/
To see the qualifying singles draw click here
The Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships has been held in Vero Beach since 1995 and, since 2016, has benefitted the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation, the non-profit foundation benefiting children named for Vero Beach native son Mardy Fish, a former top 10 tennis star, U.S. Davis Cup hero and silver medalist at the 2004 Olympic Games.
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, 2021 Wimbledon semifinalist Denis Shapovalov, 2022 U.S. Open semifinalist France Tiafoe, 2023 Australian Open semifinalist Tommy Paul and new rising star and 2023 U.S. Open semifinalist Ben Shelton. Former Vero Beach competitors have combined to win 19 titles in singles, doubles and mixed doubles at Grand Slam tournaments. Eight former Vero Beach players have gone on to play Davis Cup for the United States – Roddick, Fish, Taylor Dent, Jared Palmer, Donald Young, Ryan Harrison, Frances Tiafoe and Tommy Paul.
Affectionately known as “Timber Ridge” to locals, the Vero Beach Tennis & Fitness Club has been a staple in the community for over 30 years and has been owned and run since 2016 by James and Joseph van Deinse. The club boasts 14 Har-Tru tennis courts, a pickleball court, pool and clubhouse with fitness center and bar. The facility previously hosted a $25,000 women’s USTA Pro circuit event in 2014 that featured future major tournament champions Naomi Osaka and Sofia Kenin, future top 10 star Jennifer Brady and future major doubles champions Nicole Melichar, Laura Siegemund and Gaby Dabrowski. The club is also the original home of the “King of the Hill” tennis competition, hosting the first seven editions of Vero Beach’s popular doubles competition from 1996 to 2002. The Vero Beach Fitness & Tennis Club will be the third different venue to host the tournament after being held at Grand Harbor Club for 17 years from 1995 to 2009 and in 2017 and 2018 and at The Boulevard where it was held for 11 years from 2010 to 2016 and from 2019 to 2022.
Founded in 2007, the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation (www.MardyFishChildrensFoundation.org and @MardyFishFound on Twitter) currently supports over 2,400 children in 15 elementary schools, six middle schools, and several other community organizations in Indian River County, Florida by funding 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.
2024 Tournament Sponsors
Presenting Sponsor: PNC Bank, Grand Slam Sponsor: Michael Merrill, Broker Associate, Scoreboard Sponsor: Block and Scarpa, Attorneys at Law
Additional Event Sponsors: The Roberts Family Foundation, Carly Witteck, Realtor, Jake Owen Foundation, Boston Retail Solutions, Cliff Norris Real Estate, Bill Antle, Gene Simonsen, Michael Pierce, Bob and Emilie Burr, Lynn Southerly, John and Sara Marshall, John and Marie McConnell, Peter and Ellen Kendall, Jaime Yordan, M&M Realty, Foglia Contracting, Jim and Shirin Marver, Joe and Barbara Price, Weatherman Umbrella, Hazelton Marketing Group, Kitchens By Design, Minuteman Press, Linda Delaney, Charlie and Este Brashears, Michael Williams, Wendy and Chase Carey, Steve Rubin, Tom Collins Insurance, Evelyn’s Plant Care, Nalzaro Music, Natalie’s Juice
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