Marcelo Rodriguez, a veteran of the Davis Cup team from Panama, survived two decisive match tiebreakers and saved a match point, en route to winning the 2025 Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships ‘Wild Card” tournament at the Sea Oaks Beach & Tennis Club
On the final day of tournament Rodriguez defeated Florida State commit Ben Saltman of Winter Haven, Florida 6-2, 4-6, (11-9) in the semifinals, saving a match point down 8-9 in the final-set tiebreaker. Rodriguez then beat Ohio State commit Ilija Palavestra of Delray Beach, Florida in the championship match in another decisive match tiebreaker 3-6, 6-4, (10-7).
With the win, Rodriguez earns a main draw “wild card” entry into the $15,000 Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships USTA Pro Circuit ITF World Tennis Tour event to be held April 21-27 at the Vero Beach Tennis & Fitness Club at Timber Ridge. Palavestra, with the runner-up finish, earns a qualifying round wild card.
Rodriguez, who trains in Port St. Lucie, spoke of his victory and the atmosphere at Sea Oaks here: “Sea Oaks Crowd For Mardy Fish “Wild Card” Similar To Davis Cup, Says Marcelo Rodriguez https://youtu.be/emSeKwNs-sM?si=dHA-Yd-UIVNazkyA via @YouTube
Palavestra also needed a decisive match tiebreaker to advance to the final, beating Abhishek Thorat 6-4, 3-6, (10-6). He also defeated two of Vero Beach’s leading players en route to the final, beating James van Deinse 6-2, 6-0 in his opening match and Ching Wang 6-2, 6-1 in the quarterfinals.
Palavestra spoke of his budding tennis career and how Universal Tennis Rating events have helped his game improve here: Ilija Palavestra Credits UTR, PTT Events For His Rise In Tennis https://youtu.be/_4sTcf_kOOU?si=5UQqoCkAAomVkCZy via @YouTube
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