By Harvey Fialkov
VERO BEACH –- Although it was only about 7:15 p.m., the clock struck midnight for the Cinderella run of Argentine teaching pros Gaston Erhardt and Alejandro Orihuela, as the hopeful duo were unable to deal with the power and consistency of their seasoned top-seeded doubles counterparts in front of a packed gallery of supportive fans from the Vero Beach tennis community.
Erhardt, a popular teaching pro from Vero Beach’s Quail River Club, and Orihuela, a private coach from Plant City, a suburb of Tampa, put up a fight, trailing 2-3 in both sets before succumbing to the monstrous serves and pulverizing net attack of Oliver Okonkwo and the potent baseline play of his petite partner, Hunter Heck of New Brighton, Minn., in a 6-2, 6-2 quarterfinal loss Thursday night at Sea Oaks Beach & Tennis Club.
Okonkwo, who has won two $25K ITF Futures doubles titles this year in Las Vegas and Montreal, was pumping in pinpoint serves at approximately 135 mph. Heck, 23, whose parents are from Korea, won his only pro doubles title in 2022, but he was able to pounce on any second serves of Erhardt and Orihuela with his forehand to set up his 6-foot-2 wall at net, Okonkwo, for putaway volleys.
“The fans were crazy today,’’ said Erhardt, 27. “I really appreciated it so thanks for coming I’m really happy we now have an ATP ranking. We played well today and felt there were a few good points, but they were more consistent and that was it.”
So, it will be back to their day jobs but at least now they could play some local pro events because of their ATP status.
“I’m still happy what we achieved so far, especially not being able to practice too much, because we’re both tennis coaches,” said Orihuela, 29, who along with Erhardt earned their first ATP doubles ranking point in their first-round victory Wednesday. “It’s tough to keep up that intensity, especially with these two guys that destroy the ball, so it was tough but at the same time it was fun.”
The teaching pros earned their way into the tournament by winning the Mardy Fish “Wild Card” event at The Moorings Club two weeks ago.
“At some point I was like just trying to block the ball, but he was making too many aces with good placements,’’ Orihuela said of Okonkwo’s blistering serves. “We knew the guy at the net would finish the points.”
Okonkwo, 26, a native of Great Britain who played for the University of Illinois for five years, was clearly the dominant player on the court.
“It was big,’’ Erhardt said of Okonkwo’s missiles. “Especially in doubles it’s hard to return because you have the other player close to the net so if the return isn’t perfect the point was over. He started so strong with three big serves. I played with players higher ranked than him but his serves were a Top 200 serve.”
Okonkwo joked that the Vero Beach hackers had the, “pick of the crop,’’ for excellent coaches.
“This place is awesome,’’ said Okonkwo, who will take on the unseeded tandem of Aussie Patrick Kotan and American Reid Jarvis of Springfield, Mo., in one semifinal Friday.
The other semi pits Preston Brown of Omaha and Diego Jarry Fillol of Chile against second-seeded siblings Jack and Jamie Vance of Denver.
Jack Vance, 29, won an M-25 in Spain in 2023, but only had to play two rounds to do so. Jamie Vance, 28, won his lone pro title in Huntsville, Ala., in 2024. The brothers’ best tournament together was a final berth in Switzerland in 2021 (M-25).
Fillol’s older brother is Nicolas Jarry, 30, who was ranked No. 16 in 2024 and has since dropped to No. 173. He has won three ATP titles, all on clay, and has reached four finals, including the 2024 Rome Masters 1000.
Nicolas Jarry dropped his last name of Fillol, while Diego, 23, opted to keep the surname of their famous grandfather, Jaime Fillol Sr., who won eight ATP titles and reached 15 finals during a pro career spanning from 1968 to 1985. He was ranked a career-high No. 14 in 1974.
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