Randy Walker

J.J. Wolf, the former top 40 tennis star, is facing new worries on his shoulder injury that kept him off the ATP Tour for one year after he was forced to retire with continued shoulder pain and weakness in his quarterfinal match at the $15,000 Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships Friday night under the lights at the Sea Oaks Beach & Tennis Club.

Wolf held two match points and served for the straight-set win against unranked Joaquim Almeida of Brazil, but lost a second-set tiebreaker 9-7 before retiring from the match down 0-1 after being broken in the first game of the third set. Wolf rolled through the first eight games of the match, leading 6-0, 2-0 before Almeida was able to piece together points at the right time to get on scoreboard and eventually claw his way back in the match, benefitting from increased errors from Wolf.

Wolf, once ranked as high as No. 39 in the world and who reached the fourth round of the Australian Open in 2023, was playing only the fifth tournament since he sat out a year of play due to a severe shoulder injury suffered at the 2025 Delray Beach Open. With an ATP ranking of No. 947, Wolf received a wild card entry by the USTA into Vero Beach, the lowest-level of professional tennis, in the hopes of getting to play more matches to get more into tournament tough shape. He won two singles matches before his 0-6, 7-6 (7), 1-0, retire quarterfinal loss to Almeida.

Almeida is himself an incredible story as he was 28th on the alternate list just to get into the qualifying rounds of this tournament. After signing into the qualifying tournament via phone on Sunday, he was the second-to-last player who got into the 32-player qualifying draw, getting into the tournament without an ATP ranking and without any International Tennis Federation ranking points, only getting in because of his World Tennis Number (the ITF’s version of Universal Tennis Rating), which is used for entries into tournaments when players do not have ATP or ITF ranking points. After winning his first-round qualifying match over Great Britain’s Ying Hou 6-0, 6-0, the former Liberty University standout beat Kian Vakili of the United States 6-3, 3-6 (13-11 in the match tiebreaker) in the final-round of qualifying. In the first round of the main draw, he saved four match points in beating No. 647-ranked Strong Kircheimer and then handed four-time Mardy Fish Sea Oaks “wild card” champion Matthew Segura his first ever loss at the Sea Oaks club (23-0) in the second round.

WATCH the highlights of the Wolf vs. Almeida match here: https://youtu.be/pXndWguDpss?si=Fn6i9HkDpwLjVjic

Almeida will face No. 4 seed Quinn Vandecasteele of Murray, Utah in Saturday’s second semifinal singles match. Top-seed Alex Rybakov of Coral Springs, Florida will face unseeded Liam Krall of Bronxville, N.Y. in the first semifinal scheduled for a noon start. The third match on Stadium on Sunday will be the doubles final between top seeds Ollie Okonkwo of Great Britain and Hunter Heck of Minnesota against Preston Brown of Boca Raton, Fla., and Diego Jarry Fillol of Chile.

The entire 2026 Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships is sold out, marking the first time at $15,000-level USTA Pro Circuit, ITF World Tennis Tour event has sold out.

Founded in 2007, the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation currently supports over 3,000 children per year in 15 elementary schools, six middle schools, and several other community organizations in Indian River County, Florida by funding after-school and summer 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.

Played annually in Vero Beach since 1995, the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships is the fourth longest running active professional tennis tournament in the state of Florida behind the Miami Open (started in 1985), the Delray Beach Open (started in 1993) and the Tallahassee Challenger (started in 1993). 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 in his first ever professional tournament. 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. 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 and 2024 U.S. Open semifinalist Frances 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. Twelve 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, Tommy Paul, Ben Shelton, Reilly Opelka, Alex Michelsen and Ethan Quinn.

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.

The muscle shirt is on hold and his trademark mullet is gone, but former Top 40 player J.J. Wolf is smiling again because he’s back on the court competing in the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation USTA/ITF Pro Circuit tournament after sustaining a serious shoulder injury at the 2025 Delray Beach Open.

A more mature Wolf, now rocking a classy moustache and goatee combo, flashed his warp-speed forehand and radar-breaking serve, knocked off second-seeded Raphael Perot of France 6-3, 6-2 Wednesday night at a packed Sea Oaks Beach & Tennis Club.

Although sleight at 5-foot-8, Perot was no pushover but he couldn’t match the firepower of Wolf, who at his peak in 2023 was ranked No. 39 in the world. Now ranked No. 947, Wolf is o the comeback trail and chose Vero Beach to get in much needed match play.

WATCH.some of his match highlights and his post-match interview here https://youtu.be/WeLF1D28Cxo?si=5jAl_7RParoCN-3p

Wolf, who received a wild card entry into the Mardy Fish event by the USTA, will play another USTA wild card entry, Jordan Lee, at approximately Noon on Thursday. Lee, who turned 16 on Monday, is regarded as a promising young prospect by the USTA.

The full schedule for Thursday, which features the not-before 5:30 pm night match that features Quail Valley teaching pro Gaston Erhardt and partner and partner Alejandro Orihuela can be found here: M15 Vero Beach, FL 2026 Tennis Tournament | ITF

Forty-five-year-old Ryan Haviland, who became a viral sensation after his final-round qualifying win over 15-year-old Teodor Davidov Tuesday, was defeated in his first round match by Justin Roberts of The Bahamas 7-6, 7-6.on Wednesday, but was featured on Tennis Channel as you can watch here: https://youtu.be/Z9V6I6m7_sE?si=Odkw4aftqFBwnJAf and conducted an interview with the New York Times as well.

Watch a highlight video of Day 3 on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/yFEhxxeymp0?si=Mcez-CJpZuVHLdBf

Wolf, a Cincinnati native, was ranked the No. 1 collegiate player in the nation when he starred for his beloved Ohio State University in 2019 when he went 45-3 in singles and doubles. During his three years there, the multiple All-American led the Buckeyes to three Big 10 titles. After college, he quickly won five ATP Challenger titles, tournaments one level below ATP main-level events, but the pandemic and a ripped pelvis (double hernia) slowed him down.

Wolf eventually rocketed up the ATP ranks to the Top 50 after reaching the fourth round of the 2023 Australian Open before losing to Ben Shelton in five sets. Prior to his Aussie run, Wolf knocked off No. 33 Max Cressy, No. 44 Alexander Bublik (now No. 11) to reach his only ATP Tour final in Florence before bowing out to then No. 13 Felix Auger-Aliassime.

He reached his career-high at No. 39 by making the 2023 Dallas Open 250 semis after defeating then No. 14 Frances Tiafoe before losing to No. 39 John Isner 7-6 in the third set.

Ironically, his horrific shoulder injury occurred at the 2025 Delray Beach Open where two years earlier he entered at his career-high rank after Dallas.

Rehabbing his torn labrum and broken bones of his dominant right shoulder over the last year has changed the charismatic Wolf’s perspective to the realization that one never knows what they have until it’s gone or taken away suddenly.

“It was kind of a collision type injury, more similar to a car wreck than a tennis injury,’’ Wolf said. “I was playing in Delray. My feet kicked out, and they kind of went straight up in the air, and my full body weight landed on my shoulder, so it dislocated, tore my labrum, and broke a couple bones.

“I’m just happy every time I step on the court now. I feel so grateful. I went through so much to get back here. No tournament feels like it’s not a privilege anymore. When an injury like that happens, you never know. So, the surgeons were hopeful. They were telling me, you probably won’t get 100 percent of it back, but you can get pretty good, and last week, I was in Savannah, I was back hitting [serves] about 145 mph. So, I’m very hopeful.”

Wolf, 27, whose grandfather Charles Wolf was a head coach in the NBA for the then Cincinnati Royals and Detroit Pistons in the 1960s, said he owes his full rebound to his physio Hardik Patel and trainer Gena Ball.

“They’ve been there every step of the way,’’ said Wolf, who made the third round of the US Open in 2020 and ‘22. “It was some dark times, obviously, when I couldn’t watch tennis for two years; it was just too hard for me.”

Wolf has held his own against many of today’s top stars such as Tiafoe, Aliassime, Bublik, Denis Shapovalov, Nick Kyrgios, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alexander Zverev, Cameron Norrie, Daniil Medvedev, Hubert Hurkacz, Lorenzo Sonego and Roberto Bautista Agut, but he realizes the players have improved at every level.

Wolf returned with a zero ranking in February and immediately won an M-15 in Naples. He then lost two first-round matches in this run of Pro Circuit ITF Future tournaments in Florida, before a second-round exit in a Savannah Challenger two weeks ago.

“They had some Challengers in Ohio that I was lucky enough to win,’’ Wolf said. “I never got to experience, kind of like the ITF Tour. Played one or two, OK. We kind of skipped over it. So now I feel like it’s cool getting in here in the trenches. Everyone’s so nice, and just kind of grinding it out.”

Wolf, now ranked 947, knows that although he’s facing players ranked well over 1000, he takes no one for granted.

“I think the depth is incredible now,’’ said Wolf, now residing in Boynton Beach. “It’s super physical. It’s a lot about staying healthy and making sure that you’re fit. Everyone’s good now. Everyone can hit a forehand, a backhand; everyone can serve. So, it’s a lot about mental and doing all the stuff off court.

“My short-term goal is to stay healthy. I want a full year of being healthy. My long-term goal is I want to come back better than I was. I don’t think I’ve hit my peak yet. We’re putting in so much work that I know that we can do it, just if I can stay healthy.”

Don’t be surprised if the sleeveless muscle shirt returns as Wolf is working with Boast Tennis clothing company to produce new designed muscle shirts.

“The muscle shirt will be back,’’ Wolf proclaimed.

Top-seeded Alex Rybakov of Plainview, N.Y., now living in Coral Springs, advanced as did American teens Gavin Goode of Raleigh, N.C., and wild card Jordan Lee of Orlando Qualifier Matthew Segura of Orlando, the great-nephew of legendary Ecuadorian star Pancho Segura, who taught him his ambidextrous style, advanced into the second round with a straight-set victory over Romanian Vladislav Melnic.