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Timber Ridge To Host 2023 Mardy Fish Tennis Championships

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The Vero Beach Fitness & Tennis Club at the Timber Ridge residential community will be the new home of the $15,000 Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships USTA Pro Circuit ITF World Tennis Tour event for 2023.

Vero Beach’s storied professional sports event will be held April 24-30 and will once again feature up-and-coming future tennis stars vying for ATP ranking points in this entry-level pro tennis tournament. The event benefits 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.

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.

Watch a brief tour of the club with Randy Walker here: https://youtu.be/Ia3SGgqBCsw and here: https://youtu.be/qr6LdcohAms

“We are excited for a new chapter of our Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships at Timber Ridge,” said Tom Fish, President Emeritus of the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation. “James and Joseph Van Deinse have been leading tennis citizens in Vero Beach over the last seven years, teaching tennis to people of all ages, including many children who have been part of Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation funded programs. We are looking forward to this new partnership and new chapter for our tournament, which has been held in Vero Beach for nearly 30 years and has helped us raise so much money that benefits at-risk children in Indian River County.”

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.

“We are very excited to host so many great up-and-coming world class players to our club and be a part of the history of this great tournament, which has been an institution in Vero Beach for nearly 30 years,” said Joseph Van Deinse. Younger brother James Van Deinse added, “This will be a great opportunity to showcase our club and our offerings to the Vero Beach community and beyond.”

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.

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 and most recently new top 10 star Denis Shapovalov, who played in Vero Beach in 2016. 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.

Leading tournament sponsors for 2022 include Presenting Sponsor PNC Bank, Grand Slam Sponsors: George E. Warren Corporation, The Jake Owen Foundation, John’s Island Real Estate, Tom Collins Insurance Agency, Cabana/Box Seat Sponsors: Michael and Kathleen Pierce, Gene Simonsen, John and Charlotte Klein, Peter and Maureen Lee, Bob and Lace Milligan, Micky and Rob Stein, Bob and Emilie Burr, Lynn Southerly, John and Sara Marshall, John and Marie McConnell, Shirley Becker, Hadleigh Investments LLC, Peter and Ellen Kendall, Cliff Norris Real Estate LLC, Indian River Primary Care and Supporting Sponsors: Syde Hurdus Foundation, Mike and Meg Hickey/M&M Realty, Nalzarro Music, Hoskins, Turco, Lloyd & Lloyd, Center Court Outfitters, Foglia Contracting, Offfutt, Barton, Schlitt, Inc, Orchid Island Real Estate, Joe and Gloria Papalardo, Linda Delaney, Dave and Nina Piacquad, Jaime Yordan, Katharine “Kissy” Russel, Wilmington Trust, Rebecca Emmons, Linda Johnson, Anne Faunce, Kaye Manly, Mark Thurn, Estee Brashears, Roby Pierce and Ron Hartwig, Matt Wynne, Willem and Marion DeVogel, Ron Chesley, Dorothy Sprague and Bill Benedict, Dr. Collin Kitchell, Tim Palmer of Treasure Coast Tennis Association, Minuteman Press and The Boulevard Tennis Club.

Timber Ridge

Frances Tiafoe: From Vero Beach In 2014 To U.S. Open Hero In 2022

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Frances Tiafoe, who dazzled crowds with his breakthrough performance in reaching the semifinals of the 2022 U.S. Open, is one of the many great players who have played in the Vero Beach USTA Pro Circuit event, the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships.

In 2014, Tiafoe competed in Vero Beach at The Boulevard in his first year of playing professional tournaments while still a junior tennis player. At the age of 16, playing in only his fourth pro level tournament and ranked No. 1296 on the ATP Rankings, Tiafoe reached the second round in Vero Beach, losing to former University of Florida standout Greg Ouellette. The 2014 edition of the tournament also featured American stars Tommy Paul, who earned his first career ATP ranking point in Vero Beach, and Reilly Opelka, both of whom played in the qualifying rounds of the tournament.

Tiafoe’s first career match at a pro tournament, interesting enough, was earlier in 2014 at a USTA Pro Circuit tournament in Florida where he lost 6-0, 6-0 in the first round to Sekou Bangoura, the 2022 singles champion in Vero Beach.

Read of Frances (who was mistakenly had his name spelled “Francis” in draws and news reports) from 2014 in Vero Beach here http://www.worldtennismagazine.com/archives/10487 and from the Washington Post here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/sports/wp/2014/05/17/an-improbable-tennis-prodigy/

Tiafoe staged one of the greatest wins by an American man at the U.S. Open in the last 20 years when he defeated 22-time major winner Rafael Nadal in the fourth round on Labor Day Monday. He followed up the victory with a win over Andrey Rublev of Russia before falling in a dramatic and entertaining semifinal to eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz.

Frances Tiafoe on Arthur Ashe Stadium at the U.S. Open in 2022 (left) and Frances Tiafoe on Court 4 at The Boulevard in Vero Beach at the 2014 version of the modern-day Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships

Doubles Titles In Vero Beach, US Open Junior Doubles For Nishesh Basavareddy

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Nishesh Basvareddy is pretty good with “pick up” doubles partners.

Four months after winning the doubles title at the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships in Vero Beach for his first pro-level doubles title with pick-up partner Ricardo Rodriguez, Basavareddy picked up another late partner to win the 2022 U.S. Open junior boys doubles title.

Basavareddy, from Carmel, Indiana and an incoming freshman at Stanford University, decided to pair with fellow Midwesterner Ozan Baris at the U.S. Open juniors earlier in the summer. Although the two grew up together and played with an against each other since the 10-and-unders, they had not played with each other in four years. The pair quickly gelled again and dominated the U.S. Open junior boys final winning 6-1, 6-1 against Switzerland’s Dylan Dietrich and Bolivia’s Juan Carlos Prado Angelo.

In Vero Beach in April of 2022, Basavareddy was paired blindly with popular Vero Beach participant Ricardo Rodriguez of Venezuela by tournament director Randy Walker, granted a wild card entry into the event, and the two ended up winning the title, the first ever pro title for Basavareddy.

Watch Basavareddy and Rodriguez be interviewed after their semifinal win in Vero Beach here  https://youtu.be/OuxnOxkWWrk The post-match trophy presentation and speeches from the doubles final in Vero Beach can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iR4ya55sJbc

Basavareddy will now enroll as a freshman at Stanford University and play for coach Paul Goldstein and the legendary Cardinal tennis program, which has produced such players as John and Patrick McEnroe, Bob and Mike Bryan, Roscoe Tanner, Tim Mayotte among others.

“I’m starting school next week. I go to Stanford next week,” said Basavareddy while holding a post-match press conference in the main interview room at the U.S. Open. “I just want to continue to improve there, play tournaments while I’m there, play college tennis. Hopefully in a few years’ time I’m ready to make the jump to pro tennis, move up the rankings. That’s my ultimate goal. Just continue to improve. I’ll probably play a few junior events next year because I have one more year of eligibility. As far as our future, maybe play some doubles tournaments in the future, and maybe in the summers for now.”

Nishesh Basavareddy won doubles titles in 2022 in Vero Beach at the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships (top) and in New York at the 2022 U.S. Open Junior Championships.

From Vero Beach To The U.S. Open – Ben Shelton, Ethan Quinn and Nico Godsick Shine In New York

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Ben Shelton, Ethan Quinn and Nico Godsick, who all competed in Vero Beach at the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships within the last year, also shined in the U.S. Open spotlight. Shelton, who was the doubles runner-up and singles quarterfinalist at the special October of 2021 edition of the tournament, competed in the main draw in singles and doubles at the 2022 U.S. Open, where he officially announced that he was turning pro after winning the 2022 NCAA singles title for the University of Florida. Shelton lost a tough five-set match in the first round to Nuno Borges of Portugal. He and partner Chris Eubanks beat 2021 French Open runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas and his brother Petros in the first round of doubles before losing in the second round.

Quinn, who was the 2022 singles runner-up in Vero Beach in April, paired in the main draw of doubles with his Vero Beach doubles partner Nico Godsick, the son of former Olympic doubles gold medal winner and ESPN commentator Mary Joe Fernandez and Roger Federer and Coco Gauff’s agent Tony Godsick. Quinn and Godsick beat former world No. 16 Nikoloz Basilashvili and  Hans Hach Verdugo in the first round before losing to 2021 Wimbledon and Olympic champions Mate Pavic and Nikola Mektic in the second round. Junior Wimbledon doubles champion Alex Michelsen and our 2020 singles champion Diego Hidalgo were also among the recent Vero Beach competitors who competed in the main draw of doubles at the 2022 U.S. Open.

Ethan Quinn and Nico Godsick after losing to 2021 Wimbledon and Olympic champions Mate Pavic and Nikola Mektik

Vero Beach’s Grace Levelston Goes Full Stop For WTA Rankings Points Before College Enrollment

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Vero Beach’s Grace Levelston, the No. 1 player on Vero Beach High School’s tennis team last year and one of the most promising teenage tennis talents in the country, will be finishing high school remotely and will play an increased schedule of professional events to move up the WTA rankings. Grace is ranked No. 1427 in doubles and is on the verge of breaking into the WTA singles rankings.

Levelston, who was first introduced to tennis via a Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation children’s tennis clinic, has verbally committed to play for the University of Central Florida in the Fall of 2023. She will be playing in the $15,000 ITF World Tennis Tour event in Haren, The Netherlands the week of August 29, then the $25,000 event in Saint Palais-Sur-Mer on the west coast of France the week of September 5 and then the $15,000 event in Dijon, France the week of September 12, before returning to the United States to play the $15,000 event in Hilton Head, S.C. the week of September 26.

To follow Grace’s journeys this coming year, follow her on Instagram at @Gracie.Levelstonn For information on how you can help Gracie finance her travels and training or for special appearances, contact Cristin Levelston at 772-418-1722 or CristinV@cheneybrothers.com