Cooper Williams, a sixteen-year-old from Tribeca in New York City, played the “match of the day” on the opening day of qualifying rounds at the $15,000 Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships. The six-foot-two blonde-headed youngster, who trains in Delray Beach, Florida, upset the qualifying’s No. 1 seed Louroi Martinez 7-6(6), 3-6, [10-6] on Stadium Court, as the astute and knowledgable Vero Beach tennis crowd admired the fight and talent of teenager.
Williams was featured in the latest “Payers and Players” podcast, that you can listen to here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1BGTIxJxFOHodBbIvZ6GKM?si=kCYgwkFGQ-29H2Q9vroV4g
Williams will face Ron Hohman, the No. 1 player from LSU and one of the top players in college tennis, in Tuesday’s final round of qualifying at Noon also on Stadium Court.
Two local Vero Beach players, James van Deinse and Daniel Garza, both received last minute wild cards into the qualifying tournament and both fought admirably against stiff competition Monday before losing. Van Deinse, a former Liberty University standout and tennis pro and owner of the Vero Beach Tennis Club, played a compelling second set losing to Andy Andrade, the No. 3 player from the University of Florida’s 2021 NCAA Championship team, 6-0, 6-4. Garza, who won this singles title at this event ten years ago in 2011, flung a fair share of winners before losing to Bolivian Davis Cup Murkel Dellian 6-1, 6-3.
In the 6 pm evening match Monday, Juan Benitez of Colombia, the 2018 champion at the Mardy Fish Futures, defeated Davide Innocenti 6-1, 6-2.
Tuesday’s schedule is highlighted by the Vero Beach locals, Garza and Joseph van Deinse, taking on world No. 300 ATP doubles player Junior Ore and top U.S. junior Ben Kittay in the 6 pm featured night match.
Full results from Monday can be found here:
Andres ANDRADE (ECU) [9] d. James VAN DEINSE (USA) 6-0 6-4
Ronald HOHMANN(USA) [13] d. Matej PANIK (CZE) 6-4 6-1
Marco DE ROSSI (SMR) [4] d. Parth AGGARWAL (IND) 3-6 6-1 [10-2]
JanMagnus JOHNSON(USA) [14] d. Kyle OVERMYER (USA) 6-1 6-0
Yang LIU (CHN) d. Suraj R PRABODH (IND) [5] 6-7(5) 6-2 [10-5]
Matthew DELLAVEDOVA (AUS) [2] d. Shane MONROE (USA) 6-3 6-4
Diogo MARQUES (POR) d. Adam JONES (GBR) [6] 3-6 6-3 [10-1]
Cooper WILLIAMS (USA) d. Louroi MARTINEZ (SUI) [1] 7-6(6) 3-6 [10-6]
Tommaso CARNEVALE-MIINO (ITA) [15] d. Jacob SUTTON (USA) 6-0 6-2
Nikolay SYSOEV (RUS) d. Jordan PARKER (USA) [12] 6-2 6-7(6) [10-7]
Hugo CAZABAN(FRA) d. Nicholas REYES (USA) [7] 4-6 6-3 [10-5]
Reece FALCK (NZL) d. [8] Kuan Yu CHEN (TPE) 7-6(8) 5-2 Ret.
Murkel DELLIEN(BOL) [3] d. Daniel GARZA (MEX) 6-1 6-3
Credit CHAIYARIN(THA) [16] d. Martin MALDONADO (ECU) 6-0 6-3
Juan Manuel BENITEZ (COL) d. Davide INNOCENTI (ITA) [10] 6-1 6-2
Christian LAKOSELJAC (CAN) [11] d. Matthew FOSTER-ESTWICK (BAR) 6-4 7-6(2)
