by Harvey Fialkov
For local teaching pros in Vero Beach, Tuesday night at the $15,000 Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships contained good news and bad news.
Quail Valley River Club pro Gaston Erhardt and fellow Argentine Alejandro Orihuela teamed up to stun Americans Henry Barrett and Drew Van Orderlain, 6-3, 6-2 to earn their first doubles ATP ranking points. The local duo, who won the Mardy Fish doubles “wild card” tournament at The Moorings to gain entry into the event, were college teammates and partners at Ava Maria University near Naples.
“I’m still so excited because it was my first main draw ever,’’ said Orihuela, 29, who teaches privately in Orlando and in Plant City near Tampa. “I’m very emotional and don’t know what to say. I want to thank all the people in the crowd for supporting most likely Gaston, but I feel their energy. This is one of the best days of my life.
“I spent my whole life playing tennis to get to ATP rankings in Argentina. I’m excited for this moment but we want more.”
Erhardt, 27, who was ranked No. 1,780 in 2019 when he was chasing a pro career, earned his ATP point with a first-round win in an ITF $15K in Paraguay in 2019.
“It feels amazing as I had it in singles but never in doubles,’’ Erhardt said. “Even though I was always entering doubles. … We started slow and were a little tense and didn’t play our best in the first few games, but we started playing better. The crowd helped a lot.
“When Covid hit it was too expensive to travel so I decided to change my path, so I went to college with Alejandro.”
They will next play on Thursday in the event quarterfinals, likely in the late afternoon, early evening.
On the adjacent Stadium Court, despite more raucous cheering section, Ivan Ivars, who teaches at The Boulevard Village & Tennis Club, and his partner, Tyler Rios, a teaching professional at The Moorings Yacht & Country Club, put up a good fight despite the lopsided 6-1, 6-0 loss to the Brazilian duo of Joaquim Almeida and Joao Ceolin.
The rallies were thrilling but mostly won by the Brazilians, who are still attempting to rise the ranks in professional tennis, while the local teaching pros are focused on helping their club members become better recreational players.
“It was a super fun night,’’ said Rios, who along with Ivars won the King of the Hill qualifying event at The Boulevard to earn their main draw berth.
Ivars, who is from Spain, has been nursing a hamstring injury.
“I never expected this to happen,’’ Ivars said. “I stopped playing competitive tennis, but this came up and I’m really happy. It’s been an incredible year to be here.”
A video review of some of the highlights of Day Two of the Mardy Fish, click here: https://youtu.be/gQiq2xU8Tvo?si=B5slB34FeMrzDn9_
Watch a highlight reel of the historic Ryan Haviland vs. Teodor Davidov match here https://youtu.be/nCU5c-8M4Y0?si=V2KtTg4pJzEEzhY4
Tuesday’s schedule, which includes the final round of qualifying singles and the first round of doubles can be found here M15 Vero Beach, FL 2026 Tennis Tournament | ITF
The entire 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.
