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Mardy Fish Children's Foundation

King of the Hills

“King Hill of the Hill” 2026 Runs Every Thursday From January 15 – February 19

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The 31st annual King of the Hill tennis completion will start its 2026 season on Thursday, January 15 at The Boulevard Tennis & Padel Club and run through a scheduled Thursday February 19 conclusion. The event’s open division winner and runner-up will once again receive the traditional doubles wild card entry into the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation USTA Pro Circuit tournament.

“King of the Hill” was started in 1996 in behalf of Youth Guidance Program in Vero Beach features top players in the Vero Beach, Florida area competing in an open division, a 40s division and 50 division. The 2026 season will run six weeks on Thursdays at 6 pm with proceeds benefiting Youth Guidance.

The schedule and groupings for the 2026 event are as follows…

Thursday January 15th at 6:00 pm first round open division on four courts:

Group Mardy Fish: Chase Perez Blanco (Vero Beach, winner in 2019, 2020, 2022), Tyler Rios (The Moorings, multiple times finalist), Christian Docter (Sea Oaks multiple times finalist), Stefan Hartman (Melbourne)

Group Andy Roddick: Andrew Butz (Vero Beach, winner in 2010), Joseph Van Deinse (Vero Beach T.C, multiple times finalist), Bruno Pessoa (The Legacy), Nathan Suranofsky (Windsor)

Group Rafael Nadal: Sam Sippel (Orchid Island, winner in 2025), Matteo Masala (John’s Island), Anton Loef (John’s Island), Greg Orr (The Moorings)

Group Andy Murray: Yohan Prinsen (Vero Club Tennis, 2025 finalist), Fernando Herrera (John’s Island), James Van Deinse (Vero Beach T.C, winner in 2017, 2023, 2024.), Ivan Ivars (The Boulevard)

Thursday January 22nd at 6:00 pm – Semifinals 40’s division on two courts:

Group Andre Agassi: Lennart Jonason (John’s Island), Kevin Lackey (Melbourne), Nathan Dickens (Melbourne), James Bragg (Vero Club Tennis)

Group Peter Sampras: Cullen DeWindt (Piper’s Landing), Razvan Ilie (Vero Beach), Ryan Lloyd (Stuart), Stefan Hartman (Melbourne)

Thursday January 22nd at 6:00 pm – Semifinals 50’s division on two courts:

Group Ilie Nastase: Mikael Pernfors (Sea Oaks), Joe Biedenharn (Sea Oaks), Mario Cobo (Mariner Sands), Karim Balagh (The Boulevard)

Group Rod Laver: Aldo Burga (The Moorings), Henner Lenhardt (Sea Oaks), Michael Phelipa (Suntree CC), Emile DeCuba (Ocean Village)

Thursday January 29th at 6:00 pm – Semifinals Open Division

Thursday February 5th at 6:00 pm – 50’s division Final

Thursday February 12th at 6:00 pm – 40’s division Final

Thursday February 19th at 6:00 pm – Open division Final

In 2025, Sam Sippel of the Orchid Island Club won the King of the Hill Open division title and paired with Yohan Prinsen of Vero Club Tennis and competed in the main draw of the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships doubles tournament. Prinsen was the third-place finisher in the open division but replaced the event runner-up Chase Perez-Blanci of Quail Valley. Sippel and Prinsen competed admirably against ATP-ranked pros Strong Kircheimer and Karl Poling but lost 6-2, 6-4.

The 2026 Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships, the $15,000 USTA Pro Circuit event, will be held May 4-10 at the Sea Oaks Beach & Tennis Club.

To watch a feature on “King of the Hill” watch here: https://youtu.be/CfXUdD63BZg?si=It6gSX72cfM3ORJe

Winners of the 2025 King of the Hill:

50’s division – Mikael Pernfors from Sea Oaks

40’s division – Lennart Jonason from John’s Island

Open division – Sam Sippel from Orchid Island

Quail Valley Tennis Pros Perez-Blanco, Nador Solymosi Earn Mardy Fish Doubles Wild Card At "King of the Hill"

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Quail Valley tennis teaching professionals Chase Perez-Blanco and Nandor Solymosi, the winner and runner-up respectively at the annual “King of the Hill” tennis competition that concluded Tuesday night at The Moorings, have been awarded a main draw doubles wild card into the 2019 Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships, to be held April 29 – May 5 at The Boulevard tennis club in Vero Beach.
Perez-Blanco and Solymosi were awarded the wild card by the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation, the operators of the Vero Beach $25,000 U.S. Tennis Association Pro Circuit tournament, an event on the ITF World Tennis Tour, as part of an agreement with the 24-year “King of the Hill” (KOTH) competition and organizer Gigi Casapu to give a wild card entry into the professional event to the KOTH winner and runner-up.
Perez-Blanco and Solymosi will play their first-round doubles match on Tuesday, April 30 at 6:45 pm.
Perez-Blanco is a former University of Florida standout player who ranks No. 6 all-tie in Gator tennis history for most combined singles and doubles victories. Solymosi is a former NCAA Division II All-American at Lees-McRae College and a former practice partner for the Davis Cup team from his native Hungary.
“The King of Hill” is the annual doubles competition featuring tennis professionals from the Vero Beach area who compete in round-robin competitions on Tuesday nights to the determine the “king” of the local tennis professional. Proceeds from “King of the Hill” benefit the Youth Guidance Mentoring & Activities Program.
The Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships is the USTA’s $25,000 ITF World Tennis Tour tournament played in Vero Beach since 1995 and is regarded as one of the best entry-level professional tennis tournaments in the world. Fans can follow news and developments on the tournament on Facebook and on Twitter at @VeroFutures. Approximately 3,000 fans annually attend the event, which is seen as one of the best-attended entry-level professional events in the world. Sponsorships, advance tournament tickets and “Tournament Kickoff Party” opportunities are available by emailing co-tournament directors Tom Fish at TFish10s@aol.com or Randy Walker at Rwalker@NewChapterMedia.com or by going to www.MardyFishChildrensFoundation.org
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 world No. 50 player and teen sensation 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. Seven 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 and Frances Tiafoe.
Founded in 2007, the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation (www.MardyFishFoundation.com and @MardyFishFound on Twitter) currently supports over 2,200 children in 15 elementary schools, six middle schools and two after school centers 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.

Sam Garcia of Quail Valley with this pros Chase Perez-Blanco and Nandor Solymosi and Randy Walker
Sam Garcia of Quail Valley with this pros Chase Perez-Blanco and Nandor Solymosi and Randy Walker

"King of the Hill" Winner, Runner-up To Again Receive Mardy Fish Main Draw Doubles Wild Card

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The Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships have, for a third year in a row, announced that the winner and runner-up of the 24th annual “King of the Hill” tennis tournament that starts Tuesday, January 15 at The Moorings Club in Vero Beach, Fla., will receive a main draw doubles wild card into its annual U.S. Tennis Association (USTA) Pro Circuit event to be held April 29-May 5 at The Boulevard tennis club.
“The King of Hill” (KOTH) is the annual doubles competition featuring tennis professionals from the Vero Beach area who compete in round-robin competitions on Tuesday nights to the determine the “king” of the local tennis professional. Proceeds from “King of the Hill” benefit the Youth Guidance Mentoring & Activities Program.
The Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships is the USTA’s $25,000 professional tennis tournament, part of the newly rebranded International Tennis Federation “World Tennis Tour,” played in Vero Beach since 1995. It is regarded as one of the best entry-level professional tennis tournaments in the world. Proceeds from the event benefit the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation, the non-profit tennis foundation benefiting children, named for Vero Beach native son Mardy Fish, the former top 10 tennis star and the newly-named U.S. Davis Cup captain.
Many former KOTH champions and competitors have played in the Vero Beach USTA Futures, including four-time champion Robert Kowalczyk, the former USTA National Boy’s 18 Clay Court Champion, two-time champion Kriegler Brink, a singles semifinalist at the Vero Beach Futures in 2011, and 2016 and 2018 KOTH champion Mike Alford, a former standout at the University of Florida who played in doubles against current ATP World Tour superstar Denis Shapovalov in the 2016 Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships. Last year, Alford and Kowalczyk were defeated in the first round of the event by Irish Davis Cup player Julian Bradley and his American partner Isaiah Strode.
KOTH matches run every Tuesday starting at 6 pm from January 15 through February 26 at The Moorings Club. The wild card winner and runner-up team from KOTH will also be the featured 7 pm match on Tuesday, April 30 at the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships.
Advance tickets for the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships are available at www.MardyFishChildrensFoundation.org. Admission for children 18 and under is free. Approximately 3,000 fans annually attend the event, which is seen as one of the best-attended events in the world on the “Futures” level of professional tennis tournaments.
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 among others. Former Vero Beach competitors have combined to win 19 titles in singles, doubles and mixed doubles at Grand Slam tournaments. Six former Vero Beach players have gone on to play Davis Cup for the United States – Roddick, Fish, Taylor Dent, Jared Palmer, Donald Young and Ryan Harrison.