Vero Beach’s Annual Men’s Professional Tennis Tournament To Be Held April 21-27 at Vero Beach Tennis & Fitness Club at Timber Ridge
VERO BEACH – American teen standouts Jagger Leach, Jack Kennedy and Noah Johnston highlight the field of entries for the 30th anniversary Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships to be held April 21-27 at the Vero Beach Tennis & Fitness Club.
The Vero Beach $15,000 U.S. Tennis Association Pro Circuit event that is part of the International Tennis Federation World Tennis Tour is an entry level pro tennis tournament that was first played in 1995. The event benefits the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation, the non-profit organization benefitting at-risk children in Indian River County named for Vero Beach native son Mardy Fish, the former top 10 tennis star, U.S. Davis Cup hero and silver medalist at the 2004 Olympic Games
Leach, 17 and from Sarasota Fla., is the No. 4 ranked junior tennis player in the world and No. 1,388 on the ATP computer. He reached the semifinals in singles and doubles at the Australian Open junior championships earlier this year and has committed to play college tennis for the reigning NCAA champion Texas Christian University Horned Frogs. He is the son of former Wimbledon, U.S. Open champion and Olympic gold medalist Lindsay Davenport and the nephew of former Wimbledon and U.S. Open doubles champion Rick Leach.
Kennedy,16 and from Huntington, N.Y., is the No. 11 ranked junior player in the world and ranks No. 1,637 on the ATP computer. He was the runner-up at the 2024 USTA National Boy’s 18s Championships at Kalamazoo, Michigan and competed in the U.S. Open qualifying tournament last year. He has verbally committed to play college tennis at the University of Virginia.
Johnston, 17 and from Anderson, S.C., is the No. 18 ranked junior player in the world and has won international junior titles within the last year in Potro Allegre, Brazil and Tampico, Mexico. Ranked No. 1,612 on the ATP computer, Johnston has competed in the junior tournaments at Wimbledon, the French, Australian and U.S. Opens and has committed to play college tennis at the University of Georgia.
The highest-ranked entries are No. 460-ranked Alvin Nicholas Tudorico of Canada and his countryman Juan Carlos Aguilar, who is ranked No. 482. They are also joined by a third Canadian in the main draw, Steven Diez, a former member of the Canadian Davis Cup team who competed in the main draw in singles at the 2020 French Open.
Other leading main draw entries include Peter Bertran, a member of the Davis Cup team from the Dominican Republic and the 2023 Mardy Fish doubles champ, American Bruno Kuzuhara, who beat current Miami Open champion Jakub Mensik to win the Australian Open junior championship in 2021, former Ohio State All-American Canon Kingsley and William Grant, a member of the University of Florida’s 2021 NCAA Championship team. Adithya Ganesan, the No. 1 player for the current Florida Gator tennis team who played in the main draw in doubles at the 2023 U.S. Open, is also a direct entry into the event.
“As it has been for the last 30 years, this year’s tournament will showcase some of the most talented young players in the world, some of whom will go on to contend for big tennis titles down the road,” said Tom Fish, co-tournament director of the father of Mardy Fish. “This tournament is so special to Vero Beach, bringing together our tennis community, showcasing amazing tennis talent and raising money to help at-risk children in Indian River County via the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation.”
Mike Rahaley, the late tennis instructor and entrepreneur in Vero Beach, founded the Vero Beach USTA Pro Circuit event in 1995 and ran it until 2016 when he passed the reigns for the tournament’s management to the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation, which has used the tournament as a major fundraiser.
Play starts at 11 am each weekday of the tournament and includes a feature match starting at 5 pm at the Vero Beach Tennis & Fitness Club. On Saturday, April 26, the semifinals start at Noon and on Sunday, April 27 the final starts at 1 pm. For ticket information, go 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 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 U.S. Open semifinalist France 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. Eleven 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 and Alex Michelsen..
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. 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.
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.
Sponsors for the 2025 Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation are led by Presenting Sponsor PNC Bank and Grand Slam sponsor Michael Merrill Real Estate. Other sponsors are Roberts Family Foundation, Boston Barricade, Michael Pierce – In Loving Memory of Kathie Pierce, Cliff Norris Real Estate, Antle Foundation, Gene Simonsen, Bob and Emilie Burr, Lynn Southerly, John and Sara Marshall, John and Marie McConnell, Peter and Ellen Kendall, Jaime Yordan, M&M Realty, Foglia Contracting Corp., Jim and Shirin Marver, Joe and Barbara Price, Hazelton Marketing Group, Kitchens by Design, Minuteman Press, Linda Delaney, Michael Williams, Wendy and Chase Carey, Steve and Karen Rubin, Carly Wittek, Tom Collins Insurance, Bill Baker, Sailfish Brewery, Evelyn’s Plant Care, Nalzaro Music, Weatherman Umbrella and Natalie’s Orange Juice.
