The Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships will host its official “Tournament Party” on Monday, April 24 starting at 5 pm at the tennis facility at Grand Harbor Golf & Beach Club featuring Grand Slam and Davis Cup champions, its pro-am competition featuring world-ranked tournament competitors and entertainment from the fun and entertaining Vero Beach band “Riptide.”
Cliff and Nancy Richey, the best brother-sister combination in the history of tennis, will also attend the party as part of a visit to Vero Beach. Cliff Richey was a two-time member winning U.S. Davis Cup teams and was a two-time U.S. Open semifinalist, losing to Tony Roche in 1970 and to his former Davis Cup teammate Arthur Ashe in 1972. During his career, he defeated such players as Rod Laver, John McEnroe, Stan Smith and Ilie Nastase, His sister Nancy won the Australian singles title in 1967 and the French Open singles title in 1968, while also winning the Wimbledon, Australian and U.S. Open doubles title. She was one of the “Original 9” founders of the WTA Tour in 1973 and was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2003.
Party patrons will also treated to cocktails and heavy appetizers as well as the musical entertainment from the Vero Beach and Grand Harbor band “Riptide.”
Aspiring players will also get a chance to test their skills against world-ranked pros from around the world in the pro-am competition from 5 pm to 7 pm. Competitors will play doubles with or against a rotation of world-ranked player competing in the tournament. Last year, nine of the 10 pros in the pro-am were Davis Cup players for their country, including Denis Shapovalov of Canada. Entrants will also receive two tickets for any main draw session of the tournament (April 25-30), a gift bag and cocktails and appetizers as part of the tournament party.
The Tournament Party and the Pro-Am event are fundraisers for The Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation and will benefit children of Indian River County, Florida.
Tickets for just the Tournament Party cost $90, while pro-am spots are available for $250 each. Tournament sponsors also receive invitations as part of their sponsorship packages. To participate and to RSVP, please email Kristen Wilson at kristen@mffkids.org or call/text at 231-330-3984.
The Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships is the USTA’s $15,000 Futures-level tournament played in Vero Beach since 1995 and 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 (www.MardyFishFoundation.com), the non-profit tennis foundation benefiting children, named for Vero Beach native son Mardy Fish, the former top 10 tennis star and a U.S. Davis Cup standout.
Advance tickets – and sponsorships – for the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships are available at www.VeroBeachTennisTickets.com. Season tickets for all 10 days of the competition are available for $100. Daily by-one-get-one free tickets for the qualifying rounds April 21-24 are for sale for $10, with daily tickets for the main draw sessions April 25-30 for sale for $20. A special “Happy Hour” ticket is available for $10 after 5 pm for night sessions on Tuesday, April 25 – Friday, April 28 that includes a featured 7 pm night match. 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. The 2016 event featured 13 players who played Davis Cup for their country and was won by Jonas Luetjen of Germany, who defeated Latvian Davis Cupper Martins Podzus in the final.
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.
Founded in 2007, the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation (www.MardyFishFoundation.com and @MardyFishFound on Twitter) currently supports over 2,100 children in 15 elementary schools and six middle schools in Indian River County, Florida by providing 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.
