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Mardy Fish Children's Foundation

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Panama Davis Cup Veteran Marcelo Rodriguez Wins Mardy Fish Sea Oaks “Wild Card” Title

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Marcelo Rodriguez, a veteran of the Davis Cup team from Panama, survived two decisive match tiebreakers and saved a match point, en route to winning the 2025 Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships ‘Wild Card” tournament at the Sea Oaks Beach & Tennis Club

On the final day of tournament Rodriguez defeated Florida State commit Ben Saltman of Winter Haven, Florida 6-2, 4-6, (11-9) in the semifinals, saving a match point down 8-9 in the final-set tiebreaker. Rodriguez then beat Ohio State commit Ilija Palavestra of Delray Beach, Florida in the championship match in another decisive match tiebreaker 3-6, 6-4, (10-7).

With the win, Rodriguez earns a main draw “wild card” entry into the $15,000 Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships USTA Pro Circuit ITF World Tennis Tour event to be held April 21-27 at the Vero Beach Tennis & Fitness Club at Timber Ridge. Palavestra, with the runner-up finish, earns a qualifying round wild card.

Rodriguez, who trains in Port St. Lucie, spoke of his victory and the atmosphere at Sea Oaks here: “Sea Oaks Crowd For Mardy Fish “Wild Card” Similar To Davis Cup, Says Marcelo Rodriguez https://youtu.be/emSeKwNs-sM?si=dHA-Yd-UIVNazkyA via @YouTube

Palavestra also needed a decisive match tiebreaker to advance to the final, beating Abhishek Thorat 6-4, 3-6, (10-6). He also defeated two of Vero Beach’s leading players en route to the final, beating James van Deinse 6-2, 6-0 in his opening match and Ching Wang 6-2, 6-1 in the quarterfinals.

Palavestra spoke of his budding tennis career and how Universal Tennis Rating events have helped his game improve here: Ilija Palavestra Credits UTR, PTT Events For His Rise In Tennis https://youtu.be/_4sTcf_kOOU?si=5UQqoCkAAomVkCZy via @YouTube

Aspiring ATP Tennis Pros To Return To Sea Oaks For Mardy Fish “Wild Card” Event February 26-28, 2025

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The annual Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation “Wild Card” Tournament is set to return to the picturesque Sea Oaks Beach and Tennis Club in Vero Beach, Florida, from February 26-28, 2025. Known for blending competitive tennis with an intimate seaside setting, this unique event serves as a gateway for aspiring professional players seeking a coveted spot in the USTA Pro Circuit’s Vero Beach Futures tournament.

Named after Vero Beach native and former world No. 7 Mardy Fish, this tournament has become a celebrated fixture on the local sports calendar. This year’s tournament promises to showcase an impressive mix of talent, from rising stars to seasoned journeymen and aspiring Vero Beach locals, all vying for the wild card entry and to experience the fierce competition at such a beautiful setting.

The stakes are high at the event as the winner of the tournament earns a main draw singles wild card into the 2025 Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships $15,000 USTA Pro Circuit ITF World Tennis Tour event that will be held April 21-27 at the Vero Beach Tennis & Fitness Club at the Timber Ridge community. The singles runner-up earns a spot in the tournament’s qualifying tournament.

To enter the tournament, go to the Universal Tennis website here: https://app.utrsports.net/events/275522?_ref=randyw456&shared=true

The event has been tagged “The Greatest Wild Card Tournament In The World” as you can watch in this video here: https://youtu.be/Pmb49avrsQQ?si=3MD1AYNYm3eliEDi

In 2024, Mitchell Lee of Oakland, Calif., won the tournament to earn the main draw wild card – where he earned his first career ATP singles (and doubles) ranking points. Lachlan Gaskell of Iowa, the reigning USTA National Boy’s 16s Champion, was the singles runner-up and earned the qualifying wild card. Matthew Segura, the great nephew of Hall of Famer Pancho Segura, is a four-time champion at the event at Sea Oaks, winning the first three editions of the tournament there in 2018, 2019 and 2020 and again in 2023.

Set against the scenic backdrop of the Atlantic Ocean, the Sea Oaks courts are known for their challenging clay surfaces, which reward patience and strategy. Fans can expect thrilling matches and dramatic moments, as players battle for every point in front of an engaged and supportive crowd. The community spirit of Sea Oaks, combined with the prestige of the Mardy Fish name, ensures a memorable weekend for both players and spectators.

Will a new face rise to claim the wild card, or will a returning competitor build on past experience to secure victory? All eyes will be on Sea Oaks this February, as the 2025 Mardy Fish Wild Card Tournament sets the tone for another exciting year of tennis in Vero Beach.

Top U.S. Juniors Lee, Gaskell Secure First Pro Chances At Mardy Fish Sea Oaks “Wild Card” Tournament

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by Randy Walker

@TennisPublisher

The Sea Oaks Beach & Tennis Club hosted for a sixth time the “Wild Card” tournament for the $15,000 Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships USTA Pro Circuit event. The tournament, that awards a main draw singles “wild card” entry to the winner and a qualifying round “wild card” to the runner-up featured a record 43 entries from players from eight different countries.

Two of the top junior tennis players in the United States, Mitchell Lee of Oakland, Calif., and the No. 8 junior in the United States, and Lachlan Gaskell originally from Iowa and the 2023 USTA National Boy’s 16s runner-up, were the top two seeds, respectively, and met in the final with Lee winning by a 6-1, 6-2 margin.

Lee, who will play for Harvard University starting next Fall, will make his professional tennis event debut at the April 22-28 Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships at the Vero Beach Tennis & Fitness Club at Timber Ridge. Gaskell, a 16-year-old high school sophomore, will also get his first taste of pro tennis at the Mardy Fish “Futures” event by playing in the qualifying rounds.

Watch the entertaining post-match ceremony here: https://youtu.be/OYRaLA0ULTQ?si=scA15TuopNt7gYbB

Gaskell played the most exciting match of the tournament, saving two match points in his 7-5, 4-6, (12-10) semifinal win over Elias Shumann of Austria and the IMG Academy, saving match points at 8-9 and 9-10 in the decisive 10-point match tiebreaker played in lieu of a third set.

Several Vero Beach players competed in the event with Vero Beach High School Mason Cisco performing the best, reaching the round of 16 and giving eventual champion Lee his toughest match of the week, falling 6-3, 6-2. James Van Deinse of the Vero Beach Tennis & Fitness Club and the 2024 “King of the Hill” champion won his first round match before falling to Gaskell SCORE in the second round. Bernardo Feitosa, a standout member of The Boulevard Club, also reached the second round before falling to Schumann 6-2, 6-2. Christian Docter, a teaching pro at Sea Oaks, reached the second round before losing to No. 3 seed Cody Benton 6-3, 6-4.

Local pro Ching Wang, who teaches at Windsor and with the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation, was defeated in his opening match to Aldiyar Abzhan 6-4, 7-5.

Cameron Roth, teaching pro at Vero Club Tennis, reached the round of 16 after a first round win and a retirement, before losing to eventual semifinalist Ben Saltman 6-0, 6-0.

James Bragg, member of The Boulevard and winner of the Mardy Fish “Wild Card” doubles tournament in 2023, lost his opening round match to Sebastien Rivera 6-2, 6-2.

To review the entire draw, click on the UTR site here:  https://app.utrsports.net/events/205240?_ref=randyw456&shared=true

The Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation will also host a main draw doubles event April 5-7 at Timber Ridge where players can sign up here: https://app.utrsports.net/events/221429?_ref=randyw456&shared=true

A “pre-qualifying” event that will award a “wild card” into the qualifying tournament will also be held April 17-19 at Timber Ridge where players can sign up here: https://app.utrsports.net/events/221435?_ref=randyw456&shared=true

Mardy Fish “Wild Card” Event To Return To Sea Oaks February 28 – March 1, 2024

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The “Wild Card” event for the 2024 Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships will be held Wednesday February 28 through Friday March 1 at the Sea Oaks Beach and Tennis Club in Vero Beach, Florida. The event has been dubbed “the best wild card tournament in the world”

The winner of this event will receive a main draw singles wild card into the $15,000 Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships USTA Pro Circuit event to be held April 22-28 at the Vero Beach Tennis & Fitness Club and the runner-up will receive a qualifying singles wild card into the event. A third place match will be played to determine a “pecking order” as alternates to these positions. Matches are best of three sets with a match tiebreaker for a third set.

To sign up for the event, click on the UTR Sports website here: https://app.utrsports.net/events/205240?_ref=randyw456&shared=true

The schedule of play will be feed-in matches starting at about Noon on Wednesday and then round of 16 matches on Wednesday to follow. The quarterfinals will be played on Thursday at about 1 pm. The semifinals will be played at 10 am on Friday morning, followed by the third place match, after rest and the final will be held at about 4 pm on Friday afternoon. If the event receives more than 24 entries, best efforts will be made to potentially play feed in matches into the final 24 entries on Tuesday afternoon/evening. No promises but we will try and work to give as many players as possible competitive opportunities.

Matches are always supported by hundreds of fans attending daily. See a review video of the 2023 event here https://youtu.be/Pmb49avrsQQ?si=RYGAz6i33gE0cN5o

The winner of the event will have their name engraved on the perpetual “Paul Delaney Cup,” honoring the memory of the former Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation board member Paul Delaney, who was a member of the Sea Oaks Club. In 2024, Matthew Segura, the great nephew of tennis Hall of Famer Pancho Segura, won the event for a fourth time in five editions of the event defeating former Stanford All-American Ryan Haviland in the final.

From the final of the 2023 Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships “Wild Card” event at Sea Oaks

Ching Wang, Sebastian Mendoza Slide Into Mardy Fish Qualifying Draw, Play Monday at Timber Ridge

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Ching Wang, the tennis teaching professional from Sea Oaks Beach & Tennis Club in Vero Beach, will play the featured evening match at the $15,000 Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships Monday at the Vero Beach Tennis & Fitness Club after receiving a last-second wild card entry into the qualifying rounds of the event.

Wang will play Matthew Vos of Plano, Texas at 5:30 pm in the featured match on Stadium Court. Play begins at 11 am Monday and another Vero Beach local and last minute wild card entry, Sebastian Mendoza of the 2022 Vero Beach High School tennis team, will play the featured day match at Noon against Isaac Nortey, a Davis Cup player from Ghana.

Wang was a semifinalist and fourth-place finisher at the Mardy Fish “Wild Card” singles tournament at Sea Oaks in February and was granted the second alternate spot for a qualifying wild card and a third alternate for a main draw wild card. However, Matthew Segura, who won the Mardy Fish Sea Oaks tournament for a fourth time, was able to slide into the main draw field on his own Sunday night with his No. 1,234 ATP ranking after several players withdrew. With Segura no longer needing the wild card to enter the main draw, his main draw wild card was then given to event runner-up Ryan Haviland, who was to Segura in the Sea Oaks final 6-7(5), 7-5 (10-8). Haviland, as the runner-up, was guaranteed a qualifying round wild card, but since he graduated to a main draw wild card, his qualifying wild card was bounced down to the third place finisher at Sea Oaks, Asariah Rusher of New Hampshire. However, Rusher, was unable to play in Vero Beach due a family commitment and thus the next player in the “pecking order” was Wang, the fourth place finisher at the Sea Oaks event, losing by walkover due to injury to Rusher in the third-place match.

Wang will also compete in the main draw of doubles on Tuesday alongside 53-year-old James Bragg, with whom he won the Mardy Fish doubles wild card tournament.

Mendoza was fortunate to receive a wild card entry into the Mardy Fish qualifying as he was one of the highest American players not directly accepted into the event and was awarded a wild card by the USTA and the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation.

The full schedule for Monday can be found here: https://www.usta.com/content/dam/usta/2023-pro-circuit/20230424_verobeach_m15/OP.pdf

The qualifying round draw can be found here: https://www.usta.com/content/dam/usta/2023-pro-circuit/20230424_verobeach_m15/QS.pdf

Players must win two qualifying matches to earn a spot in the main draw of the competition.

The qualifying finals will take place starting at 11 am on Tuesday, followed by the start of the doubles competition. The main draw of singles will begin on Wednesday.

Tickets for the event can be purchased at www.VeroBeachTennisTickets.com On site offerings include the Tasteful Express Food Truck, American Icon Bar Service, Yami’s Ice Cream Shop, Fisher’s Island Spiked Lemonade as well as other local vendors and artists.

The Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships has been held in Vero Beach since 1995 and, since 2016, has benefitted the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation, the non-profit foundation benefiting children named for Vero Beach native son Mardy Fish, a former top 10 tennis star, U.S. Davis Cup hero and silver medalist at the 2004 Olympic Games.

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, 2021 Wimbledon semifinalist Denis Shapovalov, 2022 U.S. Open semifinalist France Tiafoe, 2023 Australian Open semifinalist Tommy Paul and new rising star and 2022 NCAA singles champion Ben Shelton. Former Vero Beach competitors have combined to win 19 titles in singles, doubles and mixed doubles at Grand Slam tournaments. Eight 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 and Tommy Paul.

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.

Leading tournament sponsors for 2023 include Presenting Sponsor PNC Bank, Grand Slam Sponsor: John’s Island Real Estate, Scoreboard Sponsor Tara Layne Alex MacWilliam Real Estate, Hat Sponsor: The Roberts Family Foundation and additional event sponsors Cliff Norris Real Estate, Tom Collins Insurance Agency, Hazel House, Antle Foundation, Gene Simonsen, Kathie and Michael Pierce, Maureen and Peter Lee, Bob and Emilie Burr, Daniel Holman,  Lynn Southerly, John and Sara Marshall, John and Marie McConnell, Peter and Ellen Kendall, Shirley Becker, Jaime Yordan, Steve and Karen Rubin, Katherine Cerullo, Pene Chambers, Willem and Marion de Vogel, M&M Realty, Foglia Contracting Corp, Hazelton Marketing Group, Block and Scarpa, Attorneys at Law, Center Court Tennis Outfitters, Publix, Kitchens By Design, Orchid Island Realty, Joe and Barbara Price, Charlie and Este Brashears, Rob and Mickey Stein, Evelyn’s Plant Care, Vero Marine Center, Boston Retail Solutions and Minuteman Press.