Timber Ridge

Jaycer Lyeons And His Incredible Run To The Mardy Fish Singles Final

Randy Walker · April 30, 2023 · Leave a Comment

Could Jaycer Lyeons go from last man into the main draw of the 2023 Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships to the last man standing?

The 22-year-old Texan who now trains in Miami was the last player added into the main draw before the start of the qualifying event and after his thrilling 3-6, 7-6 (7), 7-5 semifinal win Saturday over Duarte Vale of Portugal is only one match away from winning the title. Lyeons will play Sunday’s final against Canada’s Dan Martin, a Dartmouth transfer who now plays for the University of Miami.

With an ATP ranking of No. 1,337 Lyeons was the last player not directly accepted into the main draw as of last Sunday night when the sign-in for the tournament concluded. However, the U.S. Tennis Association had only issued two of its three main draw wild cards (or free direct entries) and decided to award the last entry to Lyeons as the highest-ranked American not in the main draw (and he was the leading entry in the qualifying field at the time). This allowed Lyeons to not have to win two qualifying round matches just to get into the main draw.

Once in the main draw, Lyeons had a crazy run into the final, least of which was his three-hour 18-minute marathon over Vale. After beating top American junior Kaylan Bigun in the first round, Lyeons battled top-seed and Romanian Davis Cupper Adrian Boitan. The two fought until 3-3 in the third set, when rain delayed the match. After a three-hour delay, they resumed the match with only about 45 minutes of daylight remaining. Just after sunset, Lyeons led 4-1 in the final-set tiebreaker when Boitan asked for the match not to continued due to darkness, which was accorded. Lyeons, then sleeping on being only three points from the biggest win of his career, needed four points to close out the 6-4, 6-7 (6), 7-6(2) victory, saving three match points in the three-hour-plus epic. Lyeons then returned to the court a bit later on Friday and faced Dominican Davis Cupper Roberto Cid Subervi in the quarterfinals. Late in the first set, he became stricken with cramps, but was able to properly rehydrate and re-nourish himself and benefitting from Cid Subervi himself suffering from cramps and was able to advance when Cid Subervi retired due to his cramps after Lyeons won the second set.

Against Vale, Lyeons saved another match point in the second set (his fourth of the tournament) and held steady after blowing five match points of his own and a 5-2 final-set lead to prevail 7-5 in the third set.

Lyeons has only been playing pro tennis on the ITF World Tennis Tour since late July and this is his first career singles final.

WATCH Randy Walker’s post-match interview with Lyeons here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsE_Pb6_ynU

And WATCH Walker’s interview with Dan Martin after his 7-5, 6-1 win over Jacob Brumm in the first semifinal here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvVYH7fQMtc

In doubles, 53-year-old James Bragg of Vero Beach and The Boulevard Club and Sea Oaks Beach & Tennis Club teaching pro Ching Wang resumed their rain-delayed doubles match and lost to Cid Subervi and Sathi Reddy of Indian 6-2, 6-0.

WATCH Walker’s interview with Bragg and Ching here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeuDTGXrxGM

WATCH Walker’s interview with Cid Subervi and Reddy here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2__JbIlkrgU

Read former New York Post sports writer Marc Berman’s coverage from Saturday here

https://www.tcpalm.com/story/sports/2023/04/29/mardy-fish-pro-circuit-underdog-jayce-lyeons-reaches-championship/70166941007/

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

Randy Walker · April 24, 2023 · Leave a Comment

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.

James Bragg, 53, To Be One Of Oldest Ever Pro Competitors After Qualifying For Mardy Fish Futures In Doubles

Randy Walker · April 19, 2023 · Leave a Comment

James Bragg of Vero Beach earned the opportunity to be a part of pro tennis history on the ITF World Tennis Tour and U.S. Tennis Association Pro Circuit.

The 53-year-old paired with Sea Oaks teaching pro Ching Wang to win the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships “Wild Card” doubles tournament on Monday and earn an invitation to compete in the $15,000 entry-level professional tournament April 24-30 at the Vero Beach Tennis & Fitness Club at Timber Ridge.

Bragg and Wang defeated fellow Vero Beach residents Christian Docter and Joseph Van Deinse 6-2, 6-3 in the final of the “Wild Card” doubles tournament at Timber Ridge that awards a main draw doubles invitation to the winning team. At age 53, Bragg will be one of the oldest men to ever compete at an official pro tennis tournament.

“Playing at any level of pro tennis over the age of 50 is extremely rare,” said Greg Sharko of the ATP Tour’s communications department. “Certainly, James would be among the oldest players to ever play an official pro tennis match.”

Bragg, who plays out of The Boulevard Club in Vero Beach, will be scheduled to play his opening round doubles match on Tuesday afternoon, April 25. A former varsity player for Dartmouth, Bragg last year reached the semifinals in singles of the USTA National Men’s 50 Clay Court Championships.

Wang, a first-year teaching professional at the Sea Oaks Beach & Tennis Club in Vero Beach, is a former NCAA Division II player at Lees-McRae College in North Carolina. He competed in a limited number of ITF World Tennis Tour events in 2018 in the United States, Spain and Hong Kong.

Bragg and Ching spoke of their Wild Card tournament victory and their goals at the Mardy Fish tournament playing against ATP-ranked players from around the world here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQUEEt5XoZc

In the singles final of the Mardy Fish “pre-qualifying” tournament that determined a wild card entry into the qualifying event, Jose Galvez of Atlanta, defeated Aldiyar Azbahn of Plantation, Fla., 7-5, 6-3 in the final to earn only his second career entry into an ITF World Tennis Tour qualifying draw. The persistent baseline game of Galvez enabled him to win the title without losing a set and defeated Vero Beach locals Sebastian Mendoza 7-6(5), 7-5 in the quarterfinals and James Van Deinse 6-1, 6-2 in the semifinals.

Galvez, a former standout at Kennesaw State University, was playing in his first competitive tournament since 2020 at Timber Ridge and was inspired to give competitive tennis another try after being inspired by his girlfriend, as he discusses here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQNqThUaj4o

Earlier this year, the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation awarded other performance-based main draw tournament wild cards to the doubles team of James Van Deinse and Tyler Rios of Port St. Lucie by virtue of their finishes as the winner and runner-up, respectively, at Vero Beach’s annual “King of the Hill” competition and to Matthew Segura of Apopka, Fla., by virtue of his victory at the wild card singles tournament at Sea Oaks in February. By reaching the final of the Sea Oaks wild card event, Ryan Haviland of Greenville, S.C., earned a qualifying round wild card.

Daily, weekly and reserved seating tickets for the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships can be purchased at MardyFishChildrensFoundation.org or at the front gate at the Vero Beach Tennis & Fitness Club during the event.

James Van Deinse Beats Former Top 400 Pro To Win UTR Tournament at Vero Beach Tennis & Fitness Club

manfr3dw · December 19, 2022 · Leave a Comment

James Van Deinse won perhaps the biggest tennis match of his career Sunday afternoon and it just happened to be on the court at the Vero Beach Tennis & Fitness Club where he teaches lessons for hours each day.

Van Deinse’s 7-6 (5), 7-5 win in the final of the special Vero Beach Timber Ridge Tennis Open Universal Tennis prize money tournament came against Michal Schmid, a Czech player who ranked as high as No. 373 in the world and who has beaten current top star Diego Schwartzman of Argentina as well as former Grand Slam tournament semifinalists Jerzy Janowicz of Poland and Joachim Johansson of Sweden in his career.

“It was definitely one of the biggest wins in my career, if not the biggest,” said Van Deinse courtside after his final round win over Schmid that earned him a winner’s paycheck of $325. “I knew he was a great player. I knew he was a former top ranked player… just to see the ball that he hits, it’s a different ball. For me, the strategy was to fight and play my game. Not alter from my game because I knew he was going to hit his big shots and I was able to play almost perfect tennis, my style. It was able to pull me through.”

The tournament was a specially organized event run on the Universal Tennis (UTR) platform by Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships co-tournament director Randy Walker, designed to give local players more competitive opportunities. The Vero Beach Tennis & Fitness Club will also host for the first time the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation $15,000 ITF World Tennis Tour event in late April of 2023. Van Deinse won four matches over two days to win the title, also including a semifinal win over his older brother and club co-owner Joseph Van Deinse by a 6-0, 7-5 margin earlier on Sunday.

Net money received from entry fees of the tournament were split between the winner and runner-up. Schmid received a runner-up check for $125.

En route to the final, Schmid, who received a first-round bye, registered a 6-1, 6-1 quarterfinal win over James Bragg, fresh off reaching the semifinals of the 2022 USTA National Men’s 50 Clay Court Championships, and a 6-4, 6-3 semifinal win over Mason Cisco, the No. 1 player on Vero Beach High School boy’s tennis team.

Van Deinse held two set points with Schmid serving at 5-6, 15-40 in the first set but the Czech ripped four straight winners to hold serve and force the tiebreaker and extended his point win streak to seven taking a 3-0 lead in the tiebreaker. Van Deinse was able to claw back to win three of the next four points, but a double-fault while trailing 3-4 put him down 3-5. Schmid, however, committed errors on the next three points, missing a drop shot, a backhand wide and forehand in the net before Van Deinse sealed the 7-5 tiebreaker win with an ace out wide that cleared the line out wide on the ad side.

In the second set, Van Deinse broke to take a 3-2 lead, but Schmid broke right back for 3-3. Van Deinse then broke Schmid again and was able to consolidate the break by holding serve for a 5-3 lead. Van Deinse held three match points in the following game – losing one on a let cord – but Schmid was able to hold serve to force Van Deinse to serve out the match. Perhaps with the lost match points still in his mind from the previous game, Van Deinse was unable to serve out the match as Schmid tied the second set at 5-5. However, some sloppy play in the next game by the Czech allowed Van Deinse to break again and he was not denied serving for the match for a second time, closing out the 7-6 (5), 7-5 victory.

Van Deinse compared the win to when he beat the former world No. 88 doubles player Brian Battistone in the pre-qualifying tournament for the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships in 2019. However, Schmid’s resume and ranking are much better than Battistone with the cadre of players he has beaten in singles and at one time being ranked as high as No. 373 in the ATP Tour rankings, while Battistone’s career-high in singles was only No. 853. Adding to the special nature of the win was the fact that he won it in a final, at the club he owns and operates and was played in front of friends and people who he teaches.

“It was a great crowd,” said Van Deinse. “We had a lot of, some of the students that I teach came out and watched me, so it’s definitely special to play in front of all those people. It was special to host the tournament at our club and to win the tournament that I hosted. It was big and it was a good starter to continue events like this.

“There was nothing playing in front of all of my friends. Everybody that was watching, they really pulled me through. I heard the ‘come ons’ every single point and that really does help when you’re playing matches because you get tired out there in the second set when things are getting weary and you just have to keep fighting and fighting. But definitely cool to play under the lights here. It was starting to get dark, so yeah, it was special.”

James Van Deinse (left) and Michal Schmid

Timber Ridge To Host 2023 Mardy Fish Tennis Championships

Randy Walker · November 18, 2022 · Leave a Comment

The Vero Beach Fitness & Tennis Club at the Timber Ridge residential community will be the new home of the $15,000 Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships USTA Pro Circuit ITF World Tennis Tour event for 2023.

Vero Beach’s storied professional sports event will be held April 24-30 and will once again feature up-and-coming future tennis stars vying for ATP ranking points in this entry-level pro tennis tournament. The event benefits 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.

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.

Watch a brief tour of the club with Randy Walker here: https://youtu.be/Ia3SGgqBCsw and here: https://youtu.be/qr6LdcohAms

“We are excited for a new chapter of our Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships at Timber Ridge,” said Tom Fish, President Emeritus of the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation. “James and Joseph Van Deinse have been leading tennis citizens in Vero Beach over the last seven years, teaching tennis to people of all ages, including many children who have been part of Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation funded programs. We are looking forward to this new partnership and new chapter for our tournament, which has been held in Vero Beach for nearly 30 years and has helped us raise so much money that benefits at-risk children in Indian River County.”

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.

“We are very excited to host so many great up-and-coming world class players to our club and be a part of the history of this great tournament, which has been an institution in Vero Beach for nearly 30 years,” said Joseph Van Deinse. Younger brother James Van Deinse added, “This will be a great opportunity to showcase our club and our offerings to the Vero Beach community and beyond.”

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 new top 10 star 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. 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.

Leading tournament sponsors for 2022 include Presenting Sponsor PNC Bank, Grand Slam Sponsors: George E. Warren Corporation, The Jake Owen Foundation, John’s Island Real Estate, Tom Collins Insurance Agency, Cabana/Box Seat Sponsors: Michael and Kathleen Pierce, Gene Simonsen, John and Charlotte Klein, Peter and Maureen Lee, Bob and Lace Milligan, Micky and Rob Stein, Bob and Emilie Burr, Lynn Southerly, John and Sara Marshall, John and Marie McConnell, Shirley Becker, Hadleigh Investments LLC, Peter and Ellen Kendall, Cliff Norris Real Estate LLC, Indian River Primary Care and Supporting Sponsors: Syde Hurdus Foundation, Mike and Meg Hickey/M&M Realty, Nalzarro Music, Hoskins, Turco, Lloyd & Lloyd, Center Court Outfitters, Foglia Contracting, Offfutt, Barton, Schlitt, Inc, Orchid Island Real Estate, Joe and Gloria Papalardo, Linda Delaney, Dave and Nina Piacquad, Jaime Yordan, Katharine “Kissy” Russel, Wilmington Trust, Rebecca Emmons, Linda Johnson, Anne Faunce, Kaye Manly, Mark Thurn, Estee Brashears, Roby Pierce and Ron Hartwig, Matt Wynne, Willem and Marion DeVogel, Ron Chesley, Dorothy Sprague and Bill Benedict, Dr. Collin Kitchell, Tim Palmer of Treasure Coast Tennis Association, Minuteman Press and The Boulevard Tennis Club.