Davis Cup players from five countries, two members of the Florida Gator 2021 NCAA Championship team and the 2022 Australian Open junior boys singles champion highlight the main draw singles entries into the 2023 Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships, the $15,000 U.S. Tennis Association Pro Circuit event to be played April 24-30 at the Vero Beach Tennis & Fitness Club at Timber Ridge.
The leading entry is Adrian Boitan, the No. 5 player in Romania and a member of the Romanian Davis Cup team, ranked No. 510 in the ATP singles rankings. Boitan is joined in the 32-player singles field by Peter Bertran and Roberto Cid Subervi, members of the Davis Cup team from the Dominican Republic, ranked No. 637 and No. 667, respectively, as well as Jesse Flores, a former standout at the University of Miami and a Davis Cup player for Costa Rica, is also among the main draw entries into the tournament.
Ricardo Rodriquez, the all-time leading Davis Cup player from Venezuela, will once again return to compete in Vero Beach for a seventh straight year. Rodriquez, a fan favorite in Vero Beach, was a singles finalist in Vero Beach in 2021 and a doubles champion last year.
Andres Andrade, a Davis Cupper for Ecuador, joins former University of Florida teammate Duarte Vale of Portugal, in the field. Both were members of the Florida Gator 2021 NCAA championship team. Vale won the doubles title in Vero Beach in 2021 and just last week competed in the main draw in doubles at the ATP Tour event in Estoril, Portugal partnering former Gator teammate and former Vero Beach competitor Ben Shelton. They were defeated by 2020 U.S. Open champion Dominic Thiem and Joao Sousa of Portugal.
Bruno Kuzuhara, the 2022 Australian Open junior singles and doubles winner, is the fourth-leading entry into the Vero Beach with a No. 617 ATP ranking. Kuzuhara also competed in Vero Beach in 2021 and won the USTA National Boys’ 18 doubles title that year with partnering Shelton. Kuzuhara is one of seven American to receive direct entry into the event. Top U.S. juniors also in the field include Kyle Kang, a quarterfinalist at the 2022 U.S. Open junior championships, and Aidan Kim, a new Florida Gator signee who reached the third round of the Wimbledon junior championships in 2022.
“This is very solid and diverse field of talented world-class tennis players once again descending on Vero Beach to compete for ATP rankings points and prize money and take important first steps in professional tennis,” said Tom Fish, the president emeritus of the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation. “It’s always exciting to watch some of the world’s best tennis players play in an intimate setting here and then years later see some of these very same players who fans watched and spoke to here in Vero Beach competing at Wimbledon, the U.S. Open and the biggest stages in tennis.”
Daily, weekly and reserved seating tickets can be purchased at MardyFishChildrensFoundation.org or at the front gate at the Vero Beach Tennis & Fitness Club.
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.
