Sam Riffice and Oliver Crawford, under the watchful eyes of tennis legend and USTA Player Development coaching consultant Ivan Lendl, both advanced in to the final round of qualifying for the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships on Monday
Crawford, a 17-year-old from Spartanburg, S.C., defeated fellow 16-year-old Zion Heaven of Pearl City, Hawaii. Riffice, 18 from Roseville, Calif., defeated Jose Ricardo Martinez Moreno of Mexico 6-3, 6-3.
Riffice and Crawford are part of a pack of young American players who are being tutored by Lendl as well as USTA Player Development coaches Sylvain Guichard and Leo Azevedo here in Vero Beach. Lendl, a long-time Vero Beach resident, works as a consultant for the USTA when he is not working as the coach of world No. 1 Andy Murray. Players also serving in apprentice roles with Lendl this week are Vasil Kirkov of Tampa, Fla., a semifinalist at this event last year, Patrick Kypson of Raliegh, N.C., and Gianni Ross of Orlando, all of whom are playing in the main draw of the event.
Also advancing into Monday’s final round of qualifying was Ricardo Rodriquez of Venezuela who beat Brian Berdusco of Bradenton, Fla., 6-0, 6-0. Rodriguez, who has played Davis Cup for Venezuela 14 times in his career, incredibly has advanced into the final-round of qualifying without losing a game. After receiving a first-round bye, he defeated Zach Waldow of Alpharetta, Ga., also 6-0, 6-0 in the second round on Saturday
Part-time Vero Beach resident Daniel Garza of Mexico was defeated by Argentina’s Eduardo Agustin Torre 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 Monday. Vero Beach’s other local participant, Mauricio Resendiz of Mexico, also lost to Poland’s Dariusz Lipka 6-1, 6-4.
Christian Vinck, a 41-year-old management consultant from Germany here in Vero Beach on holiday, lost Lorenzo Joaquin Rodriguez of Argentina 6-3, 6-0. Vinck used to be a full-time professional player and reached the third round of Wimbledon in 2000. Twenty years ago, he defeated Andre Agassi in the final of the USTA Pro Circuit event in Las Vegas, Nev., when Agassi had his ranking plummet to No. 141 in the world, before his comeback to the No. 1 ranking.
The final round of qualifying will start at 10 am on Tuesday and will be followed the start of the main draw singles and doubles matches. All eight of first round doubles matches will be played Tuesday, highlighted by Wimbledon sensation from last summer Marcus Willis, and his partner, fellow Brit Josh Milton, playing Colin Johns of Laytonsville, Md., and Winston Lin of Williamsville, at about 5 pm. Willis will play his first round singles match against 16-year-old Ivan Yatsuk of Bradenton, Fla., the winner of last month’s wild card tournament at The Boulevard Club, on Wednesday after 5 pm.
Tuesday night’s feature match will see “King of the Hill” champion James Van Deinse of the Vero Beach Tennis Club and King of the Hills runner-up Mike Alford of Quail Valley Club, take on the No. 3 seeds Alex Centenari and Robert Galloway at 7 pm.
Connor Smith, the 2014 singles champion in Vero Beach, will be in the first main draw match on the Stadium at Grand Harbor, taking on Santiago Rodriguez Taverna of Argentina. Kypson will play the second Stadium match against Texas A&M Alum Shane Vinsant of Keller, Texas. Smith will return for the third match on Stadium in doubles with Australia’s Gavin van Peperzeel against Isaiah Strode and Miles Seemann of Santa Barbara, Calif., the winners of the event’s wild card doubles tournament over the weekend.
The full Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships tournament schedule is as follows. Tournament information can also be found at www.TennisVeroBeach.com
To see Tuesday’s full schedule, click here: https://www.usta.com/content/dam/usta/pdfs/20170424_VeroBeach_M_OP.pdf
To see all updated draws, click here: https://www.usta.com/en/home/pro/pro-tennis-events/men-s-tournament-information.html
Tuesday, April 25 – 10 am, Qualifying Finals, Noon, Main draw singles/doubles starts
Tuesday, April 25 – 7 pm, Feature Night Match – “King of the Hill” winner/runner-up James Van Deinse (Vero Beach Tennis Club), Mike Alford (Quail Valley) first-round doubles match
Wednesday, April 26 – Noon, Main draw singles/doubles continues
Wednesday, April 26 – 7 pm, Feature Night Match
Thursday, April 27 – Noon, Main draw singles/doubles continues
Thursday, April 27 – 7 pm, Feature Night Match (Taco and Margarita Night in Food Court)
Friday, April 28 – Noon, Main draw singles/doubles continues
Friday, April 28, – 3pm to 5 pm (Kids Day)
Friday, April 28 – 7 pm, Feature Night Match
Saturday, April 29 – Noon, Main draw singles semifinals
Sunday, April 30 – Noon, Singles and Doubles Finals
The Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships has been played in Vero Beach since 1995 and is 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 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 buy-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. Tickets are also sold at the front gate. 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.
Corporate sponsors and donors for the 2017 tournament include PNC Bank, Boston Barricade, George E. Warren Corporation, Indian River Medical Center, Jake Owen Foundation, Syde Hurdus Foundation, Indian River Oxygen, Citrus Grillhouse, Coastal Van Lines, Rossway Swan, Publix, Ryan A. Jones and Associates, Tom Collins Insurance Agency, Vocap Partners, Riverside Café, Center Court Outfitters, David Walsh and Associates Real Estate, Peter Bernholz Family, John’s Island Real Estate, Gene Simonsen, Michael & Kathleen Pierce, Steve and Karen Rubin, Rob and Mickey Stein, William Barhorst, Dan Holman, John Klein, Mello Financial Services, Ocean Drive Elite Physiques, Rosato Plastic Surgery, Captain Hiram’s Resort, Absolute Protection Team, Minuteman Press, Technifibre, TeamChristopher.com, Fit for Life Strength, Diamond Resorts International, Wilson, Don Herrema and Lori Ford.
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
Leave a Reply