Patrick Kypson, a 17-year old from Raleigh, North Carolina, breezed through his first round match at the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships at Grand Harbor on Tuesday with a 6-1, 6-2 win over former Texas A&M standout Shane Vinsant of Keller, Texas, a former standout at Texas A&M University.
Kypson is playing in Vero Beach for the second straight year, but this is his first appearance in the main draw. Last year, the young American lost in the qualifying rounds of the tournament but would go on to have a successful end of the year.
“I made quarters at the US Open (juniors) last year, which obviously gives you a lot of confidence,” Kypson said. “I can play at this level. It’s just a matter of believing. The belief is getting there and the tennis is progressing.”
Kypson is part of the group of young American players who have been working with tennis legend Ivan Lendl and the USTA Player Development program, and it has paid off huge dividends for the entire group. Lendl has been training with Kypson and other top American teenagers at the Windsor Club in Vero.
“I love working with Ivan. He sees things no one else sees, really,” Kypson said. “It’s a privilege to be able to work with him.”
Kypson is currently ranked at a career high ranking of No. 937 in the world, and that will increase after this week in Vero Beach. To go along with that quarterfinal run at the US Open juniors last summer, he also won his first professional title in Niceville in November, a doubles title in which Kypson partnered with young Canadian phenom Felix Auger-Aliassime.
Kypson was also able to reach two consecutive semifinals, one in Pensacola in November to end last season, and one in Sunrise in January to start off this season. Not only has he been successful in the professional ranks, but also the junior circuit, as he is currently the No. 41 junior player in the world.
In the first main draw match of the 2017 Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships played on stadium court, Santiago Fa Rodriguez Taverna, a 17-year old from Argentina, defeated the 2014 Vero Beach champion and No. 7 seed Connor Smith of Tampa, Fla., 2-6, 6-0, 6-3.
After a disappointing 2016 season saw Rodriguez Taverna finish outside the top 1000 in the ATP World Tour rankings, he has gotten off to a good start in 2017. In two of his last three singles events, Rodriguez Taverna was able to reach the quarterfinals, and he also won a doubles title in Turkey earlier this month.
Now, with a win over a player who was once inside the top 200 of the ATP World Tour rankings, Rodriguez Taverna is confident and poised to make another deep run in Vero Beach, a location that the young Argentine enjoys.
“It’s beautiful. The club, all of it is amazing,” Rodriguez Taverna said of Vero Beach.
Wimbledon sensation Marcus Willis made his debut in Vero Beach on Tuesday night playing doubles with fellow Brit Josh Milton. The two battled hard and eventually capitalized on their sixth match point to knock out the American duo of Collin Johns and Winston Lin, 6-3, 6-7(8) (12-10)
When asked in his post-match on-court interview of the difference between playing Roger Federer on Centre Court at Wimbledon like he did last summer and playing on the Stadium Court at Grand Harbor, Willis quipped, “I didn’t notice a difference, to be honest.
“These boys played fantastically,” Willis said about Johns and Lin. “It was a pretty good standard out here. It’s always good to get the win.”
Milton and Willis have been best friends for many years now, and Milton was even Willis’ best man at his wedding just a few months ago. This is the 11th tournament the two have played together.
“He’s so arrogant now, it’s unbelievable,” Milton quipped about how Willis has changed since his Wimbledon fame, which has been the subject of numerous media headlines and tabloid fodder across Great Britain as well as his story being books and movies in the works. “He’s too busy at Hollywood.”
Willis won’t be in Hollywood on Wednesday night. He’ll be right back on stadium court at Grand Harbor for his first round singles match against 16-year old Ivan Yatsuk of Bradenton, Fla., at 7 p.m.
Yatsuk was the winner of a wild card tournament held in March at The Boulevard Club. Yatsuk won the final of the tournament in a 3 hour and 14 minute match and has looked very promising in recent months.
In Tuesday’s last match, “King of the Hill” champion James Van Deinse of Vero Beach Tennis Club and “King of the Hill” runner-up Mike Alford of Quail Valley were defeated in the first round of doubles by Americans Robert Galloway and Zander Centenari 6-1, 6-1.
Action at the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships will continue on Wednesday starting at Noon with the conclusion of the first round of singles and quarterfinal doubles matches.
Special “Happy Hour” tickets – for 50 percent off at $10 – are for sale starting at 5 pm. Tickets for entire day are $20.
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 Wednesday’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
Wednesday, April 26 – Noon, Main draw singles/doubles continues
Wednesday, April 26 – 7 pm, Feature Night Match – Marcus Willis vs. Ivan Yatsuk
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
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