It’s turned into a break-through 10 days of tennis in Vero Beach for American teenager Sam Riffice.
The 18-year old from Roseville, Calif., reached a singles final for the first time at a professional tennis tournament when he defeated Julien Cagnina of Belgium 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 Saturday in the semifinals of the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships at Grand Harbor Golf & Beach Club.
“I felt like I had a game-plan in place and I really executed it in the first and third sets,” said Riffice, who has trained often in Vero Beach the last two years with USTA Player Development consultant and Vero Beach resident Ivan Lendl. “I was just going for my shots and they were going in. I was really feeling good today.”
Riffice will play top-seeded Calvin Hemery of France in Sunday’s noon final at Grand Harbor. Hemery advanced when his opponent, Gavin van Peperzeel of Australia, was forced to quit his match with a left-knee injury after losing the first set 6-3.
The win for Riffice over Cagnina was the teenager’s eighth match victory in a row since last Friday in Vero Beach. Riffice won four matches in the qualifying tournament from Friday, April 21 to last Tuesday to gain admittance into the 32-player main of the tournament. Riffice followed that with four more wins in the main draw of the event since Wednesday, including Saturday’s win over Cagnina. By reaching the final, Riffice will crack the top 1,000 of the ATP World Tour rankings as he plays on these entry-level “Futures” pro tournaments that are part of the USTA Pro Circuit while also playing on the top level of international junior tennis, including the junior Grand Slam tournaments later this summer at the French Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.
Riffice got off to a hot start, breaking Cagnina in his first service game of the match and jumping out to a 3-0 lead. Cagnina eventually drew even, but with the Belgian serving at 3-4, Riffice was able to break serve before closing out the first set 6-3.
Roles reversed in the second set as Cagnina was the one getting an early break. Riffice had some fight in him early to get the initial break back, but the veteran clay-courter Cagnina regrouped and won the last four games of the set.
“I tried to rally with him too much in the second,” said Riffice, the No. 30-ranked junior player in the world. “I was still going for it. He was just running me side to side. I was dying.”
In the third, Riffice’s fitness work with Lendl and USTA Player Development paid off as he found a second wind and endured until the end. He got an early break to take a 3-1 lead, and saved break points in the very next game to go up 4-1.
After Cagnina missed on that break point opportunity, the match was very close to being over. Riffice breezed through his next service game before racing out to a 0-40 lead on Cagnina’s serve at 5-2. A ground stroke was sent wide by the Belgian on match point, sending Riffice into his first professional final.
“I knew he was a really good clay-court player,” Riffice said of Cagnina. “I was just trying to take every advantage I could and take every ball early and just go for my shots and it paid off.”
In the second semifinal, it was apparent throughout the match that van Peperzeel was struggling with a leg issue, and losing the first set was the final sign that he needed to forfeit the match. The Australian had come back from a set and a break down in his last two matches that added to the wear and tear on his knee.
“I’m so sorry for Gavin because he is my friend and he’s a very good player,” Hemery said. “I don’t like to win like this.”
The win for Hemery, ranked No. 298 in the ATP World Tour rankings, puts him into his second straight singles final on the USTA Pro Circuit after losing in the final last week in Orange Park, Fla., just outside of Jacksonville. For Hemery, there will be a little extra motivation in thIS final. He does not want to fall at the final hurdle of a tournament two weeks in a row, plus Riffice defeated Hemery’s friend and doubles partner Cagnina in the semifinals. Cagnina and Hemery will also contest the doubles final on Sunday after the singles final.
“I know Riffice is a very good player. He just beat my friend,” Hemery said. “I’m so sad I wanted to play against my friend. But I will try to get his revenge.”
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 all updated draws, click here: https://www.usta.com/en/home/pro/pro-tennis-events/men-s-tournament-information.html
Sunday, April 30
Noon, Singles Final – Sam Riffice (USA) vs. Calvin Hemery (FRA)
Doubles Final To Follow
Calvin Hemery (FRA) and Julien Cagnina (BEL) vs. Alex Blumenberg and Thales Turini (BRA)
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 Yo
ung 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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