Nicolas Mejia of Colombia is showing signs that he could perhaps become one of the next great South American tennis stars.
The eighteen-year-old from Bogota advanced into the quarterfinals of the $15,000 Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championship USTA Pro Circuit event Thursday with a dramatic 6-0, 4-6, 7-5 upset win over No. 2 seed and No. 418 world-ranked Samuel Bensoussan of France.
Mejia, the No. 7 ranked junior player in the world, showed the poise of a veteran by adjusting to the ups and downs of the turbulent match. He blasted his Bensoussan off the court in an easy first set not losing a game and appeared headed to a relatively easy victory. Bensoussan, however, did not relent. After the Frenchman won the second set, Mejia trailed 3-1 in the final set, but rallied to win four games in a row and served for the match at 5-4.
Bensoussan kept himself alive in the match with the service break to tie the final set at 5-5, but was broken the very next game and Mejia did not falter on his second opportunity to serve out the match.
“It was a great battle,” said Mejia. “I knew it was not going to be easy. When you win the first set, no matter what the score is, it is just a set and you have to start again in the next set.”
By reaching at least the quarterfinals here in Vero Beach, Meija will return to the ATP World Tour rankings which will help him earn direct entries into other Futures and Challenger level tournaments in professional tennis. In Vero Beach, he had to win four qualifying matches to enter the main draw of the tournament. He still will be playing high-level international junior events for the rest of this year, including at the French Open, where he reached the quarterfinals last year, and Wimbledon and the U.S. Open before embarking on a full-time professional career.
Mejia will play the feature night match Friday night at 7 pm against fellow Colombian Juan Benitez, best known locally for his near win over Canadian upstart Denis Shapovalov two years ago at this event when held at The Boulevard club. Benitez defeated American qualifier Ryan Goetz of Long Island, N.Y. 6-4, 7-5.
Another South American, Eduardo Agustin Torre of Argentina, advanced into the quarterfinals in similar but more dramatic fashion, also hanging on after winning a “bagel” first set but needed a final-set tiebreaker to defeat Jordi Arconada of Argentina 6-0, 3-6, 7-6(4). Torre trailed 3-0 in the final-set tiebreaker before winning seven of the last eight points of the match.
“It was a tough match,” said Torre’s coach Luciano Cabeiro. “He knows that Jordi is a tough rival.”
The win for Torre puts him into the quarterfinals and continues a relative hot streak on the Futures circuit that has seen him win 17 of his last 23 matches. During Torre’s run, he has reached two semifinals and three quarterfinals at Futures events spanning from USA, to Chile, to Turkey.
“South Americans play a high level at these tournaments, the clay tournaments,” Torre said through his coach of the success of South Americans this week on the Grand Harbor clay.
Arconada had a great run of wins this week in Vero Beach, winning five matches, four in qualifying plus his first-round win that earned him an ATP world ranking point. The Texas A&M senior rushed to the airport following the loss to join his college teammates in Tuscaloosa, Alabama for their opener in the Southeastern Conference tennis tournament.
Marcelo Tomas Barrios Vera of Chile, the No. 1 seed in this week’s event, also advanced to the quarterfinals as he defeated New Braunfels, Texas native Harrison Adams, 6-4, 6-4.
Barrios Vera, 20, is also on a hot streak, as he has won 18 of his last 21 matches, including making three finals in Futures events in Greece and winning one title just last week in Orange Park, just outside of Jacksonville. He also won a Futures event earlier this year in Weston, Fla. without dropping a set.
Junior Ore of Miami, Florida, a former standout at Texas A&M, also advanced into the quarterfinals in a final-set tiebreaker, outlasting No. 6 seed Santiago Rodriguez Taerna of Argentina 1-6, 7-6 (4), 7-6(4) in three hours and 15 minutes. Ricardo Rodriquez, the all-time leading singles player on Venezuela’s Davis Cup team, upset No. 3 seed Matias Zukas of Argentina 7-5, 6-1. Alejandro Tabilo of Chile, the No. 8, also won a nail-biting quarterfinal match, outlasting 17-year-old Nick Hardt, a Davis Cup team member from the Dominican Republic 7-6 (2), 1-6, 7-5.
“It was kind of a weird match as there was a lot of change in momentum” said Tabilo. “It was a struggle. It was a great match to win and pull through.”
Strong Kirchheimer of Cary, N.C. celebrated his 23th birthday with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 win over Juan Alejandro Hernandez Serrano of Mexico
Friday’s quarterfinal matches start at 1 pm with featured matches also at 5 pm and 7 pm. For more information go to www.TennisVeroBeach.com Saturday’s singles semifinals will start at 1 pm and Sunday’s singles final and doubles final will also start at 1 pm.
The Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships is the USTA’s $15,000 Futures-level tournament played in Vero Beach since 1995 and 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, 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.
Tournament tickets and sponsorships are now on sale and can be purchased at www.VeroBeachTennisTickets.com Tickets for the qualifying rounds from April 20 – April 23 cost $10, while tickets for the main draw of singles and doubles from April 24 – 29 are $20, with “night session” tickets starting at 5 pm from April 24-27 costing $10. Season tickets that include both the qualifying and main draw events cost $100. Admission for children 18 and under is free. 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.
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 world No. 50 player and teen sensation 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. 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.
Sponsors for the 2018 Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships are led by Presenting Sponsor PNC Bank and Grand Slam Sponsors Boston Barricade, George E. Warren Corporation, Jake Owen Foundation, Syde Hurdus Foundation / Fit For Life and Land Rover / Jaguar Treasure Coast, Backhand Sponsors Publix, Rossway Swan, Coastal Van Lines, White Orchid Spa, Foglia Contracting, Forehand Sponsors Steve and Karen Rubin, Willem and Marion de Vogel, Cravings, M&M Group – Keller / Williams Realty Vero Beach, Rosato Plastic Surgery, Riverside Café, Ocean Drive Elite Physiques, 14 Bones Barbeque, Gordon Food Service, Peter Bernholz, Swarovski, Soul Music, Minuteman Press and Elite Airways, Kit Fields Realtor / CharlotteTerry.com, Cabana Sponsors John’s Island, Gene Simonsen, Michael & Kathleen Pierce, William Barhorst CPA, Dan Holman, John Klein, Hadleigh Investments, TeamChristopher.com, Tom Collins, The Pitcher Family, Pene Chambers Group, Waldo and Candy Johnston, The Pappalardo Family, Mickey and Rob Stein, Lace and Bob Milligan and Drop Shot Sponsors Fresh Market, Brooklyn Bagel, Hutchinson’s Florist, Seaside Grill, A Pampered Life-Disney Spa, Avanzare, New Chapter Media, Smith & Company Landscaping, Center For Advanced Eye Care, Cast Electric, Citron of Vero Beach, Amerigas, Central Window of Vero Beach, Bill’s Audio and Video Innovations, ML Engineering, Capt. Bob’s Airboat Adventure, Busy Bee Lawn & Garden Center, Complete Restaurant Equipment, Wilco Construction, Nozzle Nolen, Southern Plumbing, Treasure Coast Sotheby’s, Jack’s Complete Tree Service, Complete Electric, Statewide Condominium Insurance, Abco Garage Door, O’Hair, Quinn, Casalino, Chartered, Rick’s Custom Care, Rich-Look Lawn Care, White Glove Moving & Storage, Coastal Comforts @ The Village Shops, Jimmy’s Tree Service, Thompsons Remodeling & Home Repairs, Summit Construction, Colton Williams & Reamy, Sunshine Furniture, Malesardi, Quackenbush, Swift, Aluma Tower Company, Alex MacWilliam, Inc., Charlotte Terry Real Estate, Ken’s Pool & Spa Repair, Vero Beach Orthopedics, Barker Air Conditioning & Heating, Treasure Coast Financial Planning, Engineered Services, Peter Bernholz, Deborah Benjamin, John & Faith Parker, Duke & Betty Foster, Paul & Linda Delaney, Timmy Wood Gary and Beth Williams, Don Moyle, Chuck Pollard, Stewart Dunn, Leslie London – LL Vinyl Designs, Dara, Hunter and Thom Morgan
Friday Schedule
Stadium Stating at 1 pm
Singles Quarterfinal – Ricardo Rodriguez (VEN) vs. Eduardo Agustin Torre (ARG)
To Follow, Not Before 2 pm
Singles Quarterfinal Alejandro Tabilo (CHI) vs. Strong Kirchheimer (USA)
Not Before 7 pm
Singles Quarterfinal – Nicolas Mejia (COL) vs. Juan Benitez (COL)
Grandstand
Not Before – 2:30 pm
Singles Quarterfinal – Marcelo Tomas Barrios Vera (ARG) vs. Junior Ore (USA)
After Rest, Time TBA
Doubles Semifinal – Rodrigo Rodriguez/Eduardo Torre vs. Harrison Adams vs. Nick Chappell (USA)
After Rest, Time TBA
Doubles Semifinal – Yates Johnson / Hunter Johnson (USA) vs. TBD
Leave a Reply