Sponsorships, advance tournament tickets, and “Tournament Kickoff Party” opportunities for the 2019 Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships are available and selling fast as the annual USTA Pro Circuit event approaches April 29-May 5 at The Boulevard Tennis Club in Vero Beach, Florida.
All opportunities are available for sale at www.MardyFishChildrensFoundation.org Proceeds for the event benefit the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation, the non-profit tennis foundation benefiting children, named for Vero Beach native son Mardy Fish, a former top 10 tennis star, silver medalist at the 2004 Olympic Games and the newly named U.S. Davis Cup captain.
The popular Vero Beach band “Riptide” will perform for patrons at the official Tournament Kickoff Party Sunday, April 28 from 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm. A special “shoot-out” mini tennis event, featuring world-ranked tournament players, also will highlight the party. Tickets, which includes two cocktails and food, are available for $60.
Sponsorships are available for as low as $250 and include signage and reserved seating, depending on the level of sponsorship. All sponsorship level details are available at www.MardyFishChildrensFoundation.org or by emailing co-tournament directors Tom Fish at Ttfish10s@aol.com or Randy Walker at RWalker@NewChapterMedia.com. Sponsorships that include on-court signage are due by April 8.
Tournament tickets for all sessions of the event are on sale for $100 with daily tickets costing $20 and tickets purchased after 5 pm on Monday, April 29 through Saturday, May 4 for sale for $10. Admission for children 18 and under is free. Matches will start each day at Noon, except for the singles final at 1 pm on Sunday, May 5. The full tournament schedule is found below.
Wednesday April 24 – Saturday, April 27
Pre-Qualifying singles event
Main draw doubles “wild card” event
Times TBD, (Free to public)
Monday, April 29
Qualifying singles
Noon start with at least one match starting at 5 pm and one at 6:45 pm
Tuesday, April 30
Qualifying singles finals
Main draw doubles
Main draw singles
Noon start at least one match starting at 5 pm and one at 6:45 pm
Wednesday, May 1
Main draw singles
Main draw doubles
Noon start at least one match starting at 5 pm and one at 6:45 pm
Thursday, May 2
Main draw singles
Main draw doubles
Noon start at least one match starting at 5 pm and one at 6:45 pm
Friday, May 3
Main draw singles – quarterfinals
Main draw doubles
Noon start at least one match starting at 5 pm and one at 6:45 pm
Saturday, May 4
Main draw singles – semifinals
Main draw doubles – final
Noon start with first singles semifinal followed by second singles semifinal, followed by the doubles final
Sunday, May 5
Main draw singles – final
1 pm start
The Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships is the USTA’s $25,000 ITF World Tennis Tour tournament played in Vero Beach since 1995 and is regarded as one of the best entry-level professional tennis tournaments in the world. Fans can follow news and developments on the tournament on Facebook and on Twitter at @VeroFutures. Approximately 3,000 fans annually attend the event, which is seen as one of the best-attended entry-level professional events in the world.
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. Seven 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 and Frances Tiafoe.
Founded in 2007, the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation (www.MardyFishFoundation.com and @MardyFishFound on Twitter) currently supports over 2,200 children in 15 elementary schools, six middle schools and two after school centers 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.
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