The Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation has announced that the 2021 edition of its annual Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships pro tennis tournament will be held October 18-24 at The Boulevard tennis club.
The popular annual tournament, Vero Beach’s leading international sporting event, will once again be held in October, rather than its traditional April date, due to the COVID-19 global pandemic. It will be a $15,000 tournament on the ITF World Tennis Tour as part of the U.S. Tennis Associations Pro Circuit, where players will compete for ATP ranking points. The 2020 event was postponed from April to October and was held as a $10,000 prize money event on the Universal Tennis Rating platform.
”The Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships is the leading fundraiser for our foundation and we felt that hosting it again in October would be more advantageous to us financially and logistically in this rapidly fluid COVID-19 environment,” said Tom Fish, President Emeritus of the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation and the co-tournament director for the event.
“We are very thankful to the U.S. Tennis Association, International Tennis Federation and The Boulevard for their flexibility in accommodating us with this schedule change. We were very pleased how our event went last October to kick off the season in Florida. We look forward to once again hosting so many up-and-coming talented young tennis pros from around the world in Vero Beach and, of course, raising more money to benefit at-risk children in Indian River County.”
Those interested in sponsorships and cabana and box seats for the event can contact Lynn Southerly, Executive Director of the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation, at LSouth1072@gmail.com or 202-438-5225.
Last October, Diego Hidalgo, a member of Ecuador’s Davis Cup team, won the singles title defeating Matthew Segura, the great nephew of Hall of Fame tennis star Pancho Segura, 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 and most recently new top 10 start 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. Eight 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, Frances Tiafoe and Tommy Paul.
The Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships 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, the non-profit organization named for Vero Beach native son Mardy Fish, former top 10 tennis star and current U.S. Davis Cup caption, benefits at risk children in Indian River County.
Founded in 2007, the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation (www.MardyFishChildrensFoundation.org and @MardyFishFound on Twitter) currently supports over 2,400 children in 15 elementary schools, six middle schools, and several other community organizations 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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