Vero Beach is the hometown of 2004 Olympic silver medalist Mardy Fish and is the current home of Hall of Famer Ivan Lendl and former top 10 star Mikael Pernfors.
However, the most accomplished player who lives in Vero Beach may be King van Nostrand.
In May, Van Nostrand, 87, became the out-right leader in International Tennis Federation seniors tennis competitions by winning his 43rd world title at the Super Seniors World Individual Championships in Boynton Beach Tennis Center in Boynton Beach, Florida. Van Nostrand defeated fellow American Albert Lyle in a decisive match-tiebreaker by a 6-4, 1-6, 10-7 decision.
In ITF senior men’s competition, this would be similar to Rafael Nadal winning his record-breaking 21st major singles title at the Australian Open, separating himself from Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.
Read the ITF’s wrap up of Van Nostrand’s achievement here: https://www.itftennis.com/en/news-and-media/articles/all-hail-the-king-van-nostrand-87-claims-record-43rd-world-title/
As a throwback, read Ray McNulty’s column on King here: http://veronews.com/2014/04/17/my-vero-king-van-nostrand-veros-hall-of-fame-tennis-star/
Van Nostrand can be seen training and playing frequently at The Boulevard Tennis Club in Vero Beach. The link to the Vero Beach based foundation in the memory of his granddaughter Sally Wilkey can be found here https://www.sallywilkeyfoundation.org/
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