Randy Walker

Frances Tiafoe: From Vero Beach In 2014 To U.S. Open Hero In 2022

Randy Walker · September 12, 2022 · Leave a Comment

Frances Tiafoe, who dazzled crowds with his breakthrough performance in reaching the semifinals of the 2022 U.S. Open, is one of the many great players who have played in the Vero Beach USTA Pro Circuit event, the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships.

In 2014, Tiafoe competed in Vero Beach at The Boulevard in his first year of playing professional tournaments while still a junior tennis player. At the age of 16, playing in only his fourth pro level tournament and ranked No. 1296 on the ATP Rankings, Tiafoe reached the second round in Vero Beach, losing to former University of Florida standout Greg Ouellette. The 2014 edition of the tournament also featured American stars Tommy Paul, who earned his first career ATP ranking point in Vero Beach, and Reilly Opelka, both of whom played in the qualifying rounds of the tournament.

Tiafoe’s first career match at a pro tournament, interesting enough, was earlier in 2014 at a USTA Pro Circuit tournament in Florida where he lost 6-0, 6-0 in the first round to Sekou Bangoura, the 2022 singles champion in Vero Beach.

Read of Frances (who was mistakenly had his name spelled “Francis” in draws and news reports) from 2014 in Vero Beach here http://www.worldtennismagazine.com/archives/10487 and from the Washington Post here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/sports/wp/2014/05/17/an-improbable-tennis-prodigy/

Tiafoe staged one of the greatest wins by an American man at the U.S. Open in the last 20 years when he defeated 22-time major winner Rafael Nadal in the fourth round on Labor Day Monday. He followed up the victory with a win over Andrey Rublev of Russia before falling in a dramatic and entertaining semifinal to eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz.

Frances Tiafoe on Arthur Ashe Stadium at the U.S. Open in 2022 (left) and Frances Tiafoe on Court 4 at The Boulevard in Vero Beach at the 2014 version of the modern-day Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships

From Vero Beach To The U.S. Open – Ben Shelton, Ethan Quinn and Nico Godsick Shine In New York

Randy Walker · September 12, 2022 · Leave a Comment

Ben Shelton, Ethan Quinn and Nico Godsick, who all competed in Vero Beach at the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships within the last year, also shined in the U.S. Open spotlight. Shelton, who was the doubles runner-up and singles quarterfinalist at the special October of 2021 edition of the tournament, competed in the main draw in singles and doubles at the 2022 U.S. Open, where he officially announced that he was turning pro after winning the 2022 NCAA singles title for the University of Florida. Shelton lost a tough five-set match in the first round to Nuno Borges of Portugal. He and partner Chris Eubanks beat 2021 French Open runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas and his brother Petros in the first round of doubles before losing in the second round.

Quinn, who was the 2022 singles runner-up in Vero Beach in April, paired in the main draw of doubles with his Vero Beach doubles partner Nico Godsick, the son of former Olympic doubles gold medal winner and ESPN commentator Mary Joe Fernandez and Roger Federer and Coco Gauff’s agent Tony Godsick. Quinn and Godsick beat former world No. 16 Nikoloz Basilashvili and Hans Hach Verdugo in the first round before losing to 2021 Wimbledon and Olympic champions Mate Pavic and Nikola Mektic in the second round. Junior Wimbledon doubles champion Alex Michelsen and our 2020 singles champion Diego Hidalgo were also among the recent Vero Beach competitors who competed in the main draw of doubles at the 2022 U.S. Open.

Ethan Quinn and Nico Godsick after losing to 2021 Wimbledon and Olympic champions Mate Pavic and Nikola Mektik

Vero Beach’s Grace Levelston Goes Full Stop For WTA Rankings Points Before College Enrollment

Randy Walker · August 20, 2022 · Leave a Comment

Vero Beach’s Grace Levelston, the No. 1 player on Vero Beach High School’s tennis team last year and one of the most promising teenage tennis talents in the country, will be finishing high school remotely and will play an increased schedule of professional events to move up the WTA rankings. Grace is ranked No. 1427 in doubles and is on the verge of breaking into the WTA singles rankings.

Levelston, who was first introduced to tennis via a Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation children’s tennis clinic, has verbally committed to play for the University of Central Florida in the Fall of 2023. She will be playing in the $15,000 ITF World Tennis Tour event in Haren, The Netherlands the week of August 29, then the $25,000 event in Saint Palais-Sur-Mer on the west coast of France the week of September 5 and then the $15,000 event in Dijon, France the week of September 12, before returning to the United States to play the $15,000 event in Hilton Head, S.C. the week of September 26.

To follow Grace’s journeys this coming year, follow her on Instagram at @Gracie.Levelstonn For information on how you can help Gracie finance her travels and training or for special appearances, contact Cristin Levelston at 772-418-1722 or CristinV@cheneybrothers.com

Recent Mardy Fish Tennis Competitors Ben Shelton, Ethan Quinn and Nico Godsick To Play 2022 U.S. Open Main Draw

Randy Walker · August 16, 2022 · Leave a Comment

From Stadium Court at The Boulevard in Vero Beach to the main draw of the 2022 U.S. Open at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York.

That’s the scenario for three recent competitors at the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships, the $15,000 ITF World Tennis Tour USTA Pro Circuit tennis tournament.

Ben Shelton, Ethan Quinn and Nico Godsick, who thrilled fans in Vero Beach within the last year at the Fall and Spring events at The Boulevard, will all be competing in the main draw of the 2022 U.S. Open.

Shelton will be competing in the main draw of singles, by virtue of his NCAA singles title win in May for the University of Florida, and Quinn and Godsick will be competing in the main draw in doubles, by virtue of their win in doubles at the USTA National Boy’s 18 Championships in Kalamazoo, Michigan last week. Quinn will also be competing in the qualifying rounds for the U.S. Open in singles, by virtue of reaching the singles final in Kalamazoo.

Shelton competed in Vero Beach at the special October edition of the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships in 2021 where he reached the quarterfinals in singles and finished as the doubles runner-up. Since he played in Vero Beach, he not only won the NCAA singles title, but moved his ATP singles ranking to No. 229.

Quinn, who was a redshirt freshman at the University of Georgia, was the singles runner-up in Vero Beach in April, falling to Sekou Bangoura 6-4, 6-3. He continued to excel on the ITF World Tennis Tour over the summer, moving his ATP singles ranking to No. 501, making him the No. 4 ranking American teenager in the ATP rankings.

Godsick drew the No. 1 seed in the first round of singles and doubles in Vero Beach last April, but he and Quinn reached the quarterfinals in the doubles competition. He is the son of former two-time Olympic gold medalist Mary Joe Fernandez and tennis agent Tony Godsick.

The 2023 edition of the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships is tentatively set for April 24-30, 2023. For sponsorship and box seat and cabana ticket information, contact Lynn Southerly at Lsouth1072@gmail.com or 202-438-5225

Ben Shelton and Nico Godsick and Ethan Quinn

Vero Beach’s Mason Cisco Competes Against Tennis Legend’s Grandson

Randy Walker · August 16, 2022 · Leave a Comment

Mason Cisco of Vero Beach and the No. 1 player on the Vero Beach High School boys tennis team, recently had a strong showing at the PTT Universal Tennis tournament at The Boulevard finishing as the runner-up in the back-draw o the event.

Cisco played five matches in two days, winning three and losing two, the final match being a 6-4, 6-4 loss in the back-draw final to Youssef El Shafei of Egypt, who happened to be the grandson of Egypt’s greatest ever tennis player, Ismail El Shafei, who is one of only four players to beat Bjorn Borg at Wimbledon, which he did in the third round in 1974 en route to the quarterfinals. El Shafei came to the event with a group of Egyptian players who train with former Egyptian Davis Cupper and LSU standout Tamer El Sawy.

Cisco is now a junior at Vero Beach High School and has a 9.25 UTR rating.

Chase Perez Blanco, the tennis pro at Quail Valley and the reigning “King of the Hill” champion, also played the event and reached the semifinals of the main draw, losing to Hady El Kordy of Egypt 6-2, 6-3. Boulevard Club members James Bragg and Chris Dold also supported the event and accorded themselves well.