Magnus Johnson of Naples, Fla. withstood a first set blitz and a second set rope-a-dope and hung on to win the final by the narrowest of margins of the pre-qualifying tournament for the $25,000 Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships Friday night at The Boulevard tennis club.
Johnson, 18, won this 32-player wild card feed-in tournament by beating a player more than twice his age and with more than three times the tennis experience, 43-year-old Christian Vinck of Germany by a 4-6, 6-1, 10-8 scoreline, the narrowest margin of victory – two points – in the decisive 10-point match tiebreaker, played in lieu of a third set. The tournament victory qualifies Johnson to play in the 32-player qualifying tournament for this International Tennis Federation (ITF) World Tennis Tour event that is played Monday and Tuesday next week, leading into the main draw of this U.S. Tennis Association Competitive Pathway event.
“It was an awesome experience for me to be a part of the pre-qualifying event for this tournament, knowing it is a prestigious one and I’m happy to receive a wild card and go all the way,” said Johnson. “I was excited for having the opportunity to compete against Christian. He is very experienced and knows what he has to do on the court. I knew it was going to be a difficult task and it is awesome to beat a player who accomplished that much.”
For a player of Vinck’s age and level of professional tennis experience to be playing in this pre-qualifying tournament for what is the tennis equivalent of minor league baseball is an anomaly. One month before Johnson was born in August of 2000, Vinck was narrowly losing a third-round match to world No. 8 Thomas Enqvist on Centre Court at Wimbledon, the grandest stage in tennis. Three years prior to that, Vinck was registering perhaps the signature win of his career over all-time great Andre Agassi in the final of the Challenger-level tournament in Agassi’s hometown of Las Vegas, in front of his family and then wife Brooke Shields. While Johnson is an up-and-coming prospect, verbally committing this week to play college tennis at the University of Central Florida next year, Vinck was in Vero Beach on vacation. While he ended his full-time career as a pro tennis player in 2003, he continued to compete in club and team events in Germany, and an occasional minor league pro event, to continue to quench his competitive fire while he excelled in his career in international management consulting. He has competed and won matches in the qualifying rounds in this Vero Beach event the last three years as it was timed perfectly around his Spring vacation.
Johnson, the No. 1 seed, lost only six games in five matches entered the final against, Vinck, the No. 2 seed, but quickly found himself in unknown territory for the week down 5-2 in the first set, with a crowd of nearly 200 fans eagerly watching. Vinck held on to win the first set 6-4, but the hot and humid conditions, and his 43-year old body, became to take a toll in the second set. After falling down two service breaks, Vinck conserved his energy and played a game of “rope-a-dope,” barely running for balls and going for quick winners to save energy for the decisive 10-point match tiebreaker, played in lieu of a third set in this specially-created prequalifying tournament. After Johnson won the second set 6-1, Vinck, with reserve energy saved up, started full throttle in the tiebreaker. Johnson lead most of the tiebreaker, but Vinck stayed close and worked to tie the score at 7-7. Johnson won the next two points to reach double-match point at 9-7. After Vinck slammed a backhand winner to narrow the gap to 9-8, Johnson calmly stood at the service line and launched a powerful serve down the middle, causing Vinck to miss a backhand return to close out the tournament victory.
“It was a difficult match overall for me,” said Johnson, who was fighting a cold during the week. “I was trying to fight and do the best I could. He wanted to preserve the best he had for the match tie-breaker once I moved in front in the second set. I’m happy for being able to keep my level high, especially after he started to give his best again in the deciding part of the match.”
After two days of rest back home, Johnson will compete in the first round of the qualifying tournament on Monday. Johnson will have to win two matches in the 32-player qualifying tournament to be among eight qualifiers into the main draw of the event that starts on Tuesday.
A main draw doubles “wild card” tournament was also held in conjunction with this pre-qualifying singles event with the winning team earning a main draw doubles invitation into the tournament. This was won by brothers Quinn and Hayden Snyder of Delran, N.J., who defeated Juan Mateus of Edmond, Okla., and Chris Rosensteel of East Windsor, N.J. 4-2, 0-4, 10-5 in the final in the “fast four” scoring format. James and Joseph van Diense of Vero Beach were defeated in the semifinals, losing to the Snyder brothers in three tiebreakers 4-3(3), 3-4(5), 10-8.
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 tennis foundation benefiting children, named for Vero Beach native son Mardy Fish, the former top 10 tennis star and the current U.S. Davis Cup captain. The event will be held April 29 – May 5 at The Boulevard tennis club in Vero Beach.
Tournament tickets and sponsorships for the event can be purchased at www.MardyFishChildrensFoundation.org Daily tickets for the April 29-May 5 are $20, with “night session” tickets starting at 5 pm from April 29 – May 4 costing $10. Season tickets for every session of the event are $100. Admission for children 18 and under is free. Fans can follow news and developments on the tournament on Facebook and on Twitter at @VeroFutures. Detailed sponsorship information can be obtained by emailing Tom Fish at Ttfish10s@aol.com or Randy Walker at RWalker@NewChapterMedia.com 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.
The tournament schedule is as follows:
Sunday, April 28
Kick-off Party – The Boulevard Tennis Club, 5:30 – 8:30 pm
Monday, April 29
Qualifying Tournament Begins – The Boulevard Tennis Club, Noon, 5 pm, 6:45 pm
Tuesday, April 30
Qualifying Tournament Ends, Main Draw Beings – The Boulevard Tennis Club, Noon, 5 pm, 6:45 pm
Wednesday, May 1
Main Draw Singles & Doubles – The Boulevard Tennis Club, Noon, 5 pm, 6:45 pm
Thursday, May 2
Main Draw Singles & Doubles – The Boulevard Tennis Club, Noon, 5 pm, 6:45 pm
Friday, May 3
Main Draw Singles & Doubles – The Boulevard Tennis Club, Noon, 5 pm, 6:45 pm
Saturday, May 4
Singles Semifinals, Doubles Final – The Boulevard Tennis Club, Noon, 5 pm
Sunday, May 5
Singles Final – The Boulevard Tennis Club, 1 pm
Tournament sponsors for 2019 include Presenting Sponsor PNC Bank, Grand Slam Sponsors Boston Barricade, George E. Warren Corporation and the Jake Owen Foundation, Cabana/Box Seat Sponsors John’s Island Real Estate, John Klein, Gene Simonsen, TeamChristopher.com, Dan Holman, Hadleigh Investments, Pene Chambers / Lynn Southerly, Lace and Bob Milligan / Mickey and Rob Stein, William Barhorst, CPA, Michael and Kathleen Pierce, The Pitcher Family, Shirley Becker, Scoreboard Sponsor Fit for Life / Syde Hurdus Foundation Backhand Sponsors Vero Beach Magazine, Rossway Swan, Nalzaro Music, Coastal Van Lines, Diamond Resorts International, Forehand Sponsors Karen and Steve Rubin, Mike and Meg Hickey / Premier Estate Properties, Shaklee / Suzie Sunkel, Indian River Animal Hospital – Charles B. Johnson, DVM, Marjorie Johnson, DVM, MS, DAVP, Serve Sponsors Cravings, Bistro Fourchette, Willem and Marion DeVogel, Foglia Custom Homes Topspin Sponsors Alex MacWilliam Real Estate, Eternal Water, Kit Fields Realtor, Patrick Williams / Tom Collins Insurance, Riverside Café, MinuteMan Press, Center Court Tennis Outfitters, Drop Shot Sponsors Treasure Coast Financial Planning, Inc., Peter and Judith Saidel, Deb Benjamin, Paul & Linda Delaney, Stewart Dunn, Susan Flannery (Aluma Tower), Tom Flannery (Malesardi, Quackenbush, Swift and Company LLC, Jim & Suzi Keegan, Don Moyle, Dee Patberg, Fran Smyrk (Treasure Coast Sotheby’s), Gary & Beth Williams, ABCO Garage Door Company, Inc., Barker Air Conditioning & Heating, Busy Bee Lawn & Garden Center, Coastal Comforts at the Village Shops, Colton, Williams & Reamy, CPAs, Complete Electric, Inc., Complete Restaurant Equipment, LLC, Glacier Clear Pool Service, Jack’s Complete Tree Service, Inc., Jimmy’s Tree Services, Ken’s Pool Service, ML Engineering, Inc., Nozzle Nolen, Inc., O’Haire, Quinn, Casalino, Chartered, Rich Look Lawn Care, Rick’s Custom Care, Statewide Condominium Insurance, Steve Supplee Construction LLC, Summit Construction of Vero Beach, LLC, Sunshine Furniture, White Glove Moving & Storage and Wilco Construction, Inc.
Magnus Johnson
43-Year-Old Vinck To Play 18-Year-Old Johnson In Mardy Fish Pre-Qualifying Final Friday
In July of 2000, Christian Vinck of Germany was experiencing perhaps the high point of his professional tennis career, playing a five-set match against a top ten player on Centre Court at Wimbledon. A month later, Magnus Johnson was born.
Friday these two tennis players will meet in the pre-qualifying tournament final of the $25,000 Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships at The Boulevard tennis club in Vero Beach.
The winner of this 4 p.m. singles final between the 18-year-old Johnson, the No. 1 seed, and the 43-year-old Vinck, the No. 2 seed, will earn a “wild card” or tournament entry into the qualifying rounds of this International Tennis Federation World Tennis Tour that is part of the U.S. Tennis Association’s Competitive Pathway.
For Vinck, playing against much younger players is now common to him. Following his five-set loss to No. 8 seed Thomas Enqvist of Sweden on Wimbledon’s Centre Court in 2000, Vinck played three more years of professional tennis, but turned tennis from a job to a hobby. He became a businessman and a management consultant but continued to play competitive tennis when he could, in team and club matches in Germany while also playing in the qualifying rounds of lower-level pro tournaments like the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships.
“It happens all the time that I play against the players who weren’t even born yet when I competed on the biggest tennis stages,” said Vinck Thursday following a 6-2, 6-1 win over another 18-year-old Tommi Carnevale-Miino of Italy in the semifinals. “I’m practicing with the youngsters and play team tennis and in the open events. It is nothing new for me.”
Johnson advanced into the final in torrid fashion, losing only six games in four matches on Wednesday and Thursday. On Thursday, Johnson beat Jack Vance of Las Vegas 6-1, 6-2 in the quarterfinals and Chris Rosensteel of East Windsor, N.J. 6-2, 6-0 in the semifinal. A resident of Naples, Florida, Johnson is one of the top junior players in the United States and earlier this week, verbally committed to play college tennis next year at the University of Central Florida with head coach John Roddick, the older brother of 2003 U.S. Open champion Andy Roddick.
“I’m excited,” said Johnson of his future at UCF.” They have an excellent program and a young team and I think they are doing a lot of great things out there. John Roddick had some good stories about working with his brother Andy, that’s always fun to hear.”
The most talked about and dramatic match at The Boulevard Thursday was the quarterfinal between Vinck and former Michigan State All-American John Mullane, as both players engaged in a hotly contested match, featuring verbal barbs, contested calls and Mullane suffering severe cramps at the end of the match, preventing him from serving overhead or moving. Vinck led 6-0, 4-1 before Mullane’s go-for-broke style began to payoff and he was able to square the second set at 5-5. Tensions ran high as close line-calls were challenged, causing a screaming match between to the highly-competitive athletes. As Mullane fought back into the match, he began to deteriorate physically, showing signs of cramping and he began to ask fans and fellow players for bananas to help prevent the cramping. With Vinck leading 6-5 in the second set, Mullane’s cramping became so bad that he was unable to walk and was forced to serve the last game underhanded from six feet behind the baseline. Vinck was then able to easily break’s Mullane’s serve to win the match.
“When you see an injured player who is cramping on the other side of the net, you think it is good for your game but you don’t want anybody to have pain, especially since I know how it feels,” said Vinck.
Earlier in the day in the quarterfinals, James van Deinse of the Vero Beach Tennis Club and the tennis coach at Vero Beach High School, was narrowly defeated by Rosensteel 4-6, 6-4, (13-11 in the match tiebreaker.) Van Deinse fought out of a triple-match-point deficit at 6-9 in the decisive match tiebreaker and held a match point at 11-10 before falling. On Wednesday night, Van Deinse won what he described as “the best ever win in a tournament” in upsetting former top 100 ATP doubles player and No. 3 seed Brian Battistone 6-3, 7-5.
Friday’s schedule will also feature doubles quarterfinal, semifinal and final matches starting at 3 pm, before the 4 pm singles final. Van Deinse and his younger brother Joseph will compete at 3 pm in the doubles quarterfinals. The doubles semifinals will be played at about 5 pm and the doubles final at about 7 pm. Doubles matches feature “Fast 4” matches – first to four games with no-ad scoring, a tiebreaker at 3-3 and a 10-point match tiebreaker for a third set.
Friday Schedule
3 pm – Doubles Quarterfinals
James and Joseph van Deinse vs. Olavo Neto / Vitor Jordao
John Mullane /. Jericho Grollman vs. Juan Mateus / Chris Rosensteel
4 pm – Singles Final
Christian Vinck vs. Magnus Johnson
Approx. 4:30 pm – Doubles Semifinals
John Mullane / Jericho Grollman /// Juan Mateus / Chris Rosensteel WINNER vs. Hayden and Quinn Snyder
James and Joseph van Deinse /// Olavo Neto / Vitor Jordao WINNER vs. Colin Tavares / Gabriel Diaz
Approx. 6:30 pm – Doubles Final
THURSDAY RESULTS
Quarterfinals
Chris Rosensteel (East Windsor, NJ) def. James Van Deinse (Vero Beach, FL) 4-6, 6-4, (13-11)
Christian Vinck (Germany) def. John Mullane (White Lake, Mich.) 6-0, 7-5
Magnus Johnson (Naples, Fla..) def. Jack Vance (Las Vegas, Nev.) 6-1, 6-2
Tommi Carnevale-Miino (Italy) def. Juan Mateus (Edmond, Okla.) 6-2, 7-6 (4)
Semifinals
Magnus Johnson def. Chris Rosensteel 6-2, 6-0
Christian Vinck def. Tommi Carnevale-Miino 6-1, 6-2
Doubles Quarterfinals
Quinn Snyder and Hayden Snyder def. Ernani Neto / Thiago Negrao 4-0, 3-4(6), 10-7
Colin Tavares and Diaz def. Jack Vance and Jaime Vance 4-0, 4-2
Doubles First Round
Colin Tavares / Gabriel Diaz def. Bernardo Costa / Gui Jasmin 4-2, 4-2
John Mullane and Jericho Grollman def. Mike Hickey and Andrew Harper 4-0, 4-0
WEDNESDAY RESULTS
FIRST ROUND SINGLES
John Mullane (White Lake, Mich) def. Peyton Hickman (Bay Minette, Ala.) 6-0, 6-0
Jack Vance (Las Vegas) def. Ryan Isjett (Perry, Ga.) 6-1, 6-0
Brian Battistone (Las Vegas) def. Gabriel Diaz (Rockledge, Fla.) 6-3, 6-2
Viju George (Boca Raton, Fla.) def. Charlie Dossetter (Great Britain) 6-4, 6-1
Tommi Carnevale-Miino (Italy) def. Lazar Markovic (Locust Valley, N.Y.) 6-2, 6-3
Juan Mateus (Edmond, Okla.) def. Jaime Vance (Las Vegas) 6-4, 6-1
Kyle Johnson (Charlotte, N.C.) def. Masaki Posey (Union City, Ga.) 6-4, 2-6, 10-7
Daniel Botti (Hilton Head, SC) def. Jericho Grollman (Orlando, Fla.) 6-4, 1-6, 10-6
Magnus Johnson (Naples, Fla.) def. Eric Oncins (Montverde, Fla.) 6-1, 6-0
Bernado Costa (Montverde, Fla.) def. Joseph van Deinse (Vero Beach, Fla.) 6-2, 6-2
Christian Vinck (Germany) def. Vitor Jordao (Montverde, Fla.) 6-0, 6-2
Colin Tavares (Titusville, Fla.) def. Olavo Neto (Montvedre, Fla.) 6-3, 6-4
Bruno Nunes (Monteverde, Fla.) def. Bill Lachlan (Winter Park, Fla.) W/O
Quinn Snyder (Delran, N.J.) def. Thiago Negrao (Montverde, Fla.) 6-0, 6-1
Chris Rosensteel (East Windsor, N.J.) def. Brian Boggs (Columbus, Ga.) 6-0, 6-2
James van Deinse (Vero Beach, Fla.) def. Sebastian Flores (Orlando) 6-1, 6-3
SECOND ROUND SINGLES
Jack Vance d Viju George 6-4, 6-2
Juan Mateus d. Kyle Johnson 1-6, 7-6 (2), 13-11
John Mullane d. Bruno Nunes 6-2, 6-0
Tommi Carnevale Miino d. Bernardo Costa 6-0, 6-1
Chris Rosensteel d. Quinn Snyder 6-7 (7), 6-2, 10-5
Magnus Johnson d. Chris Botti 6-0, 6-0
James van Deinse d. Brian Battistone 6-3, 7-5
Christian Vinck d. Colin Tavares 6-1, 6-2
