The Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation announced it is hosting a doubles wild card tournament, an ad-hoc doubles “qualifying” tournament, for its $15,000 USTA Pro Circuit event, the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships in Vero Beach, Fla.
The doubles tournament will start Saturday, April 22, the day after the first round of play in the event’s singles qualifying tournament, and will feature the “FAST4” scoring system, best two-out-of-three-set matches, first to four games, no-ad scoring, tie-breaker at 3-3, 10-point tie-breaker in lieu of a third set. The winner of the tournament will be awarded a main draw doubles wild card entry into the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships that starts Tuesday, April 25.
The tournament is open to any and all competitors, but players who win the tournament must have an ITF IPIN number to participate in the main draw of the tournament.
Matches will be played at The Boulevard Tennis Club, located across the street from Grand Harbor, the host venue for the 2017 Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships. The entry fee is $60 per team. Players can sign up at www.VeroBeachTennisTickets.com or sign up with cash at the player sign-for the singles qualifying tournament on Thursday, April 20 from 4 pm to 6 pm at the tennis facility at the Grand Harbor Golf & Beach Club.
All entry fees for the event benefit the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation (www.MardyFishFoundation.com)
For more information, contact Randy Walker at 917 770 0843 or Rwalker@NewChapterMedia.com
Play at the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships begins at Grand Harbor on Friday, April 21 at 8 am for the opening round of the 128-player qualifying tournament, which in 1998 featured future U.S. Open champion Andy Roddick playing his first ever professional matches. The qualifying rounds will continue Saturday, April 22, Sunday, April 23 and Monday, April 24 with play starting at 10 am. The 32-player singles and 16-team doubles main draw tournament will start on Tuesday, April 25 with matches starting at Noon each day through the finals on Sunday, April 30. Special 7 pm night matches will be played Tuesday, April 25 through Friday, April 28, with special “Happy Hour” night tickets being sold starting at 5 pm.
The Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships has been played in Vero Beach since 1995 and 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 (www.MardyFishFoundation.com), the non-profit tennis foundation benefiting children, named for Vero Beach native son Mardy Fish, the former top 10 tennis star and a U.S. Davis Cup standout.
Advance tickets – and sponsorships – for the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships are available at www.VeroBeachTennisTickets.com. Season tickets for all 10 days of the competition are available for $100. Daily buy-one-get-one free tickets for the qualifying rounds April 21-24 are for sale for $10, with daily tickets for the main draw sessions April 25-30 for sale for $20. A special “Happy Hour” ticket is available for $10 after 5 pm for night sessions on Tuesday, April 25 – Friday, April 28 that includes a featured 7 pm night match. Admission for children 18 and under is free. Tickets are also sold at the front gate. Approximately 3,000 fans annually attend the event, which is seen as one of the best-attended events in the world on the “Futures” level of professional tennis tournaments. The 2016 event featured 13 players who played Davis Cup for their country and was won by Jonas Luetjen of Germany, who defeated Latvian Davis Cupper Martins Podzus 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 among others. Former Vero Beach competitors have combined to win 19 titles in singles, doubles and mixed doubles at Grand Slam tournaments. Six former Vero Beach players have gone on to play Davis Cup for the United States – Roddick, Fish, Taylor Dent, Jared Palmer, Donald Young and Ryan Harrison.
Corporate sponsors and donors for the 2017 tournament include PNC Bank, Boston Barricade, George E. Warren Corporation, Indian River Medical Center, Jake Owen Foundation, Syde Hurdus Foundation, Indian River Oxygen, Citrus Grillhouse, Coastal Van Lines, Rossway Swan, Publix, Ryan A. Jones and Associates, Tom Collins Insurance Agency, Vocap Partners, Riverside Café, Center Court Outfitters, David Walsh and Associates Real Estate, Peter Bernholz Family, John’s Island, Gene Simonsen, Michael & Kathleen Pierce, Steve and Karen Rubin, Rob and Mickey Stein, William Barhorst, Dan Holman, John Klein, Mello Financial Services, Ocean Drive Elite Physiques, Rosato Plastic Surgery, Captain Hiram’s Resort, Absolute Protection Team, Minuteman Press, Technifibre, TeamChristopher.com, Fit for Life Strength, Diamond Resorts International, Wilson, Don Herrema and Lori Ford.
Founded in 2007, the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation (www.MardyFishFoundation.com and @MardyFishFound on Twitter) currently supports over 2,100 children in 15 elementary schools and six middle schools in Indian River County, Florida by providing 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.
Mardy Fish
Ivan Yatsuk, 16, Wins Epic "Wild Card" Final To Qualify For Mardy Fish USTA Futures
Ivan Yatsuk, the 6-foot-3, 16-year-old, Belarussian-born American from Bradenton, Fla., defeated Germany’s Joel Link 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 in three hours and 14 minutes Thursday night at The Boulevard in the final of the Vero Beach “wild card” tournament for the 2017 Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships.
By winning the final, Yatsuk will be awarded a “wild card” free entry into the 32-player singles field at the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships, the $15,000 U.S. Tennis Association Pro Circuit event that will be held April 21-30 at Grand Harbor Golf & Beach Club. Yatsuk will be seeking his first ATP ranking points when he competes again in Vero Beach in April.
“I’ve never been happier,” said Yatsuk after the tournament win Thursday night.
Yatsuk was born in Belarus, but moved with his family to the United States when he was three. His parents do not play tennis at all and he randomly picked the sport when he saw a tennis racquet as a young child. Armed with a huge first serve and strong groundstrokes, Yatsuk has pro aspirations and has played mostly in qualifying events on the USTA Pro Circuit as well as wild card tournaments and not playing in junior tournaments.
After losing the first set 6-4, in front of an interested crowd of approximately 100 fans at The Boulevard, Yatsuk became more aggressive to win the second set against his 19-year-old German opponent, who had beaten him in all four previous meetings, including a 12-and-under tournament in Florida years ago. In the third set, played in cooler temperatures and blustery winds, Yatsuk broke Link at 4-4, benefitting from Link serving three double faults to lose the game.
“I got a little lucky,” admitted Yatsuk of the double faults from Link.
The Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships is the USTA’s $15,000 Futures-level tournament played in Vero Beach since 1995 and 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 (www.MardyFishFoundation.com), the non-profit tennis foundation benefiting children, named for Vero Beach native son Mardy Fish, the former top 10 tennis star and a U.S. Davis Cup standout.
Advance tickets – and sponsorships – for the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships are available at www.VeroBeachTennisTickets.com. Season tickets for all 10 days of the competition are available for $100. Daily by-one-get-one free tickets for the qualifying rounds April 21-24 are for sale for $10, with daily tickets for the main draw sessions April 25-30 for sale for $20. A special “Happy Hour” ticket is available for $10 after 5 pm for night sessions on Tuesday, April 25 – Friday, April 28 that includes a featured 7 pm night match. Admission for children 18 and under is free. Approximately 3,000 fans annually attend the event, which is seen as one of the best-attended events in the world on the “Futures” level of professional tennis tournaments. The 2016 event featured 13 players who played Davis Cup for their country and was won by Jonas Luetjen of Germany, who defeated Latvian Davis Cupper Martins Podzus 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 among others. Former Vero Beach competitors have combined to win 19 titles in singles, doubles and mixed doubles at Grand Slam tournaments. Six former Vero Beach players have gone on to play Davis Cup for the United States – Roddick, Fish, Taylor Dent, Jared Palmer, Donald Young and Ryan Harrison.
Sixteen-Year-Old Sensation Yatsuk To Play Germany’s Link For Mardy Fish “Wild Card” Title Thursday Night
Sixteen-year-old, six-foot-three sensation Ivan Yatsuk of Bradenton, Florida will face 19-year-old Joel Link of Germany Thursday at 6 pm in the final of the “wild card” tournament for the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships at The Boulevard tennis club in Vero Beach.
The winner of the Yatsuk – Link match will be awarded a “wild card” or free entry into the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation, the $15,000 U.S. Tennis Association Pro Circuit “Future” event to be held April 21-30 at Grand Harbor Golf & Beach Club.
Admission is free to fans wanting to watch the singles final Thursday. The Boulevard bar and grill will be open and offering two for one cocktails.
Yatsuk, who was born in Belarus and who has lived in the United States since the age of three, has blitzed through his three matches this week with his bullet serve and groundstrokes that has had fans comparing him to a young Milos Raonic or John Isner. Yatsuk beat No. 2081-ranked Carlos Utermann of Mexico 6-2, 6-2 in Wednesday’s quarterfinals and top U.S. junior William Howells 6-1, 6-4 in the semifinals.
Link has been the No. 2 junior player in Germany behind junior rival Alexander Zverev, now ranked No. 20 in the world. The part-time resident of Sarasota defeated American Rigu George 6-1, 6-2 in Thursday’s quarterfinals and No. 1563-ranked Mauricio Resendiz Dominguez of Mexico 6-3, 6-2 in the semifinals. Link has been a recent practice partner for Roger Federer and Bernard Tomic.
The Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships is the USTA’s $15,000 Futures-level tournament played in Vero Beach since 1995 and 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 a U.S. Davis Cup standout.
Advance tickets – and sponsorships – for the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships are available at www.VeroBeachTennisTickets.com. Season tickets for all 10 days of the competition are available for $100. Daily by-one-get-one free tickets for the qualifying rounds April 21-24 are for sale for $10, with daily tickets for the main draw sessions April 25-30 for sale for $20. A special $10 “Happy Hour” ticket is available for $10 after 5 pm for night sessions on Tuesday, April 25 – Friday, April 28 that includes a featured 7 pm night match. Admission for children 18 and under is free. Approximately 3,000 fans annually attend the event, which is seen as one of the best-attended events in the world on the “Futures” level of professional tennis tournaments. The 2016 event featured 13 players who played Davis Cup for their country and was won by Jonas Luetjen of Germany, who defeated Latvian Davis Cupper Martins Podzus 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 among others. Former Vero Beach competitors have combined to win 19 titles in singles, doubles and mixed doubles at Grand Slam tournaments. Six former Vero Beach players have gone on to play Davis Cup for the United States – Roddick, Fish, Taylor Dent, Jared Palmer, Donald Young and Ryan Harrison.
World-Ranked Mexicans, Top American Juniors, “King of the Hill” Champion Highlight This Week’s Mardy Fish Wild Card Tournament At The Boulevard
Two world-ranked players from Mexico, top American junior players and the recently-crowned “King of the Hill” champion highlight the field at this week’s “Wild Card” tournament for the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships being held Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at The Boulevard Tennis Club in Vero Beach.
The winner of the event will receive a “wild card” invitation to play in the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships, the $15,000 U.S. Tennis Association Pro Circuit “Futures” event that will be held April 21-30 at Grand Harbor Golf and Beach Club.
Mexico’s Carlos Ramirez Uterman and Mauricio Resendiz Dominguez, who both currently have ATP World Tour rankings, highlight the “Wild Card” singles field, along with highly-regarded American junior Williams Howells, who competed in the main draw of last year’s Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships, and 16-year-old Ivan Yatsuk of the United States. James Van Deinse of the Vero Beach Tennis Club, winner of the 22nd annual “King of the Hill” competition last week to earn a main draw doubles wild card into the Mardy Fish Futures, is also competing.
Admission to this “Wild Card” tournament is free and play begins Tuesday, Feb. 28 at 11 am and includes two of the “King of the Hill” finalists competing in evening matches – Van Deinse playing Viju George of the United States at 6 pm and Uterman playing Bryant Mohns of the United States at 7 pm.
Play continues with quarterfinal matches starting at 9:30 am on Wednesday, March 1 and semifinal matches later on Wednesday night at 6 pm. The final match will be played Thursday night, March 2 at 6 pm.
All matches are best of three sets with a 10-point Super Tiebreaker played in lieu of a third set.
The full event draw can be found below.
The Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships is the USTA’s $15,000 Futures-level tournament played in Vero Beach since 1995 and 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 a U.S. Davis Cup standout.
Advance tickets – and sponsorships – for the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships are available at www.VeroBeachTennisTickets.com. Season tickets for all 10 days of the competition are available for $100. Daily by-one-get-one free tickets for the qualifying rounds April 21-24 are for sale for $10, with daily tickets for the main draw sessions April 25-30 for sale for $20. A special $10 “Happy Hour” ticket is available for $10 after 5 pm for night sessions on Tuesday, April 25 – Friday, April 28 that includes a featured 7 pm night match. Admission for children 18 and under is free. Approximately 3,000 fans annually attend the event, which is seen as one of the best-attended events in the world on the “Futures” level of professional tennis tournaments. The 2016 event featured 13 players who played Davis Cup for their country and was won by Jonas Luetjen of Germany, who defeated Latvian Davis Cupper Martins Podzus 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 among others. Former Vero Beach competitors have combined to win 19 titles in singles, doubles and mixed doubles at Grand Slam tournaments. Six former Vero Beach players have gone on to play Davis Cup for the United States – Roddick, Fish, Taylor Dent, Jared Palmer, Donald Young and Ryan Harrison.
2017 “Wild Card” Tournament For Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships
Draw
Mauricio Resendiz Dominguez (MEX)
Vs. Bye (Next Match 9:30 am Wednesday)
11 am Tuesday
Emilio Van Cotthem (USA)
Vs. Richard Torres (USA)
6 pm Tuesday
James Van Deinse (USA)
Vs. Viju George (USA)
11 am Tuesday
Sage Leaman (USA)
Vs. Joel Link (GER)
William Howells (USA)
Vs. Bye (Next Match 9:30 am Wednesday)
Noon Tuesday
Alejandro Valencia (COL)
Vs. Drew Bochte (USA)
Noon Tuesday
Ivan Yatsuk (USA)
Vs. Dave Weltz (USA)
7 pm Tuesday
Bryant Mohns (USA)
Vs. Carlos Ramirez Uterman (MEX)
Micah Nalzaro, Mardy Fish Children's Foundation Student/Mentor, Receives Call Back For US Open Singing Performance
Micah Nalzaro, a 14-year-old from Vero Beach, Fla., and a tennis participant in the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation program, has been selected for a call-back try-out to potentially perform “America The Beautiful” at Arthur Ashe Stadium during the 2016 US Open tennis championships.
Nalzaro submitted a video of him singing “America The Beautiful” performed before the men’s semifinal matches in Vero Beach during April’s Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships, a $10,000 “Futures” event on the U.S. Tennis Association Pro Circuit.
Nalzaro is one of a select number of contestants chosen from online submissions from children around the country for the in-person call-back audition June 28 in New York City. Winners selected from the call-back audition will perform “America the Beautiful” live during the night sessions at the 2016 US Open, which will be held Aug. 29 to Sept. 11.
“We are so proud of Micah, who is a terrific young man, an enthusiastic tennis player and a talented singer and performer,” said Tom Fish, chairman of the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation and the father of Mardy Fish. “Our Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships is kind of like a mini-US Open for us in Vero Beach and it certainly would be amazing if Micah was able to turn his performance at our event into an opportunity to sing during the real US Open in New York.”
To view Nalzaro’s online submitted audition from the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships, click here on YouTube: https://youtu.be/XI_bb7h5d3w
The program is part of the USTA’s nationwide online casting as part of its 10th annual US Open anthem audition. For the second consecutive year, the audition age will be extended to children 14 years of age or younger to submit an online audition performance. Previously, the casting call was only open to those 12 and under. The USTA first launched an open casting call in 2006. All entries were reviewed by a panel of judges from the music and entertainment industry.
Nalzaro has appeared in Vero Beach stage performances since 2012, including his most recent role as the Prince in the Vero Beach Theatre Guild presentation of “The King and I” in 2016. He is currently a participant in the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Middle School Tennis League and also volunteers with the Foundation mentoring younger children. Micah and his father Edmund also participated in the foundation’s Team Fish Community Outreach program, where he volunteered to work in different philanthropic community events such as The Special Olympics. He also has served as a ball person at the USTA Pro Circuit event the last few years.
Founded in 2007, the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation (www.MardyFishFoundation.com and @MardyFishFound on Twitter) is a non-profit foundation benefitting children and named for Vero Beach native and former top-ranked American player Mardy Fish. The Foundation currently supports over 2,100 children in 15 elementary schools and six middle schools in Indian River County, Florida by providing 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.” Mardy Fish completed his ATP professional tennis career at the 2015 U.S. Open, highlighted by a career-high ranking of No. 7, six ATP singles titles, eight ATP doubles titles and an Olympic silver medal in singles at the 2004 Olympics. He reached the quarterfinals at the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open and was a mainstay on the U.S. Davis Cup team from 2002 to 2012.
The Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation recently completed its first year as the new operator of the $10,000 “Futures” tennis tournament in Vero Beach, one of the longest-running and best attended events on the USTA Pro Circuit. All proceeds from the event benefit the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation.