Tennis Verobeach

Mardy Fish Children's Foundation

Tennis

Sea Oaks To Host Mardy Fish “Wild Card” Event February 22-24

· · Leave a Comment

Sea Oaks Beach & Tennis Club will continue to be the traditional host of the “Wild Card” tournament for the $15,000 Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships when the beautiful coastal tennis community hosts the 2023 event for a fifth time Wednesday, February 22 through Friday, February 24

The winner of the three-day tournament will receive a main draw “wild card” (or free entry) into the 2023 Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships, set to be played April 24-30 at the Vero Beach Tennis & Fitness Club at Timber Ridge. The runner-up will receive a “wild card” into the qualifying rounds of the tournament.

The event features up-and-coming competitive junior players, players just starting their professional tennis career and aspiring amateur players. The tournament is staged on the Universal Tennis platform (UTR). Players can sign up here: https://app.universaltennis.com/events/136050?_ref=randyw456&shared=true

The tournament has been staged at Sea Oaks since 2018, but was not held in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Matthew Segura of Apopka, Florida, the great nephew of International Tennis Hall of Fame member Pancho Segura, won the tournament for the first three years that it was staged at Sea Oaks in 2018, 2019 and 2020. In 2022, Jibril Nettles from Detroit beat Cal Markowitz in the final to win the event.

Beginning in 2022, the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation commissioned a small cup for the tournament, named in honor of former Sea Oaks member and Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation board member Paul Delaney. “The Paul Delaney Cup” has the inscriptions of all of the winners of the Mardy Fish Sea Oaks wild card tournament and will remain in the tennis pro shop at Sea Oaks.

To watch a review video of the 2022 event, including the presentation of the Paul Delaney Cup by Linda Delaney, click here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPrjyMuKvl8

Atmosphere at Sea Oaks during the Mardy Fish “Wild Card” tournament

Treasure Coast Tennis Association Year In Review For 2022

· · Leave a Comment

by Tim Palmer

Treasure Coast Tennis Association

Lots of kids, loads of balls hit, many matches. That pretty much describes 2022 for the programs of the Treasure Coast Tennis Association, funded by the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation and the U.S. Tennis Association. Youngsters age four and up took lessons, played games, smiled for photos and, in general, had tons of fun on courts across Indian River County.

Tennis season got under way on March 1 with Love Serving Autism at Wabasso School. The school serves special-needs children, many of whom are on the autism spectrum. Weekly classes began March 1 and continued through April 12 for 30 students.

Vero Beach youth tennis season kicked off with a March 26 event called Come Try Tennis! at Riverside Park in Vero Beach. Twenty-four children took part on a Saturday afternoon.

CTT! was inspired by a report in Tennis magazine that America has been undergoing a tennis boom reminiscent of the 1970s. The Covid pandemic actually spurred growth in the sport as people realized that tennis is a safe outdoor activity with physical, mental and social benefits.

April marked the start of MFCF Spring Middle School Tennis League. A total of 92 middle schoolers took part in the six-team league. Schools represented were Saint Edward’s School (two teams); Oslo Middle School; Master’s Academy/Home Schooled; Storm Grove Middle School; and Sebastian River Middle School.

The league’s daylong season-ending tournament on May 14 at Riverside Park in Vero Beach drew more than 70 entries for singles and doubles competition.

TCTA summer junior tennis camps began in June at Riverside Park and Gifford Youth Achievement Center. Sessions in June and July hosted 35 players at Riverside Park, 42 players at GYAC. Summer tennis ended with a Riverside Park Play Day for 70-plus players from both sites.

After a break to get a good start in school, the fourth annual MFCF Fall Fourth- and Fifth- Grade League launched in early October. The league had five teams with approximately 40 players representing Dodgertown Elementary School; Osceola Magnet School; Master’s Academy/Home Schooled; Gifford Youth Achievement Center; and Glendale Christian School.

Fall tennis wrapped up with the league tournament on November 12 at Riverside Park. Two-dozen players took part.

Treasure Coast Tennis Association is very grateful to Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation for its support of junior tennis in Indian River County, and to our teaching pros, assistants and volunteers. 2023 is shaping up to be another banner year. We appreciate the help of the USTA as well! See you on the courts! For more information on our programs, contact me at tpalmer@socket.net.

Treasure Coast Tennis Association activities were aplenty in 2022

Timber Ridge To Host 2023 Mardy Fish Tennis Championships

· · Leave a Comment

The Vero Beach Fitness & Tennis Club at the Timber Ridge residential community will be the new home of the $15,000 Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships USTA Pro Circuit ITF World Tennis Tour event for 2023.

Vero Beach’s storied professional sports event will be held April 24-30 and will once again feature up-and-coming future tennis stars vying for ATP ranking points in this entry-level pro tennis tournament. The event benefits the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation, the non-profit foundation benefiting children named for Vero Beach native son Mardy Fish, a former top 10 tennis star, U.S. Davis Cup hero and silver medalist at the 2004 Olympic Games.

Affectionately known as “Timber Ridge” to locals, the Vero Beach Tennis & Fitness Club has been a staple in the community for over 30 years and has been owned and run since 2016 by James and Joseph Van Deinse. The club boasts 14 Har-Tru tennis courts, a pickleball court, pool and clubhouse with fitness center and bar. The facility previously hosted a $25,000 women’s USTA Pro circuit event in 2014 that featured future major tournament champions Naomi Osaka and Sofia Kenin, future top 10 star Jennifer Brady and future major doubles champions Nicole Melichar, Laura Siegemund and Gaby Dabrowski. The club is also the original home of the “King of the Hill” tennis competition, hosting the first seven editions of Vero Beach’s popular doubles competition from 1996 to 2002.

Watch a brief tour of the club with Randy Walker here: https://youtu.be/Ia3SGgqBCsw and here: https://youtu.be/qr6LdcohAms

“We are excited for a new chapter of our Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships at Timber Ridge,” said Tom Fish, President Emeritus of the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation. “James and Joseph Van Deinse have been leading tennis citizens in Vero Beach over the last seven years, teaching tennis to people of all ages, including many children who have been part of Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation funded programs. We are looking forward to this new partnership and new chapter for our tournament, which has been held in Vero Beach for nearly 30 years and has helped us raise so much money that benefits at-risk children in Indian River County.”

The Vero Beach Fitness & Tennis Club will be the third different venue to host the tournament after being held at Grand Harbor Club for 17 years from 1995 to 2009 and in 2017 and 2018 and at The Boulevard where it was held for 11 years from 2010 to 2016 and from 2019 to 2022.

“We are very excited to host so many great up-and-coming world class players to our club and be a part of the history of this great tournament, which has been an institution in Vero Beach for nearly 30 years,” said Joseph Van Deinse. Younger brother James Van Deinse added, “This will be a great opportunity to showcase our club and our offerings to the Vero Beach community and beyond.”

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.

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 star 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.

Leading tournament sponsors for 2022 include Presenting Sponsor PNC Bank, Grand Slam Sponsors: George E. Warren Corporation, The Jake Owen Foundation, John’s Island Real Estate, Tom Collins Insurance Agency, Cabana/Box Seat Sponsors: Michael and Kathleen Pierce, Gene Simonsen, John and Charlotte Klein, Peter and Maureen Lee, Bob and Lace Milligan, Micky and Rob Stein, Bob and Emilie Burr, Lynn Southerly, John and Sara Marshall, John and Marie McConnell, Shirley Becker, Hadleigh Investments LLC, Peter and Ellen Kendall, Cliff Norris Real Estate LLC, Indian River Primary Care and Supporting Sponsors: Syde Hurdus Foundation, Mike and Meg Hickey/M&M Realty, Nalzarro Music, Hoskins, Turco, Lloyd & Lloyd, Center Court Outfitters, Foglia Contracting, Offfutt, Barton, Schlitt, Inc, Orchid Island Real Estate, Joe and Gloria Papalardo, Linda Delaney, Dave and Nina Piacquad, Jaime Yordan, Katharine “Kissy” Russel, Wilmington Trust, Rebecca Emmons, Linda Johnson, Anne Faunce, Kaye Manly, Mark Thurn, Estee Brashears, Roby Pierce and Ron Hartwig, Matt Wynne, Willem and Marion DeVogel, Ron Chesley, Dorothy Sprague and Bill Benedict, Dr. Collin Kitchell, Tim Palmer of Treasure Coast Tennis Association, Minuteman Press and The Boulevard Tennis Club.

Timber Ridge

Treasure Coast Tennis and Mardy Fish Tennis Offer Summer Kids Tennis Clinics At Riverside Park

· · Leave a Comment

Here is information on children’s summer tennis camps offered this summer by the Treasure Coast Tennis Association and the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation.

Where: Riverside Park, Vero Beach

What: Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation and Treasure Coast Tennis Association will conduct two four-week sessions of twice-weekly summer tennis classes on the Riverside Park tennis courts.

Times: Monday-and-Wednesday classes and Tuesday-and-Thursday classes will run from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. and from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m.

Dates: June session will run from June 6 to June 30.

            July session will run from July 5 to July 28.*

*With July 4 on a Monday, the first week of the July Monday-Wednesday group will be Wednesday-Friday.

Cost per session (eight one-hour classes): $45 per student.

Scholarship assistance is available on an as-needed basis.

Information: Coach Tim Palmer

ph. 772-480-1876

tpalmer@socket.net

To register, please fill out and return to Coach Palmer via email.

Student’s name: ____________________________________________

Student’s age: ______________________________________________

Student’s grade in school this fall: ______________________________

Parent’s name: _____________________________________________

Telephone: _________________________________________________

Email:_____________________________________________________

Preferred session (1 or 2): _____________________________________

Preferred days (Mon-Wed or Tue-Thur): _________________________

Tennis experience (beginner or intermediate): ____________________

Third Time A Charm For Bangoura, Rodriguez at 2022 Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships

· · Leave a Comment

The third time was a charm for both Sekou Bangoura and Ricardo Rodriguez Sunday in the singles and doubles final at the $15,000 Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships at The Boulevard.

Both veteran professional tennis players were competing in their third career finals in this elite USTA Pro Circuit ITF World Tennis Tour event but were without a victory here. All that changed for both players as Bangoura defeated rising young American Ethan Quinn 6-4, 6-3 to win the singles title and Rodriguez paired with another young American Nisesh Basavareddy to win the doubles title over the University of Kentucky pair of Liam Draxl and Millen Hurrion 6-4,6-3.

Bangoura previously lost in both the singles and doubles final in Vero Beach in 2019, falling to Dmitry Popko of Kazakhstan in singles and with Boris Arias, to Italians Lorenzo Frigerio and Adelchi Virgili in the doubles final. Rodriguez lost in two previous singles final in 2018 to Juan Benitez of Colombia and in 2021 to Jerry Shang of China.

Bangoura is a former standout from the University of Florida who calls Bradenton home and is ranked No. 572 in the ATP rankings, having been ranked as high as No. 213 in 2016. At age 30, he is the oldest player in the field and defeated four teenagers and a 20-year-old to win the title. He also escaped from a 0-3 third-set deficit to 16-year-old Cooper Williams in the second round.

Quinn, a wild card entry into the tournament by the U.S. Tennis Association, will move within the top 900 in the ATP rankings that will allow him now direct entry into $15,000. He is a freshman at the University of Georgia but currently red-shirting.

Rodriguez and Basavareddy did not even know each other before the start of the tournament but after Rodriguez signed into doubles without a partner, co-tournament director Randy Walker introduced him to Basavareddy, who also did not have a partner. Then, when Rodriguez and Basavareddy were the first team who did not qualify to get into the doubles draw, the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation awarded their remaining wild card entry into the tournament. They are the first wild cards to win a doubles title in Vero Beach.

Read more of the singles final from respected tennis writer Harvey Fialkov in TCPalm here: https://www.tcpalm.com/story/sports/2022/05/01/mardy-fish-foundation-tennis-tournament/9587228002/

To watch the post-match awards ceremony for the singles final, click here: https://youtu.be/zyOrH64bQrY

To watch the post-match awards ceremony for the doubles final, click here https://youtu.be/iR4ya55sJbc

Ethan Quinn and Sekou Bangoura
Ethan Quinn and Sekou Bangoura