Tennis

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

Randy Walker · May 25, 2022 · 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

boyona · May 2, 2022 · 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

Matthew Segura To Play 2022 Mardy Fish Tennis Monday Feature Night Match

Randy Walker · April 25, 2022 · Leave a Comment

Matthew Segura, the great nephew of Hall of Famer Pancho Segura, will play the feature night match on the opening day Monday of the $15,000 Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships ITF World Tennis Tour U.S. Tennis Association Pro Circuit event at The Boulevard.

Segura will face off against 15-year-old Meecah Bigun of Phoenix, Arizona not before 6 pm on the Stadium Court at The Boulevard.

Segura has built a strong following in Vero Beach after winning the Mardy Fish “Wild Card” event at the Sea Oaks Beach & Tennis Club for three years in a row from 2018, 2019 and 2020. Segura, known for his ambidextrous playing style, also reached the final of the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships in 2020 when it was held as a Universal Tennis (UTR) event. In 2021, Segura earned his first ATP ranking points in Vero Beach when he reached the quarterfinals, beating former U.S. Davis Cup and Olympic team member Donald Young en route.

Two Vero Beach local players, Juan Sebastian Mendoza and James van Deinse, were able to slide into the draw at the last minute via wild cards from the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation. Mendoza was the No. 1 player from Vero Beach High School’s boy’s tennis team in 2021 and is taking a year off before playing college tennis. Van Deinse is the owner and tennis pro at the Vero Beach Tennis Club and is the current tennis coach at Vero Beach High School. Mendoza will play second on the Grandstand Court on Monday (at approximately 1:30 pm) against Juan Victor Couto Lourierio of Brazil, ranked No. 1293 in the ATP rankings. Van Deinse will play the second match on Stadium (at approximately 1 pm) against Isnardi Escurra, a Davis Cup team member for Paraguay.

The third Stadium match for Monday will feature Jake Krug of Duke University, the grandson of famed ESPN College Basketball announcer Dick Vitale, playing Kevin Major, a Davis Cup player from The Bahamas.

The full schedule for Monday can be found here: https://www.usta.com/content/dam/usta/2022-pro-circuit/20220425_vero_beach_m15/OP.pdf

The qualifying singles draw can be found here: https://www.usta.com/content/dam/usta/2022-pro-circuit/20220425_vero_beach_m15/QS.pdf

Tuesday’s play will feature the final round of singles qualifying and the first round of doubles play. Main draw singles play will begin on Wednesday. The draws for main draw singles and doubles will be made Monday.

Matthew Segura celebrates his first ATP ranking point at the 2021 Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships

Sixteen-year-old Jerry Shang Wins 2021 Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships

Randy Walker · October 25, 2021 · Leave a Comment

Youth prevailed over experience when 16-year-old Shang Juncheng of China, the No. 1 junior player in the world, defeated No. 3 seed Ricardo Rodriguez, a 28-year-old tour veteran from Venezuela, to capture the $15,000 Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships title with a 7-6 (6), 6-4 win on Sunday.

The victory at The Boulevard Tennis Club marked the third pro title for the Chinese teen at an International Tennis Federation (ITF) World Tennis Tour event, which is also part of the U.S. Tennis Association Pro Circuit tournament.

Shang, who currently ranks No. 1008 on the ATP computer, impressively won his first pro event at a $15,000 event in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and again at the same level event in Naples, Florida just last week. He will move inside the top 900 in the world by earning 10 ATP singles ranking points with the tournament victory.

“It feels really good for me,” Shang said after victory. “I’m really happy especially these last two weeks which have been back-to-back wins. It’s really special for me to do in the pros. I’m playing really confident the last two weeks. I’m not thinking so much about the shots but just really going for it. And I’m really relaxed and finding a rhythm in my matches.”

Watch Shang’s post-match presentation here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlqqP8-BaB8

The No. 613 ranked Rodriguez credited his opponent for a match well played.

“I think the key of the match was he was better than me at the important points,” Rodriguez said. “I had a set point in the first set, and I had a few break points, and he played them all well.

“Honestly, I have no regrets because generally I played a very professional match today that didn’t go my way.”

Watch Rodriguez’s post-match presentation here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHrM9vQX9qE

The Beijing native, who goes by the name Jerry, lives with his father in the United States for the past five years, and currently trains at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.

Shang says he comes by his athletic prowess from his parents, who were both international sports stars in their sport of choice.

His father, Shang Yi, who sat court side watching the teen win the Vero Beach title, was a pro soccer midfielder who played for Beijing Guoan for most of his career. The elder Shang did play internationally – for Xerex in Spain – during the 2003-04 season. His most notable achievement in Spain was scoring a goal against Cadiz CF, a rival team of Xerex.

After retiring from soccer, Shang Yi became a commentator for the Beijing TV Sports Channel before accompanying his son to Florida.

His mother, Wu Na, who remains in Beijing and visits Florida, is a former international table tennis star. She won a bronze medal in singles and gold medal in mixed doubles in the 1997 World Table Tennis Championships, and a bronze medal at the same event in women’s doubles in 1995.

“My dad played football, soccer, and mom played table tennis so, for me, they chose a sport something in the middle,” said Shang, laughing. “They chose not the big ball though, but the small ball for me.”

Finding a path in tennis rather than either soccer or table tennis seems to have been a smart choice for Shang, which he proved again on Sunday.

The first set of the final was a nip-and-tuck affair that went down to a deciding tiebreaker.

Both players scored two mini-breaks by the time the score was 4-4 in the tiebreaker. Rodriguez missed out on the one set point he had at 6-5, and two points later mishit a forehand to allow Shang to notch the opening set.

Rodriguez also held a break point on Shang’s serve at 5-5 in the first set, but failed to take the advantage when he missed backhand return.

The two players, who actually warmed each other up just hours before the final, exchanged early service breaks in the second set.

At 3-3, Shang rallied to take a lasting lead in the second set. He set up a 15-40 break point opportunity with a winning forehand passing shot. He went on to break serve for a 4-3 lead with a backhand crosscourt winner.

Shang served out the 1 hour, 54 minute match at love, taking the title with a scorching forehand winner down the line.

At this point, Shang believes his junior days have come to a conclusion and he’ll be concentrating on playing these lower level pro events to work his way up the ATP rankings. His junior career climaxed this year with a quarterfinal showing at the French Open, semifinals at Wimbledon and final appearance at the US Open last month.

In the last 25 years, only two former junior world No. 1s – Roger Federer of Switzerland and Andy Roddick of the United States – went on to become world No. 1s on the main men’s ATP Tour.

Undoubtedly, Shang will be hoping to replicate Federer and Roddick’s feat of translating No. 1 status in the juniors to being the best player in the world. If he could achieve that distinction it certainly would make him a superstar back home in China.

While Li Na won two Grand Slam singles titles and reached a career high ranking of No. 2 in the world in the women’s game, no Chinese man has ever even journeyed into the top 100 in the men’s ATP rankings.

“I think that is a big goal because I’m only 16 right now,” Shang said. “But that’s something I’ll look for in the future hopefully, but it’s important to take one step at a time right now.”

Rodriguez believes the future ahead is very bright for Shang, who played a mature and structured match against him.

“What I experienced today was how good he manages important moments and how good he is that his pulse doesn’t shake whenever there are tight moments in the match,” Rodriguez said. “That makes him special, especially with his being so young.”

As Shang’s likely to discover when you’re a professional tennis player you learn to live a life where a different hotel room becomes where you live each week. Taking that into account, players tend to find tournaments they enjoy playing, a feeling which is often bolstered by having success at a locale.

That’s just what’s happened for Rodriguez, who has favored playing at Vero Beach, which is just a short road trip up I-95 from his home in Ft. Lauderdale.

This marked Rodriguez’s second time in the Mardy Fish tournament final. He lost out to Juan Benitez of Colombia 7-5, 2-6, 6-4 in the 2018 championship match.

In 2017, he reached the quarterfinals and last year he reached the quarterfinals of the UTR event hosted by Vero Beach tournament organizers.

“Ever since I came here for the first time, I think in 2017, you guys have treated me as one of you, as family,” Rodriguez said in a post-match on-court interview this week. “This is one of my favorite places to come and play. Whenever I do my schedule Vero is always a priority for me. You are one of my greatest friends.”

Rodriguez, who reached a career high ranking of No. 282 in June 2014, has been stalwart for Venezuela in Davis Cup, a high-level international team competition, during his career. He’s played in 18 Davis Cup ties since 2012 for a 22-9 record.

Most recently, Davis Cup provided Rodriguez with a special opportunity to play at the Westside Tennis Club in Forest Hills, NY, which hosted the prestigious US National/US Open for an overall 60 years (1915 to 1920 and 1924 through 1977).

In September, Venezuela lost to South Africa 4-0 in a World Group II Davis Cup tie that was hosted on neutral ground at Forest Hills.

“About a month ago I got the opportunity to play in Forest Hills and that was such a great experience for me,” Rodriguez said. I played 18 times Davis Cup but none of them in such an historic place. That’s little bit of the (payoff) for the hard work and sacrifice.”

In Saturday’s late doubles final, Florida Gator teammates Duarte Vale of Portugal and Johannes Ingildsen of Denmark defeated Ben Shelton, also a Florida Gator, and Liam Draxl of Canada and the University of Kentucky 6-3, 6-4.

Players From Five Continents To Play In Mardy Fish Pro Tennis At The Boulevard

manfr3dw · April 24, 2019 · Leave a Comment

Players from five continents, including former University of Florida All-American Sekou Bangoura, all-time leading Venezuelan Davis Cupper Ricardo Rodriguez, Zimbabwe Davis Cupper Takanyi Garanganga and Kazakhstan Davis Cupper Dmitry Popko, highlight the field of direct entries into the $25,000 Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships April 29 – May 5 at The Boulevard tennis club in Vero Beach.
The event is being held for a 25th straight year in Vero Beach and is part of the International Tennis Federation World Tennis Tour and part of the U.S. Tennis Association’s Competitive Pathway. This year marks the first year the event has been elevated to a $25,000-level tournament. In the previous 24 years of the event, it was a $10,000 or $15,000 level competition.
“Tennis has never been as globally popular as it is now and this is reflective in our fascinating singles field of players from literally every corner of the world,” said Tom Fish, co-tournament director and President of the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation. “We encourage everyone in the Vero Beach area to come watch these amazingly talented international tennis players compete while supporting the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation that benefits at-risk youth in Indian River County. This is the 25th year of this tournament, which is the premier international sporting event in Vero Beach.”
Bangoura from Bradenton, Florida, is the top-ranked singles entry with an ATP Tour singles ranking of No. 400. He earned All-American status for the Florida Gators in 2011. In 2010, he won the USTA national junior doubles title with Nathan Pasha and played in the first round of doubles of the U.S. Open in New York. Other Americans among the 18 direct entries include former Northwestern standout Strong Kircheimer, a semifinalist in Vero Beach last year, Alafia Ayeni, the No. 1 player for Cornell University currently ranked No. 441 by the ATP, former Texas A&M standouts Harrison Adams, the doubles runner-up in Vero Beach last year, and new professional Jordi Arconanda, and Swiss-American Alexander Ritschard of Zurich, a former standout at the University of Virginia.
South America is represented by nine direct singles entries lead by No. 2 entry Bastian Malla of Chile, ranked No. 435 in the ATP Tour rankings, as well as Rodriguez, the all-time leading Davis Cup player from Venezuela who was defeated in last year’s Vero Beach singles final by Juan Benitez of Colombia. Nico Mejia, the Colombian Davis Cupper and Wimbledon junior semifinalist last summer who reached the quarterfinals in Vero Beach last year as a qualifier, is also among the direct entries. Other South Americans in the field include three Argentines lead by 2014 and 2015 Vero Beach finalist Facunda Mena and also Camilo Ugo Carabelli and Juan Ignacio Galarza. Brazil is represented by Pedro Sakamoto, Peru by Nicolas Alvarez and Ecuador by Diego Hidalgo.
Andrew Watson of Great Britain, ranked No. 677 by the ATP, is Europe’s lone direct entry and is looking to equal the success in Vero Beach of his countryman Tim Henman, the former top 10 star who was a Vero Beach semifinalist in 1995, and Kyle Edmund, Britain’s current No. 1 who won the title in Vero Beach in 2013.
Representing Asia in Vero Beach is Dmitry Popko of Kazakhstan, who is currently one of the hottest players in the ITF World Tennis Tour having won six titles already this year, including his last two tournaments in Sunrise, Florida and Orange Park, Florida. Popko, a member of Kazakhstan’s Davis Cup team, has competed in the qualifying rounds of all four Grand Slam tournaments and was ranked as high as No. 178 in the world.
Africa is represented in Vero Beach by Garanganga, a member of Zimbabwe’s Davis Cup team since 2007. He has competed in all four junior Grand Slam tournaments and qualified for the ATP Tour event in Los Cabos, Mexico last summer. He won the first ever gold medal for Zimbabwe at the 2011 All-Africa Games.
Leading entries into the 32-player, two-day qualifying tournament, that will be played April 29 and April 30, including defending champion Benitez of Colombia, defending doubles champion Junior Ore of Miami and Irish Davis Cupper Julian Bradley. Players in the qualifying tournament must win two matches on Monday and Tuesday to earn entry into the 32-player main draw.
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.MardyFishChildrensFoundation.org 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:
Wednesday, April 24 – Friday, April 26
Pre-Qualifying Tournament – The Boulevard Tennis Club, Times TBD (Free to public)
Sunday, April 28
Pro-Am – Sea Oaks Tennis Club, 1:30 – 3:30 pm
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.