Vero Beach

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

Doubles Titles In Vero Beach, US Open Junior Doubles For Nishesh Basavareddy

manfr3dw · September 12, 2022 · Leave a Comment

Nishesh Basvareddy is pretty good with “pick up” doubles partners.

Four months after winning the doubles title at the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships in Vero Beach for his first pro-level doubles title with pick-up partner Ricardo Rodriguez, Basavareddy picked up another late partner to win the 2022 U.S. Open junior boys doubles title.

Basavareddy, from Carmel, Indiana and an incoming freshman at Stanford University, decided to pair with fellow Midwesterner Ozan Baris at the U.S. Open juniors earlier in the summer. Although the two grew up together and played with an against each other since the 10-and-unders, they had not played with each other in four years. The pair quickly gelled again and dominated the U.S. Open junior boys final winning 6-1, 6-1 against Switzerland’s Dylan Dietrich and Bolivia’s Juan Carlos Prado Angelo.

In Vero Beach in April of 2022, Basavareddy was paired blindly with popular Vero Beach participant Ricardo Rodriguez of Venezuela by tournament director Randy Walker, granted a wild card entry into the event, and the two ended up winning the title, the first ever pro title for Basavareddy.

Watch Basavareddy and Rodriguez be interviewed after their semifinal win in Vero Beach here https://youtu.be/OuxnOxkWWrk The post-match trophy presentation and speeches from the doubles final in Vero Beach can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iR4ya55sJbc

Basavareddy will now enroll as a freshman at Stanford University and play for coach Paul Goldstein and the legendary Cardinal tennis program, which has produced such players as John and Patrick McEnroe, Bob and Mike Bryan, Roscoe Tanner, Tim Mayotte among others.

“I’m starting school next week. I go to Stanford next week,” said Basavareddy while holding a post-match press conference in the main interview room at the U.S. Open. “I just want to continue to improve there, play tournaments while I’m there, play college tennis. Hopefully in a few years’ time I’m ready to make the jump to pro tennis, move up the rankings. That’s my ultimate goal. Just continue to improve. I’ll probably play a few junior events next year because I have one more year of eligibility. As far as our future, maybe play some doubles tournaments in the future, and maybe in the summers for now.”

Nishesh Basavareddy won doubles titles in 2022 in Vero Beach at the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships (top) and in New York at the 2022 U.S. Open Junior Championships.

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

Tim Palmer Delivers Introductory Tennis Programming For Youth In Vero Beach

Randy Walker · August 16, 2022 · Leave a Comment

Children in Vero Beach were given the opportunity to be introduced to tennis this summer thanks to Tim Palmer and the Treasure Coast Tennis Association’s Summer Tennis Camp, sponsored by the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation.

For two hours, four days a week over six weeks, Palmer and his cadre of local pros and volunteers introduced tennis to children in Indian River County.

The crescendo of the camp was the “Play Day” held on July 22, as documented here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuFoIcnsi0c

Palmer, the Treasure Coast Tennis Association and the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation are planning more programming in the near future.

For more information contact coach Tim Palmer

ph. 772-480-1876

tpalmer@socket.net

Recent Mardy Fish Tennis Competitors Play In Wimbledon Junior Finals

Randy Walker · July 10, 2022 · Leave a Comment

Michael Zheng and Alex Michelsen, who competed in the 2021 and 2022 Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships at The Boulevard, both competed in junior finals at Wimbledon.

Zheng, who earned his first career ATP ranking point in the October 2021 edition of the event in Vero Beach, was defeated in the junior boys singles final to Croatia’s Mili Poljicak 7-6 (2), 7-6 (3). Michelsen, who played in Vero Beach in the 2022 event in April, paired with Sebastian Gorzny

Sebastian Gorzny to win the junior boys doubles title, defeating Paul Inchauspe and Gabriel Debru of France.7-6 (3), 6-3.

Zheng earned his first ATP ranking point in Vero Beach in October when he defeated Reece Falck of New Zealand in the first round on Court 5 at The Boulevard. Awarded a wild card entry by the U.S. Tennis Association, Zheng lost in the second round to eventual semifinalist Zeke Clark. Zheng, a resident of Montville, N.J., will be freshman at the Columbia University in the Fall. Michelsen, who was a USTA wild card entry into the 2022 MFCF Tennis Championships in April, was defeated in the first round by eventual champion Sekou Bangoura on the Stadium Court at The Boulevard. A University of Georiga commit, Michelsen also was a doubles finalist at the Australian Open junior championships and won the singles and doubles titles at the Easter Bowl in March.