Lake Nona

Wake Forest’s Stefan Dostanic, Stanford’s Valerie Glozman Win USTA’s US Open Collegiate Wild Card Tournaments

June 19, 2025 by Randy Walker Leave a Comment

Stefan Dostanic and Valerie Glozman each secured a spot in the 2025 US Open singles main draw Wednesday night as they won the men’s and women’s singles titles, respectively, at the American Collegiate Wild Card Playoffs held at the USTA National Campus in Orlando.

The new event featured the top American collegiate tennis players competing across men’s and women’s singles and doubles with six wild cards into this summer’s US Open up for grabs.

Dostanic, a native of Irvine, Calif., capped off his college tennis career by leading the Wake Forest men’s tennis team to the NCAA title last month where was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. In the last 12 months, he has won three ITF World Tennis Tour singles titles. He’ll be making his US Open and Grand Slam debut. Watch Dostanic’s match point and victory celebration here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9s_I2dJMSg and watch his post-match interview with Randy Walker here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cw_czlC47TE

Glozman, a native of Bellevue, Wash., completed her freshman year at Stanford where she was named the ACC Freshman of the Year and earned All-American honors. A former top-ranked junior, she has competed in US Open qualifying each of the past three years. She’ll be making her Grand Slam main draw debut. Listen to her speak to Randy Walker after her win here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pr4x0H5HkNo&t=45s

Columbia’s Michael Zheng (Montville, N.J.) and Texas A&M’s Mary Stoiana (Southbury, Conn.), who were the singles finalists, will each receive a wild card entry into the US Open Qualifying Tournament.

AdventHealth Joins Nemours Children’s Health as Official Medical Services Providers of the USTA National Campus

May 2, 2025 by Randy Walker Leave a Comment

The United States Tennis Association (USTA) announced that AdventHealth will join Nemours Children’s Health as the Official Medical Services Providers of the USTA National Campus. AdventHealth is joining as a new partner, while Nemours has been a partner with the USTA National Campus since the Lake Nona facility opened in 2017.

The partnership will kick off this weekend when the three organizations come together to host a free community day at the USTA National Campus to celebrate National Tennis Month, which takes place across the country throughout the month of May. The event will feature tennis programming, a health and wellness zone, and other interactive activities and giveaways. The event takes place from 1:30-4:30 p.m. on Sunday, May 4.

“The USTA’s mission is to grow tennis to inspire healthier people and communities and we are excited to launch a partnership with AdventHealth at the USTA National Campus, and grow our existing relationship with Nemours, to continue that mission right here in Central Florida,” said Lew Sherr, CEO and Executive Director, USTA. “The health and safety of the players and guests at the USTA National Campus is our number one priority and we feel confident that they will receive world-class medical service from both of these outstanding organizations.”

As part of the partnership, AdventHealth and Nemours will jointly oversee all medical services at the USTA National Campus, while also providing athletic medicine, athletic training and other health support for elite American athletes while they are training at the National Campus. Both partners will be prominently featured throughout the USTA National Campus and will collaborate with the USTA National Campus to promote the health benefits of tennis throughout the community.

“We are pleased to be bringing our unique brand of whole-person care, and our world-class sports-medicine expertise, to the athletes at the USTA National Campus,” said Doug Harcombe, CEO of AdventHealth Lake Nona, which is currently under construction. “This is an important element of our commitment to care for this community, by bringing a state-of-the-art facility built on innovation, technology and wellness to Lake Nona in 2026.”

“Nemours Children’s Health has partnered with USTA since 2017, when they opened the Lake Nona facility, and are proud to continue that partnership while welcoming AdventHealth to the National Campus medical care team”, said Martha McGill, BSN, MBA, MHA, President of the Central Florida Region for Nemours Children’s Health. “This partnership gives us the opportunity to help local youth stay healthy and active while introducing them to a new sport, as well as doing what we do best – providing the best possible medical care.”

Additionally, AdventHealth and the USTA will partner to bring the health benefits of tennis to the Orlando community, with an emphasis on women, seniors and the developmentally disabled. This will include pop-up tennis events and other programming targeting underserved and vulnerable communities with the goal of improving health and wellness through tennis.

On site at the National Campus, Nemours will retain naming rights of the facility’s “Family Zone,” which features youth courts that focus on entry-level play, as well as acquire naming rights for the Player Development Lodge, utilized by visiting junior players. Meanwhile, AdventHealth will create an immersive experience zone focused on health and wellness.

Orthopedic surgeon Dr. Daryl Osbahr will serve as AdventHealth co-medical director for the USTA National Campus. “Our whole-athlete care model has been shown to benefit everyone from professionals to weekend warriors,” Osbahr said. “We are excited to provide on-site care and support for athletes of all levels at the USTA National Campus.”

“We welcome AdventHealth and look forward to this continued partnership with USTA,” said John Lovejoy, MD, Chair of Orthopedics, Nemours Children’s Hospital, Florida. “Nemours Children’s Health is committed to creating the healthiest generations of children, and we are taking that commitment well beyond medicine through our continued work with the USTA.”

Multiple studies have found that tennis is the “healthiest sport in the world” adding some 9.7 years to tennis players’ lives when compared to the lives of sedentary individuals, more longevity than other sports such as soccer, jogging and swimming provide. Additionally, playing tennis can lower the risk of heart disease by up to 50%, and improve balance, mental acuity, speed and sense of social connection, showing that getting out on the tennis court can improve your quality of life in many ways.

Mardy Fish Wins Title at Lake Nona, Florida….In Pro Celebrity Golf! (Again!)

January 23, 2023 by Randy Walker Leave a Comment

by Randy Walker

@TennisPublisher

“It was fun to watch him play so well this week. It was very impressive,” says NBC LPGA golf analyst Morgan Pressel, the niece of former top 10 tennis star Aaron Krickstein.

Added NBC and Golf Channel commentator Steve Sands, “And we know how important these things are to guys like Mardy. It was an amazing week and an amazing feeling for Fish. Good for him.”

In addition to winning the Orlando celebrity event for a fourth time (earning a first-prize paycheck of $100,000), Fish has also won the two other major celebrity golf events in Dallas, Texas last April and at the most famous celebrity golf event, the American Century Championships at Lake Tahoe in 2000. Jack Nicklaus also called Fish “the best non-professional golfer” he’s ever seen, as you can read here: http://www.worldtennismagazine.com/archives/16360

Fish entered the Lake Nona event with limited practice, fine-tuning his eight-iron shot will playing the par 3 17th hole at The Windsor Club in his hometown of Vero Beach, Florida with each foursome who paid to play in his Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Golf Fundraiser.

“I hadn’t practiced all that much,” said Fish to NBC Sports in his post-victory interview. “Maybe there’s something to that, coming into this week. So going into the next one in Dallas in April, maybe I’m not hitting very many balls or anything like that, and see if I can get putting lesson from someone.”

Said Pressel of Fish, “He has played such incredible golf this week. He said coming into this week, it was the least prepared he had ever been for a competition like this, and yet it the best he has ever played.”

On what he will take away from the experience here this week playing alongside the top LPGA pros, Fish said. “That they’re a lot better than I am and better than almost everybody out there that’s watching, that’s for sure. Just made some really cool friendships and stuff and some gals that I get to watch compete and everything. So it’s a blast to be in the same group and watch them. I got to play with Annika (Sorenstam) yesterday, which was super cool. I’ve been looking forward to that for a long time, and trying to get with her and everything. So yes, it’s been a really fun week.”

Unusual “Wild Card” Final For USTA Mardy Fish Futures Event Won By Army Men’s Tennis Coach’s Son

April 13, 2018 by tennisbloggers

Karl Poling of West Point, N.Y., the 18-year-old son of U.S. Military Academy men’s tennis coach Jim Poling, earned a main draw wild card entry into the 2018 Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships by winning an unusual final of the wild card tournament held at the USTA National Campus at Lake Nona, Florida.

His final-round match against fellow 18-year-old Trent Bryde of Atlanta, Ga., was, however, not played at Lake Nona, but in Orange Park, Florida, just outside of Jacksonville.

Due to rain that washed out an entire day of play in the 40-player wild card event, Poling and Bryde had to play their semifinal and final-round matches on Thursday, April 12, jeopardizing their opportunity to play in the qualifying tournament at the USTA Pro Circuit event in Orange Park – 150 miles away – for which they had to personally register for on-site at the tournament desk by 6 pm that day. Tournament officials decided, in the best interest of the players and their competitive playing opportunities, to have them play the final later that night in Orange Park after signing in to play in the Orange Park qualifying event. Poling and Bryde then battled for nearly three hours before Poling emerged victorious 2-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Poling joins 17-year-old Matthew Segura of Apopka, Fla., the great nephew of International Tennis Hall of Famer Pancho Segura, as the winners of the two wild card tournaments for the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships. Segura won an 18-player wild card tournament at the Sea Oaks Tennis & Beach Club in Vero Beach last month, highlighted by appreciative daily crowds of approximately 500 fans. Both teenagers will be competing in the main draw of this $15,000 USTA Pro Circuit event at Grand Harbor that starts Tuesday, April 24. The 128-player qualifying event in Vero Beach start Friday, April 20 at 8 am..

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, 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 for the April 20-29 event are available at www.VeroBeachTennisTickets.com. 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.

Marcelo Tomas Barrios Vera, a member of the Davis Cup team from Chile, is the top entry into this year’s event A 20-year-old from Santiago, Chile, Barrios Vera has been a member of the Chile’s Davis Cup team since 2017 and is currently ranked No. 414 in the ATP World Tour rankings. Other leading entries include Samuel Bensoussan of France, ranked No. 417 in the ATP World Tour rankings, Ricardo Rodriguez, the all-time leading Davis Cup singles player from Venezuela, former Northwestern University standout Strong Kirchheimer, Colombia’s Juan Benitez, who reached the quarterfinals in Vero Beach in 2016, losing an thrilling three-set match to Canadian sensation Denis Shapovalov, and Collins Johns of Maryland, whose ambidextrous groundstrokes fascinated fans in Vero Beach last year during his run to the round of 16 as a lucky-loser entrant.

Play at the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships begins at Grand Harbor on Friday, April 20 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 21, Sunday, April 22 and Monday, April 23. Eight players will advance from the qualifying rounds into the main draw. The 32-player singles and 16-team doubles main draw tournament will start on Tuesday, April 24. Special 7 pm night matches will be played Tuesday, April 24 through Friday, April 27, with special $10 night tickets being sold starting at 5 pm.

The featured night match on Tuesday, April 24 while feature Vero Beach native Robert Kowalczyk and “King of the Hill” tournament champion Michael Alford, a teaching pro at the Quail Valley Club, playing their first round doubles match at 7 pm as wild card entrants into the field.

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.

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 20-23 are for sale for $10, with daily tickets for the main draw sessions April 24-29 for sale for $20. A special night ticket is available for $10 after 5 pm for night sessions on Tuesday, April 24 – Friday, April 27 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.

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.

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

Kark Poling (left) and Trent Bryde at the USTA National Campus at Lake Nona

PowerShares Series Part Of Exciting January of Tennis In Orlando

September 28, 2016 by tennisbloggers

For the first time ever, PowerShares Series brings tennis to Orlando’s Amway Center on January 5, 2017, featuring tennis greats including John McEnroe, Jim Courier, Andy Roddick and James Blake. Tickets are on sale now.

On January 2, 2017, Orlando will celebrate another first when the United States Tennis Association (USTA) officially opens its USTA National Campus in the Lake Nona Community of Orlando. The New Home of American Tennis is a state-of-the-art facility with 100 courts, housing the USTA’s Community Tennis and Player Development divisions as well as the University of Central Florida’s tennis teams. The campus is divided into dedicated areas that focus on the pathway from the youngest players to recreational players, to collegians, to future professional players and professional tour-level players.

“January will be the most exciting month for tennis that Orlando has ever experienced,” said Jim Courier, the U.S. Davis Cup captain, co-founder of the PowerShares Series and a part-time Orlando resident. “The USTA’s home of American tennis will open to the public and begin full operations shortly after the new year and then professional tennis will be played at the Amway Center for the first time when the PowerShares Series hits town. It’s going to be an amazing start to 2017.”

“Orlando is an internationally recognized destination because of our top notch tourism industry, and with our world-class venues, including the USTA Tennis Center and Amway Center, we continue to attract events like the PowerShares Series tennis tour. Orlando is now also the leading destination for major sporting events in America,” said Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer.

“We are excited to host a first-time, high-caliber tennis event featuring some of the world’s greatest champions,” said Orlando Venues Executive Director Allen Johnson. “With the opening of the USTA facility in January, it was a perfect opportunity to schedule the series.”

The PowerShares Series is the first major, professional tennis event in Orlando in almost 20 years. McEnroe, the four-time U.S. Open and three-time Wimbledon champion, headlines the field of four world class players at the Champions Showdown Orlando that also features 2003 U.S. Open champion Roddick, former world number four Blake, and Courier, the two-time French and Australian Open champion. The event begins with McEnroe taking on Courier, followed by Blake against Roddick. Each PowerShares Series event features two, one-set semifinal matches and a one-set championship match and, for the second straight year, players make their own line calls with the assistance of electronic line-calling. Tickets, as well as hit-with-the-pros opportunities and VIP backstage access, are for sale now at PowerSharesSeries.com.

“We are very excited that the PowerShares Series will bring world-class tennis to Orlando,” said Chief Executive, Community Tennis and USTA National Campus Kurt Kamperman. “Along with the opening of the USTA National Campus, Orlando has become an ultimate destination for tennis fans and players of all ages and abilities.”

The USTA National Campus’ mission is to deliver the world’s finest tennis experience for all who visit, use, and work at the facility. It is the essence of collaboration and innovation for the sport of tennis, as well as for training and developing the next generation of tennis players, officials and industry professionals. The USTA National Campus will feature 100 tennis courts, is open to the public, and will be able to accommodate every type of tennis competition and program, from youth tennis events to age-based national championships.

In 2015, Roddick won the PowerShares Series points title in his second year of competing with 1,600 points and a record eight wins. Blake finished second in the points rankings with 1,200 points. Mark Philippoussis finished in third with 1,100 points. In 2014, McEnroe won the points title for the first time in the nine-year history of Champions Series tennis by winning events in Kansas City, Indianapolis, Nashville, and Charlotte.

Tickets, schedules and this season’s remaining PowerShares Series schedule with player fields can be found at PowerSharesSeries.com.

TICKETS: $30, $55, $80, $115 & $195 – Buy tickets at AmwayCenter.com, Amway Center box office, Ticketmaster retail locations, charge-by-phone at 800.745.3000 or at Ticketmaster.com. All dates, act(s) and ticket prices are subject to change without notice. All tickets are subject to applicable taxes, service, handling and facility fee charges. For Amway Center box office and ticket information, visit AmwayCenter.com (phone purchases are not available through the Amway Center box office). The Amway Center is located at 400 West Church Street and the box office is located on the north side of the Amway Center, near the intersection of Church Street and Hughey Avenue.

ABOUT INSIDEOUT SPORTS + ENTERTAINMENT

InsideOut Sports + Entertainment is a Los Angeles based producer of proprietary events and promotions founded in 2004 by former world number one and Hall of Fame tennis player Jim Courier and former SFX and Clear Channel executive Jon Venison. In 2005, InsideOut launched its signature property, the Champions Series, a collection of tournaments featuring the greatest names in tennis over the age of 30. In addition, InsideOut produces many other successful events including, “Legendary Night” exhibitions, The World Series of Beach Volleyball and numerous corporate outings. Since inception, InsideOut Sports + Entertainment has raised over $4 million for charity. In 2014, InsideOut Sports + Entertainment merged with Horizon Media, the largest privately held media services agency in the world. For more information, please log on to InsideOutSE.com or powersharesseries.com or follow on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

ABOUT HORIZON MEDIA

Horizon Media, Inc. is the largest and fastest growing privately held media services agency in the world. The company was founded in 1989, is headquartered in New York and has offices in Los Angeles, San Diego, and Chicago. Horizon Media was chosen as 2011 Independent Media Agency of the Year by Mediapost, 2010 U.S. Media Agency of the Year by Adweek, Brandweek, and Mediaweek as well as by Ad Age and as one of the world’s 10 most innovative marketing and advertising companies by Fast Company in 2011. In 2012, Bill Koenigsberg, president, CEO and founder, was honored by Advertising Age as Industry Executive of the Year. Most recently, in 2014, Bill Koenigsberg was named 4As Chair of the Board and is the first person from a media agency to hold this prestigious position in the 100 year history of the 4As, the marketing industry’s leading trade association. The company’s mission is “To create the most meaningful brand connections within the lives of people everywhere.” By delivering on this mission through a holistic approach to brand marketing, Horizon Media is one of the leading agencies with estimated billings of over $5.3 billion and over 1,200 employees. The company is also a founding member of Columbus Media International, a multi-national partnership of independent media agencies. For more information, please visit horizonmedia.com.

ABOUT INVESCO POWERSHARES

Invesco PowerShares Capital Management LLC is leading the Intelligent ETF Revolution® through its lineup of more than 140 domestic and international exchange-traded funds, which seek to outperform traditional benchmark indexes while providing advisors and investors access to an innovative array of focused investment opportunities. With franchise assets of nearly $100 billion as of October 2, 2015, PowerShares ETFs trade on both US stock exchanges. For more information, please visit us at invescopowershares.com or follow us on Twitter @PowerShares.

ABOUT POWERSHARES QQQ

PowerShares QQQ™, an exchange-traded fund (ETF) based on the NASDAQ-100 Index®, is one of the largest and most traded ETFs in the world. Under most circumstances, QQQ will consist of all of the stocks in the index which includes 100 of the largest domestic and international nonfinancial companies listed on the NASDAQ Stock Market based on market capitalization.

ABOUT AMWAY CENTER

The Orlando Magic served as the developer of the Amway Center, which hosts major national events, concerts and family shows. Opened in the fall of 2010, the facility is owned and operated by the City of Orlando on behalf of the Central Florida community. The Amway Center was designed to reflect the character of the community, meet the goals of the users and build on the legacy of sports and entertainment in Orlando. The building’s exterior features a modern blend of glass and metal materials, along with ever-changing graphics via a monumental wall along one facade. A 180-foot tall tower serves as a beacon amid the downtown skyline. The 875,000 square foot, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certified building features a sustainable, environmentally-friendly design and unmatched technology, including 1,100 digital monitors, the tallest high-definition video board in an NBA venue and multiple premium amenities available to all patrons in the building. Amway Center was recently honored with TheStadiumBusiness Awards’ 2013 Customer Experience Award and named SportsBusiness Journal’s 2012 Sports Facility of the Year. For more information about the Amway Center, visit www.amwaycenter.com.