Mardy Fish

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.”

Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul, Sebi Korda Highlight U.S. Davis Cup Team For Face Colombia In Reno

February 2, 2022 by Randy Walker Leave a Comment

The USTA and United States Davis Cup Captain Mardy Fish today announced that Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul, Sebastian Korda, Jack Sock and Rajeev Ram will represent the U.S. for its Davis Cup by Rakuten Qualifying tie vs. Colombia March 4-5 in Reno, Nevada.

Davis Cup is the World Cup of Men’s Tennis and is the largest international team competition in world sport, with nearly 150 nations competing each year. The Qualifier vs. Colombia is a best-of-five match series played over two days, beginning with two singles matches on Friday, March 4. A doubles match and two reverse singles matches will follow on Saturday, March 5. The first to win three of those matches will advance to the 2022 Davis Cup Finals – a 16-nation, multi-city competition held later this year with dates and locations to be announced.

Tickets are on sale and can be purchased at usta.com/daviscup or via Ticketmaster.

The U.S. team competing in Reno is full of the sport’s top young rising stars and established Grand Slam champions.

Fritz, 24, is the top-ranked American man at No. 20 and reached the final 16 at the Australian Open this year. The Californian has competed for the U.S. in Davis Cup since 2019, when, at 21 years old, he became the youngest American to debut in the Top 25 since Andy Roddick in 2004.

Paul, 24, is ranked No. 42 and will be making his second Davis Cup appearance. A former junior French Open champion and 2020 Tokyo Olympian, Paul earned his first career win over a Top 5-ranked opponent and won his first ATP singles title in 2021.

Korda, 21, is ranked No. 43 and will be making his Davis Cup debut. A former junior world No. 1 and one of the sport’s top young rising stars, Korda rose from outside the Top 300 to inside the Top 40 in a span of less than two years and won his first ATP singles title in 2021.

Sock, 29, has been ranked as high as No. 2 in doubles and No. 8 in singles and has been playing Davis Cup since 2015. A three-time Grand Slam doubles champion and 2016 Rio Olympic men’s doubles gold medalist, Sock is 9-4 overall in Davis Cup play with a 5-1 mark in doubles.

Ram, 37, is ranked a career-high No. 4 in doubles and is making his second consecutive Davis Cup appearance. A two-time U.S. Olympian and 2016 Rio silver medalist in mixed doubles, Ram won his second Grand Slam and third ATP Masters 1000 doubles titles last summer at the US Open and Toronto, respectively, and owns 22 career ATP doubles titles.

This is the first time Davis Cup has been played in Northern Nevada. Davis Cup has only come to Nevada once before, a 1995 matchup between the U.S. and Sweden at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas that the U.S. won en route to winning the title that year. The United States owns an all-time record of 114-19 when playing at home and last won the title in 2007.

The U.S. and Colombia have split their four Davis Cup meetings, with the Colombians winning the latest matchup in the group stages of the 2021 Finals last fall in Turin, Italy.

Deloitte is the official sponsor of the U.S. Davis Cup Team. Wilson is the official ball of the U.S. Davis Cup Team.

For more information, including access to player and historical records, visit www.usta.com/daviscup or www.daviscup.com.

U.S. Davis Cup Captain, Olympic Silver Medalist Mardy Fish May Have A Court Named After Him In Hometown Of Vero Beach, Florida

April 11, 2021 by Randy Walker 1 Comment

There is Arthur Ashe Stadium, Rod Laver Arena, but how about Mardy Fish Court?

It may happen in Vero Beach, Florida, the hometown of the U.S. Davis Cup captain and 2004 Olympic silver medalist Mardy Fish.

The Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation, the charitable organization founded by Fish in 2007, has been in discussions with the City of Vero Beach and the U.S. Tennis Association about refurbishing the town’s Riverside Tennis Complex in its harbor-side location on its central beach island area into a new state-of-the-art tennis complex that would rival many of the nation’s top tennis facilities. The facility would serve as a hub not only for all the local resident tennis players but also for many Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation funded youth programs, as well as junior and adult tournaments, special population programming such as Special Olympics, Wheelchair Tennis, Love Serving Autism as well a potential professional events on an intimate Mardy Fish Court. The Mardy Fish Court would be a beautifully landscaped natural Amphitheatre that would be located on the exact court where a young Fish first learned to play tennis with his father Tom and first dreamed of one day playing at the U.S. Open and Wimbledon.

“Riverside Park is where it all started for Mardy and him starting to love the game of tennis, hitting balls with me on that court in the northeast corner of the facility,” said Tom Fish, Mardy’s father and the President Emeritus of the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation. “We look forward to hosting many young people in Vero Beach to Riverside Park where they can be inspired by the dreams and successes of Mardy and realize their own hopes and dreams while able to gain important exercise in a safe and healthy environment.”

The USTA worked with the Fish Foundation with a site plan, rendering and business plans for the facility’s operation. It also promised to help fund the project via special grants, but also via special presentation to mega donors during the U.S. Open. However, progress on the project went on a standstill with the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and the USTA’s finances taking a major hit with a fan-less U.S. Open last year, significantly cutting into its revenue that is used to annually fun tennis in the United States, including projects such as this effort for the Fish Foundation. However, as the country starts to slowly emerge from the pandemic, the Foundation has started to revamp its efforts, including fundraising, to revitalize the facility and increase programming.

“We also see this as being a beatification project,” said Lynn Southerly, executive director of the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation. “Improving the courts and surrounding buildings and land would make it as pleasant to look at as our art museum and the Riverside Theatre. It would enhance the couple block area of our charming sea-side town for all our residents to enjoy. A beautiful-looking tennis facility would be a real feather in the cap for our Vero Beach community. A facility of this stature improves our ability to serve our youth and community at large, gives us a place to hold income generating events that would benefit all our residents and local business owners and honor Mardy Fish, one of our great homegrown heroes and role models.”

The Riverside Tennis Complex is also the hub of the newly-created Treasure Coast Tennis Association, founded by former Baylor University women’s tennis coach Tim Palmer. The TCTA in conjunction with the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation completed a wildly-successful free program for Vero Beach children called “Whack-It Wednesday” in the fall of 2020, introducing kids to the sports of tennis and providing them important recreation and exercise. The holiday surge in COVID-19 cases prevented the program from immediately continuing in early 2021, but the program will return this summer. Palmer also has had deep discussions with the USTA Florida office in Orlando about bringing Love Serving Autism and Wheelchair Tennis programming to Riverside Park starting this summer.

Randy Walker, the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation’s tournament director for its annual USTA pro circuit event, plans to start to hosting competitive tournaments for juniors and pros this summer and believes that a refurbished hard court facility would be able to host pro tournament, exhibitions and practice and training events for top pros, especially since Florida’s two biggest pro events, the ATP Tour’s Delray Beach Open and the ATP and WTA Tour’s Miami Open, are both played on hard courts. Current top pros Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia and Alexander Zverev of Germany have both recently considered hard-court training in Vero Beach.

The annual Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships ITF World Tennis Tour event brings in an estimated $500,000 in economic impact annually into the Vero Beach community.

Vero Beach is regarded as one of the most enthusiastic tennis communities in the country. It is also the home of Hall of Fame legend Ivan Lendl and former French Open runner-up and top 10 star Mikael Pernfors.

Riverside Park is also the home of the boys and girls tennis teams at St. Edwards School. Walker has made inquiries already received initial interest from a few college programs about playing special dual matches at Riverside Park on the six courts on the west side of the footprint.

Riverside Park Tennis Court Refurbishment Plan In Vero Beach, Florida, courtesy of the U.S. Tennis Association

World’s Best “Wild Card” Event Set For Sea Oaks Club In Vero Beach, Florida

February 9, 2020 by Randy Walker Leave a Comment

The Sea Oaks Tennis Club in Vero Beach, Florida will once again host a main draw singles wild card tournament for the The Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships $15,000 ITF World Tennis Tour event, Wednesday February 26 to Friday, February 28.

Players from around the world will compete in the event where the winner will receive a direct entry into the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships, the $15,000 ITF World Tennis Tour event to be held April 26-May 3 at The Boulevard tennis club. This marks the third straight year that Sea Oaks has hosted this special wild card tournament. The last two years, Matthew Segura, the teenage great nephew of Hall of Fame tennis legend Pancho Segura, has won the event. Christian Vinck, a former standout ATP player from Germany who reached the third round at Wimbledon in 2000 and who defeated Andre Agassi in the final of the 1997 USTA Las Vegas Challenger, has already committed to play in the 2020 event. With crowds of hundreds of fans daily, the event has been dubbed “The Greatest Wild Card Tournament In The World” – at least on the ITF World Tennis Tour and U.S. Tennis Association Pro Circuit.

Players can enter the event on the UTR platform here: https://myutr.com/events/15462?_ref=randywal270 (Deadline to enter is February 20) Matches will be best-of-three set matches with a 10-point Match Tiebreaker played in lieu of a third set. Admission to this event is free.

The Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships is the USTA’s $15,000 ITF World Tennis Tour tournament 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 at-risk children, named for Vero Beach native son Mardy Fish, the former top 10 tennis star and the current U.S. Davis Cup captain.

Tournament tickets and sponsorships for the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships are now on sale and can be purchased at www.MardyFishChildrensFoundation.org Tickets for the April 26-May 3 are $20, with “night session” tickets starting at 5 pm from April 27 – May 2 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, Randy Walker at RWalker@NewChapterMedia.com or Lynn Southerly at LSouth1072@aol.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.

Founded in 2007, the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation (www.MardyFishChildrensFoundation.com) currently supports over 2,400 children in conjunction with several other nonprofit organization as well as 15 elementary schools and six middle schools 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 Foundation’s story can also be seen in a video here: https://www.mardyfishchildrensfoundation.org/a-message-from-mardy/

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.

Sea Oaks Tennis Club in Vero Beach, Florida

World’s Best ITF World Tennis Tour Event In Vero Beach, Florida Gets Long-Term Home

December 23, 2019 by Randy Walker Leave a Comment

The Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships, Vero Beach’s long-time annual U.S. Tennis Association Pro Circuit tennis tournament, will be held at The Boulevard Tennis Club through 2022, the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation announced today.

The Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation and Vero Beach’s premier tennis club signed a three-year agreement last week where The Boulevard will host the men’s professional event in 2020, 2021 and 2022. The 2020 event will be held April 26 – May 3 and will be a $15,000-level event on the International Tennis Federation (ITF) World Tennis Tour. The event benefits the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation, the non-profit organization the benefits at-risk children in Indian River County founded by Vero Beach native son Mardy Fish, the former top 10 tennis star and the current U.S. Davis Cup captain. As part of the agreement, The Boulevard will house and showcase the event’s perpetual trophy, the Rahaley Cup, named for the event founder Mike Rahaley, who passed away earlier this year. The Boulevard will also include the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation in its promotions, including television commercials seen throughout Indian River County.

“We are excited to enter into a multi-year agreement with The Boulevard, which is the epicenter for tennis in Vero Beach,” said Tom Fish, President-emeritus of the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation and the father of Mardy Fish. “We are grateful to The Boulevard and its staff for their support of this Vero Beach sporting tradition that serves as our major fundraiser for the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation, which benefits at-risk children in Indian River County.”

The Boulevard has hosted the event eight times since 2010 and has seen such current ATP Tour standout players such as Frances Tiafoe, Denis Shapovalov and Kyle Edmund compete in the event there. A 48-player qualifying tournament will start Sunday, April 26 with main-draw play starting Tuesday, April 28 concluding with the singles final on Sunday, May 3.

Founded in 2007, the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation currently supports over 2,400 children in conjunction with several other nonprofit organization as well as 15 elementary schools and six middle schools 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 Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships has been played in Vero Beach since 1995 and regarded as one of the best entry-level professional tennis tournaments in the world. Some of the past competitors 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.

For more information on the event, including ticket and sponsor information, go to www.MardyFishChildrensFoundation.org. Admission for children 18 and under is free. Sponsorships are available by contacting Treasurer/Executive Director Lynn Southerly at LSouth1072@gmail.com or co-tournament directors Tom Fish (Tfish@aol.com) and Randy Walker at (Rwalker@NewChapterMedia.com). Fans can follow news and developments on the tournament on Facebook and on Twitter at @VeroFutures.

The Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships have an annual economic impact of approximately $500,000 per year on the Vero Beach local economy. Approximately 3,000 fans annually attend the event, which is seen as one of the best-attended events entry-level events in the world.

Dmitry Popko of Kazakhstan and the Kazakhstan Davis Cup team won the 2019 Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships at the Boulevard beating Sekou Bangoura of the United States in the final. Sixteen-year-old Zach Svajda of San Diego, who advanced into the main draw of the 2019 event at The Boulevard via the qualifying rounds, jump-started an incredible summer of tennis in Vero Beach in 2019, winning the USTA National Boy’s 18s Championships in Kalamazoo, Michigan and earned a main draw spot at the U.S. Open, becoming one of the youngest men ever to compete in the U.S. Championships. He lost in the first-round to Paolo Lorenzi of Italy in five sets after leading two sets to love.

The Boulevard Tennis Club, located in Central Vero Beach on Indian River Boulevard, is the fastest-growing tennis club in Vero Beach, featuring 13 clay tennis courts and world-class tennis instruction and programming for all levels of players. The club is also the home of the highly-regarded restaurant and bar Counter Culture, which is open to the public six days a week. For more information, go to www.BlvdTennisClub.com

The Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships in Vero Beach will be played at The Boulevard Tennis Club Through At Least 2022

Taylor Fritz, Reilly Opelka, Sam Querrey, Frances Tiafoe and Jack Sock To Play For USA at 2019 Davis Cup by Rakuten Finals

October 21, 2019 by tennisbloggers

The USTA and United States Davis Cup Captain Mardy Fish announced that Taylor Fritz, Reilly Opelka, Sam Querrey, Frances Tiafoe and Jack Sock will represent the U.S. in the 2019 Davis Cup by Rakuten Finals November 18-24 in Madrid.

This year’s Finals – the first under the new, 18-team format featuring six groups of round-robin play followed by a knockout bracket – will be played on hard courts at La Caja Magica, the home of the Madrid Open. In Fish’s first ties as Captain, the U.S. will compete in Group F against Canada on Tuesday, November 19, and Italy, on Wednesday, November 20. Each tie features two singles and one doubles match, all best of three sets, played in one day. Captains have until one hour before the scheduled start of the tie to make their singles and doubles selections.

Félix Auger-Aliassime, Denis Shapovalov, Milos Raonic and Vasek Pospisil were selected to represent Canada. The U.S. is 15-0 all-time vs. Canada, but the two haven’t played since 1965.

Matteo Berrettini, Fabio Fognini, Andreas Seppi and Simone Bolelli were selected to represent Italy. The U.S. is 7-3 all-time vs. Italy, the last tie being an Italian victory in the 1998 Semifinals.

The winner of each Group advances to the knockout Quarterfinal stage, as will the two second-best teams with the best records based on sets and games won. Performance at the Finals also has implications for the following year: The four semifinalists earn automatic entry into the 2020 Finals; The 12 teams that finish in 5th to 16th position will compete in the 2020 Qualifiers; The two teams with the worst records after the Group stage will be relegated to Zone Group play in 2020.

The U.S. team is a blend of Davis Cup youth and experience. Querrey is the most tenured Davis Cup player of the nominees, having played in 14 ties over eight years beginning in 2008, the year following the U.S.’s last Davis Cup title. Querrey, 32, featured in all three ties in 2018, going 3-0 in singles. Sock, 27, made his debut in 2015 and has played in six ties, in which the former world doubles No. 2 has gone 3-0 in doubles matches. Tiafoe, 21 and ranked No. 53, earns his second nomination, after debuting in last year’s Semifinals vs. Croatia.

Fritz and Opelka each earn their first U.S. Davis Cup nominations, becoming the 142nd and 143rd players to compete in Davis Cup for the U.S. Fritz, 21, has had a 2019 season in which he won his first ATP title at Eastbourne, over Querrey, and reached two additional ATP finals to make his Top 25 debut, becoming the youngest American in the Top 25 since Andy Roddick in 2004. Opelka, 22, also won his first ATP singles title this year, at the New York Open, and reached two additional ATP semifinals. Opelka, currently ranked a career-high No. 37, is second on tour to John Isner in aces this year, with 871.

For more information, including access to player and historical Davis Cup records, please go to www.usta.com/daviscup, www.daviscup.com or www.daviscupfinals.com.

Follow Team USA using hashtag #TeamUSATennis on Facebook @USTA, on Twitter @USTA and on Instagram @USTA. Wilson is the official ball of the U.S. Davis Cup team. Deloitte is the official team sponsor of the U.S. Davis Cup Team.

Tommy Haas Win Invesco Series QQQ Title In Hawaii

May 6, 2019 by tennisbloggers

MAUI, Hawaii – Tommy Haas defeated Mardy Fish 6-4 Sunday to win the Hawaii Champions Cup at the Royal Lahaina Resort, the fourth of ten events on the 2019 Invesco Series QQQ tennis circuit.

Haas, 41, successfully defended his title that he won last year when he beat John McEnroe in the final on the Kohala Coast. In his second year on this North American tennis tour for champion tennis players over the age of 30, Haas has now captured four career titles.

“I’m very happy with the way I played,” said Haas of winning for a second time in Hawaii. “It’s always tough to play against someone as tough as Mardy whom you could see was very serious once again out there today. We had quite a few battles on the regular tour and now on the Invesco Series. I have fun playing him every single time and I have to always bring my best to beat him.”

The players had to deal with gusty Hawaiian winds Sunday afternoon, causing the players to adjust balls tosses, spins and shot velocities.

“You have to move your feet a little better and you have to keep your eye on the ball a little more,” said Haas of the windy conditions. “For us tennis players, we are adjusting pretty much every week. We go to different cities, we go to difference countries, play on difference surfaces. We have many excuses but at the same time we find many different solutions. That’s really what is all about, problem solving out here.”

En route to the final, Haas beat Mark Philippoussis 6-2 while Fish defeated Michael Chang 6-3. The win moves Haas into the lead in the Invesco Series QQQ rankings with 800 points afte tournament victories in both of his 2019 appearances.

The 2019 Invesco Series QQQ circuit continues July 21 with the Invesco Legends Newport at the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

Earlier this season, Haas kicked off the 2019 Invesco Series QQQ circuit by defeating Roddick 7-6 (2) in the title match at the Oracle Champions Cup in Newport Beach, California. James Blake won the second event of the season at the Innisbrook Resort in Palm Harbor, Fla., defeating Courier 6-3 in the final. Lleyton Hewitt won the third title of the season in Charleston, S.C.

The remaining 2019 Invesco Series QQQ schedule is as follows:

Newport, RI – July 21 (International Tennis Hall of Fame): Todd Martin, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Jim Courier, Mats Wilander
San Jose, CA – August 3: James Blake, Andy Roddick, Mark Philippoussis, Michael Chang
New Haven, CT – September 7 (Venue and Players TBA)
Toronto, ON – September 26 (Mattamy Athletic Centre): Players TBA
Los Angeles, CA – Date and Venue TBA: Players TBA
Austin, TX – November 15: Venue and Players TBA

In 2018, Blake won his first Invesco Series QQQ year-long points championship by winning titles in Winston-Salem, New Haven and Houston, while also finishing as runner-up in Los Angeles and Orlando.

In 2017, the year-long points championship was decided in the final match of the season when Andy Roddick defeated James Blake in the Los Angeles final at the Sherwood Country Club. Roddick, the 2003 U.S. Open champion and world No. 1, won four Invesco Series QQQ titles in all in 2017, winning in Birmingham, Ala., Chicago, Lincoln, Neb., and Los Angeles. Blake, the former world No. 4 and former U.S. Davis Cup star, won series titles in Charleston, S.C., Winston-Salem, N.C. and in Lynchburg, Va.

In 2016, Mark Philippoussis won the Series points title with 1600 points and tournament titles in Memphis, Tulsa, Newport, Winston-Salem and New Haven. Roddick finished in second place, also earning 1600 points but losing the head-to-head tiebreaker with Philippoussis 5-2, while winning titles in Charleston, St. Louis, Los Angeles and Orlando. Blake finished in third place with 1100 points and tournament titles in Chicago, Portland and Brooklyn.
In 2015, Roddick won the Series points title in his second year of competing on the series with 1,600 points. Roddick won a record eight events Los Angeles, Lincoln, Chicago, Austin, Little Rock, Dallas, Richmond and Minneapolis. Blake finished second in the points rankings with 1,200 points, winning events in Boston and Cincinnati. Philippoussis finished in third with 1,100 points, winning titles in Salt Lake City and Vancouver. The year before in 2014, McEnroe won the points title for the first time in the nine-year history of Invesco Series QQQ tennis by winning events in Kansas City, Indianapolis, Nashville and Charlotte.

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Sponsorships, Tickets, Tournament Kickoff Party Opportunities For Sale For Mardy Fish Tennis

March 21, 2019 by tennisbloggers

Sponsorships, advance tournament tickets, and “Tournament Kickoff Party” opportunities for the 2019 Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships are available and selling fast as the annual USTA Pro Circuit event approaches April 29-May 5 at The Boulevard Tennis Club in Vero Beach, Florida.

All opportunities are available for sale at www.MardyFishChildrensFoundation.org Proceeds for the event benefit the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation, the non-profit tennis foundation benefiting children, named for Vero Beach native son Mardy Fish, a former top 10 tennis star, silver medalist at the 2004 Olympic Games and the newly named U.S. Davis Cup captain.

The popular Vero Beach band “Riptide” will perform for patrons at the official Tournament Kickoff Party Sunday, April 28 from 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm. A special “shoot-out” mini tennis event, featuring world-ranked tournament players, also will highlight the party. Tickets, which includes two cocktails and food, are available for $60.

Sponsorships are available for as low as $250 and include signage and reserved seating, depending on the level of sponsorship. All sponsorship level details are available at www.MardyFishChildrensFoundation.org or by emailing co-tournament directors Tom Fish at Ttfish10s@aol.com or Randy Walker at RWalker@NewChapterMedia.com. Sponsorships that include on-court signage are due by April 8.

Tournament tickets for all sessions of the event are on sale for $100 with daily tickets costing $20 and tickets purchased after 5 pm on Monday, April 29 through Saturday, May 4 for sale for $10. Admission for children 18 and under is free. Matches will start each day at Noon, except for the singles final at 1 pm on Sunday, May 5. The full tournament schedule is found below.

Wednesday April 24 – Saturday, April 27
Pre-Qualifying singles event
Main draw doubles “wild card” event
Times TBD, (Free to public)

Monday, April 29
Qualifying singles
Noon start with at least one match starting at 5 pm and one at 6:45 pm

Tuesday, April 30
Qualifying singles finals
Main draw doubles
Main draw singles
Noon start at least one match starting at 5 pm and one at 6:45 pm

Wednesday, May 1
Main draw singles
Main draw doubles
Noon start at least one match starting at 5 pm and one at 6:45 pm

Thursday, May 2
Main draw singles
Main draw doubles
Noon start at least one match starting at 5 pm and one at 6:45 pm

Friday, May 3
Main draw singles – quarterfinals
Main draw doubles
Noon start at least one match starting at 5 pm and one at 6:45 pm

Saturday, May 4
Main draw singles – semifinals
Main draw doubles – final
Noon start with first singles semifinal followed by second singles semifinal, followed by the doubles final

Sunday, May 5
Main draw singles – final
1 pm start

The Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships is the USTA’s $25,000 ITF World Tennis Tour tournament played in Vero Beach since 1995 and is regarded as one of the best entry-level professional tennis tournaments in the world. Fans can follow news and developments on the tournament on Facebook and on Twitter at @VeroFutures. Approximately 3,000 fans annually attend the event, which is seen as one of the best-attended entry-level professional events in the world.

Founded in 2007, the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation (www.MardyFishFoundation.com 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.

Pancho Segura’s Great Nephew Matthew Segura Once Again Wins Mardy Fish Wild Card Tournament

March 5, 2019 by tennisbloggers

Matthew Segura of Apopka, Florida, the great nephew of Tennis Hall of Fame tennis legend Pancho Segura, defeated fellow 18-year-old American Perry Gregg of Chicago 7-6 (0), 6-4 in the final of the “Wild Card” tournament for the 2019 Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships ITF World Tennis Tour event on Friday, March 1 at the Sea Oaks tennis club.

It marked the second straight year that Segura won this specially-created tournament where the winner is awarded a main draw wild card entry into the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships, Vero Beach’s $25,000 ITF World Tennis Tour professional tennis tournament that has been held since 1995. Segura will be among 32 players from around the world who will compete in the main draw of the event April 29 – May 5 at The Boulevard tennis club. Last year, Segura defeated Jack Vance of Henderson, Nevada 6-3, 6-4 in the championship match at Sea Oaks to earn a wild card into the 2018 event, where he lost in the first round to Nico Mejia of Colombia. One of the top junior players in the nation, Segura plays ambidextrously, hitting right-handed and left-handed and also using two-handed forehands and backhands just as his great uncle Pancho did during his Hall of Fame career.

En route to the title at Sea Oaks, Segura beat 39-year-old Brian Battistone in the round of 16 in what is believed to be the first ever pro tennis match played between two ambidextrous players. In the semifinals, he beat Jack Vance by the exact 6-3, 6-4 scoreline from their 2018 Sea Oaks final. In his two tournament appearances at Sea Oaks, Segura has won all nine matches in straight sets.

The full completed draw and schedule can be seen on TennisLink here:
https://tennislink.usta.com/Tournaments/TournamentHome/Tournament.aspx?T=235635#&&s=7Draws3 Thirty-two players from 11 states and three different countries were represented in the event. The event featured daily crowds of several hundred fans.

The Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation will also host a qualifying wild card tournament – or a pre-qualifying event – and a main draw doubles wild card event at The Boulevard Tennis Club April 24-27. To enter and for more information, go here on the UTR website: https://www.myutr.com/events/3744 Entries for these events are open to anyone, but players must have an ITF Ipin number in order to play in the official qualifying or main draw events, if they win these two tournaments.

Proceeds from these events 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 newly-named U.S. Davis Cup captain.

Tournament tickets and sponsorships for the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships are now on sale and can be purchased at www.MardyFishChildrensFoundation.org Daily tickets cost $20 with daily “night” tickets purchased after 5 pm cost $10. Season tickets for all sessions cost $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

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.

Matthew Segura and tournament director Randy Walker

Mardy Fish Named New U.S. Davis Cup Captain

January 9, 2019 by tennisbloggers

The USTA today announced that former world No. 7 and Davis Cup veteran Mardy Fish has been named the new captain of the U.S. Davis Cup Team. He succeeds Jim Courier to become the 41st captain in the team’s 120-year history and will make his debut at the newly transformed Davis Cup by BNP Paribas Finals November 18-24 in Madrid, Spain.

“Ever since I started playing professionally and started understanding what the Davis Cup was and how special it was, even as a player, I wanted to be the Davis Cup Captain,” Fish said. “I just thought that position was so special – leading the guys and leading the team, building relationships and the team aspect around it. I’m a team-sport athlete stuck in an individual sport, and I love the team aspect of Davis Cup. To even be considered, let alone named the Captain, is incredibly humbling.”

In this new era of Davis Cup, the role of Captain will be expanded, with the position working more closely with USTA Player Development throughout the year, as well as traveling to multiple tournaments and camps to support American players, serving as a mentor for American pros and juniors. He will also ensure the U.S. Davis Cup team remains a strong platform to grow the game through the USTA’s Net Generation youth initiative.

“Mardy Fish embodies all of the qualities of a successful Davis Cup Captain and will be an invaluable asset to Team USA,” said USTA Chairman of the Board and President Patrick Galbraith. “His achievements as a player both on tour and in Davis Cup are renowned, and his acumen for the game is as strong as his relationships with our American players. There are few people in tennis as qualified to lead the U.S. Davis Cup Team into the next decade, and we cannot wait to see what that future has in store under Mardy’s leadership.”

Fish, 37, reached the singles quarterfinals at three of the four Grand Slams and won a combined 14 ATP titles (six singles, eight doubles) before retiring from playing at the 2015 US Open. He also produced a number of signature performances while representing his country, earning the singles silver medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics and writing his name in the U.S. Davis Cup record book.

Fish played in 11 Davis Cup ties for the U.S. from 2002-12 and is still the last U.S. Davis Cup player to win three live matches in a single tie, in a 3-1 World Group Playoff win in Colombia in 2010 that kept alive the U.S.’s now-record uninterrupted streak in the World Group. Fish’s two singles victories in that tie were five-setters, and he and Courier are the only U.S. Davis Cup players to win two five-set matches in the same tie. In his last Davis Cup playing appearance, Fish beat Stan Wawrinka in five sets and teamed with Mike Bryan to beat Wawrinka and Roger Federer in a 5-0 sweep of Switzerland in the 2012 First Round.

After retiring in 2015, Fish worked part-time as a coach with USTA Player Development, helping to guide young Americans on tour, including Taylor Fritz and Jared Donaldson, through 2017.

Founded in 1900, Davis Cup by BNP Paribas is the World Cup of Tennis and is the largest annual international team competition in sport, with approximately 135 nations competing each year. The U.S. leads all nations with 32 Davis Cup titles. The U.S. holds a 219-72 all-time Davis Cup record, and owns the longest uninterrupted run in the World Group, dating back to 1989. For more information, including access to player and historical Davis Cup records, please go to www.usta.com/daviscup or www.daviscup.com.