USTA

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.

“Pioneers of the Game” Book By Marshall Happer Documents History of Men’s Pro Tennis Administration

January 18, 2022 by Randy Walker Leave a Comment

“Pioneers of the Game: The Evolution of Men’s Professional Tennis,” the comprehensive tennis history book written by Marshall Happer, is now available for sale.

The book is the culmination of many years of research and work from Happer, who was the first and only “commissioner” of men’s professional tennis as the head of the Men’s Tennis Council, the first and last unified governing body of men’s tennis from 1974-1989.

“Pioneers of the Game” documents the saga and history of the inside struggles and conflicts of a surprisingly small group of international visionaries and activists who shaped the business, administration, and governance of men’s professional tennis from 1919 to 1990 and beyond. The book details the pioneer’s 40-year competition between amateur and professional tennis which eventually forced the approval of Open Tennis in 1968, followed by the creation and development of the business, administration, and governance of men’s tennis as a professional sport between 1968 and1990 and beyond, with the divided governance and the advent of the ATP Tour.

This historical volume profiles, honors, and ranks these administrative legends which include Jack Kramer, Phillippe Chatrier, Lamar Hunt, Herman David, Derek Hardwick, Robert Kelleher, Donald Dell, Mike Davies, Stan Malless, Tony Trabert, Arthur Ashe, and Cliff Drysdale, among others.

“I am proud that I had the opportunity to meet and work for and with many of the Pioneers of the Game,” said Happer. “I wish I had known all of this history when I was privileged to be involved in men’s professional tennis.”

Steve Flink, the Hall of Fame tennis writer and historian, contributed the Foreword to the book, writing, “In this compelling and immensely significant book, Marshall Happer—a central figure in the evolution of pro tennis and one of its most crucial citizens— writes the definitive historical account of how (men’s pro tennis) all transpired, of those who contributed most mightily to the growth and wellbeing of the sport, of why the many challenges confronted by the those in and around the establishment were ultimately successful in their quest to turn the men’s game into a place of growing prominence along the landscape of sports.”

The book, which has suffered through some supply chain delays but be ordered now here XXXX via Amazon.com, has also already captured the attention of some of biggest names from the board rooms to the courts over the last 50 years.

Said five-time U.S. Open champion Jimmy Connors, “This is about the development of men’s tennis from the beginning. The Pioneers molded the game, but did those involved have their own agendas? Marshall Happer had to deal with all the ‘players’ – those on the court and those behind the scenes. This is a story that needs to be told – to understand how tennis has gotten to where it is now. Many questions will be answered, and maybe, just maybe, a few more will be asked.”

Said three-time U.S. Open champion Ivan Lendl, “I was opposed to many of the rules that Marshall held us to and we fought all the time, but looking back he had an impossible job which he tried to manage in the fairest way possible.”

Said Craig Tiley, the CEO of Tennis Australia and the tournament director of the Australian Open, “Success is optimised by having respect and a better understanding of the past. Marshall’s book will help everyone in tennis reflect and gain greater knowledge of what came before them.”

Said Cliff Drysdale, the first President of the ATP, “There were so many moving parts to this interesting story. At that time tennis organizations and players in this drama were staking their claim to a place at the table. Marshall Happer was in the right place then, and he led the game thru its formative stage when there was no clear end in sight. He steered the discussion forcefully but gently through those turbulent times. Indeed, for a long while he was the lead pioneer. Marshall has done diligent research so this book is a definitive historical account. It is a great trip down memory lane and a fascinating tale of the birth of pro tennis.”

Said Miami Open Founder and Former ATP Executive Director Butch Buchholz, “Men’s professional tennis today owes a huge thank you to Marshall Happer who was the Administrator for the Men’s Tennis Council, the first and only unified governing body for men’s professional tennis. Professional tennis needed someone with Marshall’s passion for tennis and legal background to build the foundation for the sport we enjoy today.”

Said long-time Indian Wells tournament owner and tournament director Charlie Pasarell, “As a founding member of the ATP and later a member of the Men’s Tennis Council representing the North American Tournaments, I had the privilege of spending many hours in meeting rooms with Marshall….Much of the success that Tennis has achieved is due to some sound fundamentals that were established under Marshall’s leadership then. This book tells the accurate historical story of that period. It is a must read for Tennis fans, and should be mandatory reading for all players, tournament directors and tennis officials.”

Said Micky Den Tuinder Lawler, President of the WTA, “Pioneers of the Game provides the reader with a unique and inside personal insight into the fascinating world of tennis. This game is as competitive and intense behind the scenes as it is on the court. The thick plots that evolved on the international stage rival any adventure in Ian Fleming’s James Bond series.”

Said Tennis Channel President Ken Solomon, “Marshall Happer has written the definitive history of one of the most unlikely and least understood origin stories of any major sport, chronicling the tumultuous 40 year birth of men’s, and eventually all, professional tennis. Commissioner Happer’s meticulous, fascinating and thoroughly entertaining narrative has never before been told, and is a must read for any tennis fan or player seeking the unique origins of the professional game.”

Founded in 1987, New Chapter Press (www.NewChapterMedia.com) is also the publisher of “Juan Martin del Potro: The Gentle Giant” by Sebastian Torok, “The Greatest Tennis Matches of All-Time” and “Pete Sampras: Greatness Revisited” by Steve Flink, “The Education of a Tennis Player” by Rod Laver with Bud Collins, “The Bud Collins History of Tennis” by Bud Collins, “The Pros: The Forgotten Era Of Tennis” by Peter Underwood, “The Wimbledon Final That Never Was” by Sidney Wood, “Titanic: The Tennis Story” by Lindsay Gibbs, “Macci Magic: Extracting Greatness From Yourself And Others” by Rick Macci with Jim Martz, “The Secrets of Spanish Tennis” by Chris Lewit, “Andy Murray, Wimbledon Champion: The Full Extraordinary Story” by Mark Hodgkinson, “Cattle To Courts: A History of Tennis In Texas” by Ken McAllister, “Sport of a Lifetime: Enduring Personal Stories From Tennis” by Judy Aydelott, “Trojan Tennis: A History of the Storied Men’s Tennis Program at the University of Southern California” by S. Mark Young, “Absolute Tennis: The Best And Next Way To Play The Game” by Marty Smith, “How To Permanently Erase Negative Self Talk So You Can Be Extraordinary” by Emily Filloramo, “Acing Depression: A Tennis Champion’s Toughest Match” by Cliff Richey and Hilaire Richey Kallendorf, “Your Playbook For Beating Depression: Essential Strategies For Managing and Living with Depression” by Cliff Richey and Mary Garrison, “Roger Federer: Quest for Perfection” by Rene Stauffer, “The Days of Roger Federer” by Randy Walker, “Jan Kodes: A Journey To Glory From Behind The Iron Curtain” by Jan Kodes with Peter Kolar, “Tennis Made Easy” by Kelly Gunterman, “On This Day In Tennis History” by Randy Walker, “A Player’s Guide To USTA League Tennis” by Tony Serksnis, “Court Confidential: Inside The World Of Tennis” by Neil Harman, “A Backhanded Gift” by Marshall Jon Fisher, “Boycott: Stolen Dreams of the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games” by Tom Caraccioli and Jerry Caraccioli (www.Boycott1980.com), “Internet Dating 101: It’s Complicated, But It Doesn’t Have To Be” by Laura Schreffler, “How To Sell Your Screenplay” by Carl Sautter, “Bone Appetit: Gourmet Cooking For Your Dog” by Suzan Anson, “The Rules of Neighborhood Poker According to Hoyle” by Stewart Wolpin among others.

2021 U.S. Open Completes “Greatest Return”

September 13, 2021 by TennisGrandstand Leave a Comment

Following a 2020 US Open that was contested without spectators for the first time, the 2021 US Open welcomed back fans and all competitions for an event that lived up to its billing of the ‘Greatest Return,’ on the court and off.

Among the highlights from the 2021 US Open:

On-the-Court
• Two new MAJOR singles champions were crowned in 25-year old Daniil Medvedev (RUS) and 18-year old Emma Raducanu (GBR). Raducanu defeated 19-year-old Leylah Fernandez (CAN) in the first all-teenage US Open women’s final since 1999 to become the youngest US Open women’s singles champion since Serena Williams that year. Medvedev defeated Novak Djokovic (SRB), who was bidding to win the first ‘Calendar Grand Slam’ since 1969.
• Led by Raducanu and Fernandez, teenagers took the US Open by storm, including 18-year-old Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, who became the youngest man to reach the US Open quarterfinals in the Open Era. Further, 17-year-old American Robin Montgomery won the girls’ junior singles and doubles titles, the first American to accomplish that since Lindsay Davenport in 1992.
• Dylan Alcott (AUS) and Diede de Groot (NED) each completed the ‘Golden Slam’ in wheelchair tennis, having won their respective events – Alcott in quad singles and de Groot in women’s singles – in all four majors and the Tokyo Olympics. Meanwhile, the British wheelchair men’s doubles team of Gordon Reid and Alfie Hewett became the first team to win the Calendar Grand Slam in wheelchair men’s doubles.
• Marking one of the most competitive tournaments in history, 36 five-set matches were played – the most ever at a US Open.

Attendance
• Total attendance for the 2021 US Open was 631,134 – 85 percent of 2019’s record-setting attendance of 737,919.

Digital and Social
• The US Open’s social media channels set a record with over 500 million total interactions and video views, while the US Open’s Instagram account surpassed 2 million followers.
• Nearly 9 million (8.9 million) unique devices visited USOpen.org and the US Open App over the two weeks, while total traffic to USOpen.org was up by 1 percent over 2019.
Food and Beverage
• 189,942 signature Honey Deuce drinks were sold throughout the two weeks of the main draw.

Celebrities
• The tournament opened and closed in star-studded fashion, beginning with the USTA Foundation’s Opening Night Gala, which raised a record $2 million amid the likes of Alec Baldwin, Vera Wang, Daymond John and Lindsey Vonn.
• Meanwhile, Sunday’s men’s final featured a celebrity lineup befitting a Gala event, featuring Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio, Bradley Cooper, Kate Hudson, Lupita Nyong’o, Gayle King, Rosario Dawson, Spike Lee, Frank Ocean, Jon Hamm, James Corden, Ben Stiller, Christine Taylor, Rami Malek, Claire Danes, Megan Rapinoe, Maria Sharapova, Diane von Furstenburg, Sharon Stone, John Krasinski, Rosario Dawson and Jamie Foxx, among many others.

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

Aussie Open Star Kenin Joins Serena Williams, Coco Gauff on U.S. Fed Cup Team

January 28, 2020 by Randy Walker Leave a Comment

The USTA and United States Fed Cup Captain Kathy Rinaldi today announced that 23-time Grand Slam champion and world No. 9 Serena Williams, No. 15 Sofia Kenin, No. 19 Alison Riske, No. 67 Coco Gauff and former doubles No. 1 Bethanie Mattek-Sands will represent the U.S. in its Fed Cup by BNP Paribas Qualifying tie vs. Latvia February 7-8 at Angel Of The Winds Arena in Everett, Wash.

World No. 33 Anasasija Sevastova, No. 45 and 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko, No. 263 Diana Marcinkevica and No. 492 Daniela Vismane will represent Latvia for Captain Adrians Zguns in the best-of-five match series, which will be played on a hard court inside Angel Of The Winds Arena.

Play will begin at 7:30 p.m. local time (10:30 p.m. ET) on Friday and 3:30 p.m. (6:30 p.m. ET) on Saturday. Friday’s two singles matches will pit each country’s No. 1 player against the other’s No. 2. Saturday will feature the two reverse singles matches – No. 1 vs. No. 1; No. 2 vs. No. 2 – followed by a possible fifth-and-decisive doubles match. A revised schedule for Saturday may take place if a team clinches in the third or fourth match.

The matchups and order of play for the weekend’s matches will be determined at the official draw ceremony, which will be held at noon local time on Thursday, February 6, at Angel Of The Winds Arena. Team captains may substitute up to two of their nominated players prior to Thursday’s draw.

Tickets are available at USTA.com/fedcup. Tennis Channel will present live daily coverage nationally in the U.S.

The winner of this matchup advances to the 2020 Fed Cup by BNP Paribas Finals April 14-19 in Budapest, Hungary – a new format for the Finals similar to the World Cup in which 12 nations converge on one venue to compete for the title.

The USTA has partnered with local sponsors Amazon Prime Video, Funko and Avis. Fed Cup events have had demonstrative effects on the local communities they’ve visited in recent years. The U.S. hosted Fed Cup in Asheville, N.C., in 2018, an event that generated nearly $5 million in economic impact for the region and prompted Asheville to host Fed Cup again in 2019. San Antonio hosted a Fed Cup tie in April 2019, with an estimated economic impact of $3.5 million.

Williams, 38, last played Fed Cup in February 2018 in her competitive return to tennis following the birth of her daughter. She’s 13-0 in singles and 3-2 in doubles over 10 Fed Cup ties played since 1999, when she and sister Venus were a part of the Americans’ Fed Cup title-winning team. Williams won her 73rd career WTA singles title recently in Auckland, New Zealand.

Kenin, 21, is ranked No. 15 and has reached the Australian Open semifinals in Melbourne this week. She reached a career-high ranking of No. 12 in 2019, a breakout year in which she won three WTA titles and led the WTA in hard-court match wins (38).

Riske, 29, is ranked No. 19 and reached the 2019 Wimbledon quarterfinals, defeating world No. 1 Ashleigh Barty in the process. Riske finished 2019 ranked No. 18 in the world after beginning it ranked 63rd.

Gauff, 15, is ranked 67th but is projected to rise into the Top 50 after her run to the fourth round of the Australian Open, where she defeated defending champion Naomi Osaka. The youngest player in the Top 100 by nearly three years, Gauff made her splash debut on tour in 2019, becoming the youngest player to reach the fourth round at Wimbledon since Jennifer Capriati in 1991. She would be the second-youngest American Fed Cup representative ever, after Capriati.

Mattek-Sands, 34, is a five-time women’s doubles and four-time mixed doubles Grand Slam champion. She’s currently ranked No. 23 in the world in doubles and won her 27th career WTA doubles title in with Kenin in Beijing last year. Mattek-Sands is 7-1 in Fed Cup doubles over 10 ties played for the U.S. since making her debut in 2009.

Fed Cup is the world’s largest annual international team competition in women’s sport, with approximately 100 nations taking part each year. The U.S. holds an overall 152-38 record in Fed Cup competition with a 42-7 record in home ties. For more information, including access to player and historical Fed Cup records, please go to www.usta.com/fedcup or www.fedcup.com.

Keep up with Team USA using hashtag #TeamUSATennis on Facebook (@USTA), on Twitter (@USTA), and on Instagram (@USTA). Wilson is the official ball of the U.S. Fed Cup team. Deloitte is the official team sponsor of the U.S. Fed Cup Team.

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

United States Wins Junior Fed Cup Title In Orlando, American Boys Finish Second To Japan

September 30, 2019 by TennisGrandstand

The U.S. won its third consecutive Junior Fed Cup title on Sunday at the USTA National Campus, defeating the Czech Republic 2-1, while the American boys fell in the final of the Junior Davis Cup, finishing second.

Connie Ma (16, Dublin, Calif.) got the U.S. on the board early with a 6-3, 6-1 singles victory but after Katrina Scott (15, Woodland Hills, Calif.) lost a tough three-set match, the title came down to the decisive doubles rubber. Ma and Robin Montgomery (15, Washington, D.C.) teamed up for a 6-2, 7-5 win to clinch the three-peat for the Americans.

In the Junior Davis Cup final, Toby Kodat (16, Bradenton, Fla.) put the Americans up 1-0 over Japan with a straight-sets singles win. But, after Martin Damm (15, Bradenton, Fla.) fell in his singles match, the title once again came down to doubles. Kodat and Damm teamed up for doubles but came up short as Japan would clinch the 2-1 win and the Junior Davis Cup title. The third member of the second place American team was Dali Blanch (16, Orlando, Fla.).

USTA National Coach Jamea Jackson captained the Junior Fed Cup team and USTA National Coach Philippe Oudshoorn captained the Junior Davis Cup team.

This year marked the first time since 1994 that the Junior Davis Cup and Junior Fed Cup by BNP Paribas Finals were held in the United States and the first time the USTA National Campus has hosted the prestigious event. The event will return to the USTA National Campus in 2020 and 2021.

September 29, 2019 – US Junior Fed Cup team poses with 1st place trophy and medals. L-R: Captain Jamea Jackson, Robin Montgomery, Katrina Scott, Connie Ma

USTA Announces Tennis Team For 2019 Pan American Games In Peru

July 12, 2019 by TennisGrandstand

The USTA announced that Usue Arconada, Caroline Dolehide, Alexa Graham, Kevin King, Michael Redlicki and Sam Riffice will represent the U.S. in the 2019 Pan American Games July 29-August 4 in Lima, Peru, while Casey Ratzlaff, Chris Herman, Dana Mathewson, Emmy Kaiser, David Wagner and Bryan Barten will play for the U.S. in the Parapan American Games August 24-30 in Lima.

The Pan American Games are a summer sports competition for countries in North, South and Central America held every four years in the year prior to the Olympic Games. The Games will feature men’s and women’s singles and doubles and mixed doubles competition on the red clay courts of Lima’s Lawn Tennis Club. More than 6,000 athletes from 41 countries are expected to compete across 36 sports in this year’s Games. The Parapan American Games will feature 1,850 athletes, with wheelchair tennis, featuring men’s and women’s singles and doubles and quad singles and doubles, as one of its 17 sports.

All Pan American and Parapan American Games roster nominations are pending final approval of the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee.

USTA National Coaches Adam Peterson (women) and Eric Nunez (men) will coach the U.S. Pan American team. Jason Harnett and Paul Walker will coach the Parapan team.

Tennis has been contested at the Pan Am Games since 1951. Americans who have won the gold medal at the Pan Am Games include Althea Gibson (1959, singles), Arthur Ashe (1967, mixed doubles), Patrick McEnroe (1987, men’s doubles), Pam Shriver (1991, singles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles), Paul Goldstein (1999, singles), and Irina Falconi (2011, singles).

The Pan American men’s entry list also includes current ATP Top 100 players Nicolas Jarry, of Chile, and Hugo Dellien, of Bolivia. The women’s field includes former Top-100 players Beatriz Haddad Maia, of Brazil, Rebeca Marino, of Canada, and Veronica Cepede Royg, of Paraguay.

Arconada, 20, is ranked No. 214 in singles and No. 171 in doubles and currently lives in Naples, Fla. She’s won three ITF World Tennis Tour-level doubles titles and two singles titles in 2019, and was ranked in the Top 5 in the world in junior (18-and-under) competition. A product of the renowned JTCC in College Park, Md., Arconada was born in Buenos Aires and has also lived in Puerto Rico, where her father was Puerto Rico’s national volleyball coach. Her brother, Jordi, played tennis at Texas A&M.

Dolehide, 20, is ranked No. 269 in singles and No. 106 in doubles and currently lives in Orlando, Fla., training out of the USTA National Campus. She nearly broke into the WTA Top 100 last summer after reaching the second round at the French Open and has won three ITF World Tennis Tour-level doubles titles in 2019. A native of Hinsdale, Ill., Dolehide turned pro instead of attending UCLA, where her older sister, Courtney – now the head men’s and women’s tennis coach at Georgetown University – was the captain of the Bruins’ 2014 NCAA championship team.

Graham, 20, is ranked No. 728 in singles and recently completed an All-American junior season at the University of North Carolina. From Garden City, N.Y., Graham went 37-7 in singles for the Tar Heels this season, was ranked as high as No. 3 in the nation in collegiate singles and earned singles and doubles All-America honors. In three seasons at North Carolina, Graham has a 106-22 record in singles and a 55-17 record in doubles.

King, 28, is ranked No. 397 in singles and No. 527 in doubles. A collegiate star at Georgia Tech from 2008-12, King reached a career-high No. 162 world ranking in May 2018 and has served as a practice partner for the U.S. Davis Cup Team. He was a doubles All-American as a junior in 2011 and has won six singles and 11 doubles titles at the ATP Challenger and ITF World Tennis Tour level.

Redlicki, 25, is ranked No. 327 in singles and was an All-American at Arkansas in 2016-17. A Chicago native, Redlicki was an All-SEC First Team selection in his junior and senior seasons as a Razorback and finished his senior year as the No. 12-ranked collegiate singles player in the country. Redlicki and his younger brother, Martin, who went on to star at UCLA, trained at the former USTA Player Development headquarters in Boca Raton, Fla., as teenagers.

Riffice, 20, is ranked No. 496 in singles and recently completed a standout freshman season at the University of Florida, earning All-America honors after reaching the NCAA singles quarterfinals. A native of Roseville, Calif., who currently lives in Orlando, Fla., and trains out of the USTA National Campus, Riffice was ranked in the Top 20 in the world in junior (18-and-under) competition and won his first ITF World Tennis Tour-level singles title at the M25 event in Wichita, Kan., in June.

Ratzlaff, 21, from Wichita, Kan., is currently ranked No. 25 in singles and No. 34 in doubles in the ITF world wheelchair rankings, and is 23-9 on the year in singles play. He competed for the U.S. in the recent BNP Paribas World Team Cup in Israel and has won three ITF Futures Series wheelchair singles titles in 2019.

Herman, 21, from St. Petersburg, Fla., is ranked No. 56 in singles and No. 70 in the world wheelchair rankings and competed in men’s doubles at the BNP Paribas World Team Cup in May. He won the singles title at the Wheelchair Tennis Collegiate National Championships each of the last two years as a junior and senior at the University of Florida.

Mathewson, 29, from San Diego, is ranked No. 18 in singles and No. 7 in doubles in the world wheelchair rankings and competed in the 2016 Rio Paralympics. She’s won two ITF wheelchair doubles titles in 2019 and is a multiple-time BNP Paribas World Team Cup competitor.

Kaiser, 29, is ranked No. 29 in singles and No. 34 in doubles in the world wheelchair rankings and is a two-time Paralympian (Rio 2016, London 2012). Kaiser also competed in the 2015 and 2011 Parapan American games, winning doubles gold and singles silver at Guadalajara 2011.

Wagner, 45, from Portland, Ore., is the No. 2-ranked Quad singles and No. 1-ranked Quad doubles player in the ITF world rankings. He’s competed in four Paralympic Games, winning eight medals in total: three gold, three silver and three bronze, and has won 19 Grand Slam titles in wheelchair tennis. He’s been ranked among the Top 3 in the world since 2002.

Barten, 45, from Hart, Mich., is ranked No. 10 and No. 6 in the world in Quad singles and doubles, respectively, and is a two-time Paralympian. He has helped with the U.S. five BNP Paribas World Team Cup titles in 12 appearances and is a former French Open wheelchair doubles champion.

International Tennis Federation and National Associations Announce World Tennis Number (WTN) Project

July 8, 2019 by TennisGrandstand

The International Tennis Federation (ITF) and leading National Tennis Associations announced a strategic project to develop and implement a global, level-based tennis rating, designed to enable more matches to be played between players of similar levels, from beginners to professionals.

The new rating, called the World Tennis Number (WTN), will aim to break down one of sport’s key barriers to participation – uneven match-ups – allowing players of all abilities to determine their individual level. This will help players identify opponents and competitions of an appropriate standard and access to more competitive and enjoyable playing opportunities.

ITF President, David Haggerty, said: “Our vision is simple, to create local online communities of tennis players sharing meaningful and enjoyable tennis experiences through level-based play. With this new platform, we have the means to connect a worldwide community of 87 million tennis players and fans.”

The WTN project, approved by the ITF Board of Directors in March 2018, is led by a steering committee composed of executives from the ITF, French Tennis Federation (FFT), LTA and United States Tennis Association (USTA), and supported by a project team and an advisory group of nations that also includes experts from the National Associations of Canada, China, Ireland, Netherlands and Switzerland.

Sports technology experts, ClubSpark, have been selected to build the World Tennis Number digital platform. This platform will create a global online tennis community, enabling players to access their WTN from anywhere in the world, record and measure their progress, and interact with other tennis players. The digital platform will also assist tournament organisers in the staging of competitions based on ability levels.

The scale and algorithm for the World Tennis Number is currently being modelled and refined using a database of millions of match records, and through worldwide player consultation. The project has already received significant input from nations representing the majority of the world’s tennis players.

“The goal is more people playing more tennis more often,” explained Luca Santilli, ITF Executive Director of Tennis Development. “Creating a rating system for players of all levels that is commercially independent has been a very positive step; but what is really exciting is the potential for the World Tennis Number to become a giant leap forward for the sport. With the correct algorithm and adoption on a worldwide basis, it could be game changing.”

The World Tennis Number is planned to be in operation towards the end of 2019, with National Associations launching officially within each country from 2020.

FFT President, Bernard Giudicelli, said: “France will always be supportive of initiatives enabling tennis to grow worldwide and will share its experience with other nations to build their own grassroots development plan. Competition is the best leverage to achieve that aim. The World Tennis Number platform is a ten-year dream come true. This is Tennis 4.0, using technology to provide easier access to tennis and deepen the connection between local players and worldwide tennis.”

LTA CEO, Scott Lloyd, said: “We are delighted to be partnering with the ITF and leading tennis nations to create the new World Tennis Number. The LTA is working hard to open tennis up to anyone who wants to play, and we believe that a new rating system will support our plans to offer players appropriate and enjoyable matches at every level of the sport.”

USTA CEO Gordon Smith, said: “One of the USTA’s top priorities is to elevate all aspects of the tennis player’s experience, regardless of their age, background or skill level. As a nation with one of the largest tennis player communities on the planet, the USTA constantly strives to utilise best-in-class technology to improve products for the needs of players and fans. We believe the new World Tennis Number platform will foster relationships, increase opportunities to play and connect US players with the global community.”

The ITF and steering committee nations believe that the World Tennis Number will be a powerful enabler in fulfilling the fundamental objectives of increasing participation, and recruiting and retaining players of any age, gender and ability.