The “FAST4” scoring system, the new tennis scoring format introduced by Tennis Australia, will be used in special doubles wild card tournament at the $15,000 USTA Pro Circuit event, the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships in Vero Beach, Fla., starting April 22.
The doubles tournament will start Saturday, April 22, the day after the first round of play in the event’s singles qualifying tournament, and will feature the “FAST4” scoring system, best two-out-of-three-set matches, first to four games, no-ad scoring, tie-breaker at 3-3, 10-point tie-breaker in lieu of a third set. The winner of the tournament will be awarded a main draw doubles wild card entry into the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships that starts Tuesday, April 25.
“We are hosting this special doubles wild card tournament, an ad-hoc doubles qualifying event, starting the day after our 128-player qualifying tournament, so the FAST4 format provides for any easy, fast way to play doubles matches and makes it more attractive for players in the singles qualifying field to also have an opportunity to play in the doubles wild card event, without being too physically taxing to play so many matches in a short period of time,” said Randy Walker, co-tournament director for the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships. “All entry fees benefit the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation so it is also for a good cause.”
The tournament is open to any and all competitors, but players who win the tournament must have an ITF IPIN number to participate in the main draw of the tournament. Matches will be played at The Boulevard Tennis Club in Vero Beach, located across the street from Grand Harbor, the host venue for the 2017 Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships. The entry fee is $60 per team. Players can sign up at www.VeroBeachTennisTickets.com or sign up with cash at the player sign-for the singles qualifying tournament on Thursday, April 20 from 4 pm to 6 pm at the tennis facility at the Grand Harbor Golf & Beach Club.
All entry fees for the event benefit the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation (www.MardyFishFoundation.com)
For more information, contact Randy Walker at 917 770 0843 or Rwalker@NewChapterMedia.com
The FAST4 format was first introduced during a Roger Federer vs. Lleyton Hewitt exhibition match in 2015, organized by Tennis Australia, the national governing body for tennis in Australia. It was also used during mixed doubles matches at the 2017 Hopman Cup competition in Perth, Australia.
Play at the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships begins at Grand Harbor on Friday, April 21 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 22, Sunday, April 23 and Monday, April 24 with play starting at 10 am. The 32-player singles and 16-team doubles main draw tournament will start on Tuesday, April 25 with matches starting at Noon each day through the finals on Sunday, April 30. Special 7 pm night matches will be played Tuesday, April 25 through Friday, April 28, with special “Happy Hour” night tickets being sold starting at 5 pm.
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.
Advance tickets – and sponsorships – for the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships are available at www.VeroBeachTennisTickets.com. 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 21-24 are for sale for $10, with daily tickets for the main draw sessions April 25-30 for sale for $20. A special “Happy Hour” ticket is available for $10 after 5 pm for night sessions on Tuesday, April 25 – Friday, April 28 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. The 2016 event featured 13 players who played Davis Cup for their country and was won by Jonas Luetjen of Germany, who defeated Latvian Davis Cupper Martins Podzus in the final.
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.
Corporate sponsors and donors for the 2017 tournament include PNC Bank, Boston Barricade, George E. Warren Corporation, Indian River Medical Center, Jake Owen Foundation, Syde Hurdus Foundation, Indian River Oxygen, Citrus Grillhouse, Coastal Van Lines, Rossway Swan, Publix, Ryan A. Jones and Associates, Tom Collins Insurance Agency, Vocap Partners, Riverside Café, Center Court Outfitters, David Walsh and Associates Real Estate, Peter Bernholz Family, John’s Island Real Estate, Gene Simonsen, Michael & Kathleen Pierce, Steve and Karen Rubin, Rob and Mickey Stein, William Barhorst, Dan Holman, John Klein, Mello Financial Services, Ocean Drive Elite Physiques, Rosato Plastic Surgery, Captain Hiram’s Resort, Absolute Protection Team, Minuteman Press, Technifibre, TeamChristopher.com, Fit for Life Strength, Diamond Resorts International, Wilson, Don Herrema and Lori Ford.
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
