It was a Hotty Toddy week in Vero Beach, Florida for Jonas Luetjen of Germany, a former standout tennis player at Ole Miss.
The 25-year-old won his first career pro tennis title at the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships at The Boulevard Tennis Club defeating Latvian Davis Cupper Martins Podzus 7-6 (4), 6-3 in the final of the $10,000 U.S. Tennis Association Pro Circuit event. He also won the doubles title, pairing with 16-year-old Serbian ace Miomir Kecmanovic, to become only the third player to sweep the singles and doubles titles in the same year in Vero Beach since the event started in 1995.
In the post-match ceremony after winning the title, co-tournament director Randy Walker asked Luetjen if he wanted to do the famous “Hotty Toddy” cheer on the microphone to the fans to celebrate his first pro singles title. It didn’t take long before Luetjen shouted with glee “Are you ready?” that signifies the start of the signature cheer, one of the most famous cheers in American college sports.
An Ole Miss alum in the crowd of about 300 fans, responded to Luetjen’s question “Hell Yeah! Damn Right” before the two proceeded with the cheer.
Hotty Toddy, Gosh Almighty,
Who The Hell Are We? Hey!
Flim Flam, Bim Bam
Ole Miss By Damn!
“It’s obviously a great feeling…it’s a very special day for me,” said Luetjen of his big day in Vero Beach. The Schessel, Germany native became only third player in the 21-year history of the Vero Beach event to win the singles and doubles titles in the same year, joining Australian John-Patrick Smith in 2012 and American Doug Flach in 1996. He also was the last directly accepted player into the 32-player field but was the last man standing.
The event marked the first year that the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Foundation ran the event after a 20-year run by Vero Beach tennis pro Mike Rahaley.
