The Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships are going home.
Organizers of the annual United States Tennis Association Pro Circuit tournament, which has been played in Vero Beach since 1995, have reached a verbal agreement to return the men’s clay-court event to Grand Harbor in April.
The tournament was held at Grand Harbor for 15 years before relocating to The Boulevard Tennis Club in 2010. The move back to Grand Harbor could be formally announced as soon as this week.
“We want to expand this event beyond tennis, and Grand Harbor provides us with a lot more resources,” said Moorings winter resident Randy Walker, who has teamed with foundation chairman Tom Fish to serve as the tournament’s co-chairman.
Walker said returning to Grand Harbor, a full-service club, allows the tournament to expand and improve its dining, beverage and non-tennis offerings, which will include live music and youth activities.
There will also be more parking, more amenities and more room to wander the tournament grounds.
“A big part of my background is the U.S. Open, which made a very successful transformation from a tennis tournament to an entertainment event,” Walker said. “People go there to watch tennis, have lunch or dinner, have cocktails, walk around the grounds, listen to music . . . You don’t need to be a tennis fan to have a good time.
“We want to do the same here,” he added, “albeit on a much smaller scale.”
According to Walker, Grand Harbor officials first approached Tom Fish earlier this year, shortly after his son’s foundation announced in February it was taking over the tournament’s operations.
Walker said he and Tom Fish, the longtime tennis director at Windsor, quickly became intrigued by Grand Harbor’s pitch. “Grand Harbor really rolled out the red carpet,” Walker said.
USTA Pro Circuit supervisor David Littlefield has already approved the move to Grand Harbor, Walker said, adding that the start of night sessions will be pushed back one hour to 7 p.m.
The 2017 tournament is scheduled for April 21-30, making it the second of three consecutive clay-court, Futures events held in Florida in April and May.
“We’re planning to have tickets available for sale before the Christmas holidays,” Walker said. “A tournament pass would make for a nice gift.”