Brazilian underdog Joaquim Almeida capped off an exciting week with his seven-match victory at the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championship, a USTA Pro Circuit Tennis Tournament, which shattered previous attendance records at its new venue, the Sea Oaks Tennis Club.
“Sea Oaks and their incredible staff and group of volunteers, their enthusiastic and tennis savvy membership, along with our generous donors and sponsors and the large fan base from three other local clubs who came to cheer on their tennis pros who won entry into the tournament in our lead-up wild card events, helped create an amazing atmosphere,” said Lynn Southerly, MFCF executive director.
“You could feel the excitement each day before you even reached the courts! It was electric,” she added, noting that moving the event to Sea Oaks had been a perfect match.
General admission and reserved seating sold out, as upwards of 800 people packed the stands on Tuesday night when local Quail Valley Club pro Gaston Erhardt won his wild card match, much to the delight of local tennis enthusiasts.
“Our event at Sea Oaks captured a lot of the tennis world’s attention with some amazing storylines that resulted in the tournament receiving over a million impressions globally on social and traditional media, like Tennis Channel and the New York Times,” said Tom Fish, MFCF board president.
“We had the youngest ATP-ranked player playing the oldest ATP-ranked player, while we also had former top 40 star J.J. Wolf choosing Vero Beach for another stop in his comeback tour,” said Fish.
“To boot, our singles winner, Joaquim Almeida of Brazil, became one of the great stories in all of tennis this year when he went from being the 28th alternate out of the qualifying tournament, and going on to win seven straight matches, including saving eight match points, to incredibly win the title. And of course, all the money we raised is going to help so many children here in IRC,” he added.
While the tennis captivated crowds, the real victory is the growing impact of the nonprofit, which was founded in 2007 by Mardy Fish to provide enrichment programs to children.
Southerly noted that as the needs of the community continue to grow, the MFCF funded an additional 14 new programs for local children since spring 2025, jumping the number of children served from some 3,800 the prior year to 5,240.
The new programs include athletic and enrichment groups such as the Legacy Foundation, Sherwood Farms, Fighting Indians Girls Lacrosse, Sebastian Sharks Football, Willis Sports, Treasure Coast Racket Sports, Indian River Soccer, and Believe and Achieve Fitness for Neurodivergent Teens.
New academic and school initiatives included IRSC’s TRIO Upward Bound college prep, the Healthy Start Coalition, and cheerleading, gardening and color guard clubs at Citrus, Glendale, and Sebastian Elementary schools.
Upcoming MFCF tournaments are Fishing Oct. 17, Windsor Golf Feb. 1, and Tennis April 26 to May 2.
For more information, visit MardyFishChildrensFoundation.org.
Photos by Joshua Kodis
