The Sea Oaks Beach & Tennis Club will host many up-and-coming tennis pros become the new home of the 2026 Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships, the $15,000 U.S. Tennis Association Pro Circuit “Futures” tennis tournament held annually in Vero Beach since 1995.
Sea Oaks, which has annually held the Mardy Fish “Wild Card” tennis tournament since 2018, will now also host the main draw version of the event May 4-10, 2026. The entry-level professional tennis tournament, which has featured such current tennis stars as Ben Shelton, Tommy Paul and Frances Tiafoe in the past in their early years in pro tennis, benefits the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation, the non-profit foundation benefitting children in Indian River County, named for Vero Beach native son Mardy Fish, the former top 10 tennis star, U.S. Davis Cup player and captain and silver medalist at the 2004 Olympic Games.
“The Sea Oaks Beach & Tennis Club is one of the most beautiful tennis venues in Florida and will make for a spectacular setting for our Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships USTA Pro Circuit event,” said Tom Fish, chairman emeritus for the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation and the father of Mardy Fish. “Sea Oaks has an incredible reputation for tennis participation and for their support attending exhibition matches and our annual singles wild card event on their charming stadium court. We know this will be a unique atmosphere for a Futures level event with standing room only crowds attending daily, which the players will certainly enjoy.”
Above (from left to right): Tom Fish, Lachlan Gaskell (2024 Sea Oaks “Wild Card” runner up), Mitchell Lee (2024 Sea Oaks “Wild Card” winner) and Lynn Southerly, executive director of the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation. Photo courtesy of Randy Walker.
Sea Oaks will be the fourth different club in Vero Beach, but the first on the island, to host the very popular event. Founded by the late Vero Beach tennis pro and promoter Mike Rahaley, the event was held at Grand Harbor from 1995 to 2009 and in 2017 and 2018, The Boulevard Tennis Club from 2010 to 2016 and from 2019 to 2022 and then for the last three years at the Vero Beach Tennis & Fitness Club at Timber Ridge.
Nestled along Florida’s scenic Treasure Coast, Sea Oaks Beach and Tennis Club is a private, member-owned community that offers an exclusive coastal retreat where luxury living meets an active lifestyle. Home to 614 beautifully maintained oceanfront and riverfront residences, Sea Oaks features a world-class tennis facility with 16 Har-Tru courts and a vibrant social atmosphere that captures the essence of relaxed elegance and coastal charm. In addition to its exceptional racquets program, the community offers unmatched amenities, including oceanfront dining, a fully equipped fitness center, and a charming marina on the Indian River. For those seeking an active, welcoming community by the sea, Sea Oaks Beach and Tennis Club presents a rare opportunity to live and belong in one of Florida’s most treasured coastal destinations. For more information go to
Above: A beautiful setting to watch tennis. Photo courtesy of Randy Walker.
Fans interested in sponsorship or box seat packages are encouraged to contact Southerly at Lsouth1072@gmail.com The event is expected to sell out.
Rahaley, the late tennis instructor and entrepreneur in Vero Beach, founded the Vero Beach USTA Pro Circuit event in 1995 and ran it through 2015 when he passed the reins for the tournament’s management to the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation, which has used the tournament as a major fundraiser since then, the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation has named its perpetual singles winner trophy “The Mike Rahaley Memorial Trophy” in his honor.
Founded in 2007, the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation currently supports over 3,000 children per year in 15 elementary schools, six middle schools, and several other community organizations in Indian River County, Florida by funding after-school and summer 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.
Above: The atmosphere at Sea Oaks Beach & Tennis Club. Photo courtesy of Randy Walker.
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 in his first ever professional tournament. 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.
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, 2021 Wimbledon semifinalist Denis Shapovalov, 2022 and 2024 U.S. Open semifinalist Frances Tiafoe, 2023 Australian Open semifinalist Tommy Paul and new rising star and 2023 U.S. Open semifinalist Ben Shelton. Former Vero Beach competitors have combined to win 19 titles in singles, doubles and mixed doubles at Grand Slam tournaments. Eleven 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, Frances Tiafoe, Tommy Paul, Ben Shelton, Reilly Opelka, Alex Michelsen and Ethan Quinn.
Learn more at www.MardyFishChildrensFoundation.org and @MardyFishFound on Twitter.
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Source: Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation. Top photo courtesy of Randy Walker.