J.J. Wolf, the former top 40 ATP-ranked player and former Ohio State University standout, leads the player entries for next week’s $15,000 Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships USTA Pro Circuit ITF World Tennis Tour event to be played at the Sea Oaks Beach & Tennis Club in Vero Beach, Florida May 4-10.
Wolf, coming back from a shoulder injury after being off the ATP Tour for a year, is currently ranked No. 1,029 on the ATP Tour but was ranked a career-high of No. 39 in 2023, the year he reached the fourth round of the Australian Open before losing to Ben Shelton in five sets. Wolf, from Cincinnati, entered the Mardy Fish singles field as a wild card entrant and will mark the fifth tournament of his comeback. In his first comeback tournament in February, he won the $15,000-level tournament in Naples, Fla., without losing a set, but has since lost in the first round of qualifying at the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championships ATP Tour event in Houston and in the first and second round, respectively, at ATP Challengers in Sarasota, Fla., and Savannah, Ga.
Other leading entries in the Mardy Fish field include 2024 French Open junior champion Kaylun Bigun of Los Angeles, 2025 Australian Open junior runner-up Benjamin Willwerth of Jupiter, Florida, former Wimbledon doubles and mixed doubles main draw competitor Aidan McHugh of Great Britain, and Robert Cid Subervi and Andreja Petrovic, members of the Davis Cup teams from the Dominican Republic and Norway, respectively. Alex Rybakov of Plainview, N.Y., ranked No. 332, is the highest-ranked competitor on the entry list and former Harvard University captain and economics major Daniel Milavsky of Needham, Mass., is the second highest ranked entry at No. 414.
Vero Beach’s Sea Oaks Beach & Tennis Club is the newest venue of the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships, the entry level professional tennis tournament held annually since 1995. The event has featured such current tennis stars as Ben Shelton, Tommy Paul and Frances Tiafoe and legendary players such as Andy Roddick, Tim Henman and the event’s namesake Mardy Fish in their early years in pro tennis. The tournament benefits the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation, the non-profit foundation benefitting children in Indian River County, named for Fish, the Vero Beach native son who was a 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 sold-out, standing room only crowds attending daily, which the players will certainly enjoy.”
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 https://seaoaksbeachandtennis.com/
Founded in 2007, the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation (www.MardyFishChildrensFoundation.org and @MardyFishFound on Twitter) 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.
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.
