Former Top 40 player J.J. Wolf is smiling again because he’s back on the court competing in the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation USTA/ITF Pro Circuit tournament after sustaining a serious shoulder injury at the 2025 Delray Beach Open.
Wolf flashed his warp-speed forehand and radar-breaking serve, knocked off second-seeded Raphael Perot of France 6-3, 6-2 Wednesday night at a packed Sea Oaks Beach & Tennis Club.
Although sleight at 5-foot-8, Perot was no pushover but he couldn’t match the firepower of Wolf, who at his peak in 2023 was ranked No. 39 in the world. Now ranked No. 947, Wolf is on the comeback trail and chose Vero Beach to get in much needed match play.
WATCH some of his match highlights and his post-match interview here https://youtu.be/WeLF1D28Cxo?si=5jAl_7RParoCN-3p
Wolf, a Cincinnati native, was ranked the No. 1 collegiate player in the nation when he starred for his beloved Ohio State University in 2019 when he went 45-3 in singles and doubles. During his three years there, the multiple All-American led the Buckeyes to three Big 10 titles. After college, he quickly won five ATP Challenger titles, tournaments one level below ATP main-level events, but the pandemic and a ripped pelvis (double hernia) slowed him down.
Wolf eventually rocketed up the ATP ranks to the Top 50 after reaching the fourth round of the 2023 Australian Open before losing to Ben Shelton in five sets. Prior to his Aussie run, Wolf knocked off No. 33 Max Cressy, No. 44 Alexander Bublik (now No. 11) to reach his only ATP Tour final in Florence before bowing out to then No. 13 Felix Auger-Aliassime.
He reached his career-high at No. 39 by making the 2023 Dallas Open 250 semis after defeating then No. 14 Frances Tiafoe before losing to No. 39 John Isner 7-6 in the third set.
Ironically, his horrific shoulder injury occurred at the 2025 Delray Beach Open where two years earlier he entered at his career-high rank after Dallas.
Rehabbing his torn labrum and broken bones of his dominant right shoulder over the last year has changed the charismatic Wolf’s perspective to the realization that one never knows what they have until it’s gone or taken away suddenly.
“It was kind of a collision type injury, more similar to a car wreck than a tennis injury,’’ Wolf said. “I was playing in Delray. My feet kicked out, and they kind of went straight up in the air, and my full body weight landed on my shoulder, so it dislocated, tore my labrum, and broke a couple bones.
“I’m just happy every time I step on the court now. I feel so grateful. I went through so much to get back here. No tournament feels like it’s not a privilege anymore. When an injury like that happens, you never know. So, the surgeons were hopeful. They were telling me, you probably won’t get 100 percent of it back, but you can get pretty good, and last week, I was in Savannah, I was back hitting [serves] about 145 mph. So, I’m very hopeful.”
Wolf, 27, whose grandfather Charles Wolf was a head coach in the NBA for the then Cincinnati Royals and Detroit Pistons in the 1960s, said he owes his full rebound to his physio Hardik Patel and trainer Gena Ball.
“They’ve been there every step of the way,’’ said Wolf, who made the third round of the US Open in 2020 and ‘22. “It was some dark times, obviously, when I couldn’t watch tennis for two years; it was just too hard for me.”
Wolf has held his own against many of today’s top stars such as Tiafoe, Aliassime, Bublik, Denis Shapovalov, Nick Kyrgios, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alexander Zverev, Cameron Norrie, Daniil Medvedev, Hubert Hurkacz, Lorenzo Sonego and Roberto Bautista Agut, but he realizes the players have improved at every level.
Wolf returned with a zero ranking in February and immediately won an M-15 in Naples. He then lost two first-round matches in this run of Pro Circuit ITF Futures tournaments in Florida, before a second-round exit in a Savannah Challenger two weeks ago.
“They had some Challengers in Ohio that I was lucky enough to win,’’ Wolf said. “I never got to experience, kind of like the ITF Tour. Played one or two, OK. We kind of skipped over it. So now I feel like it’s cool getting in here in the trenches. Everyone’s so nice, and just kind of grinding it out.”
Wolf knows that although he’s facing players ranked well over 1000, he takes no one for granted.
“I think the depth is incredible now,’’ said Wolf, now residing in Boynton Beach. “It’s super physical. It’s a lot about staying healthy and making sure that you’re fit. Everyone’s good now. Everyone can hit a forehand, a backhand; everyone can serve. So, it’s a lot about mental and doing all the stuff off court.
“My short-term goal is to stay healthy. I want a full year of being healthy. My long-term goal is I want to come back better than I was. I don’t think I’ve hit my peak yet. We’re putting in so much work that I know that we can do it, just if I can stay healthy.”
Don’t be surprised if the sleeveless muscle shirt returns as Wolf is working with Boast Tennis clothing company to produce new designed muscle shirts.
“The muscle shirt will be back,’’ Wolf proclaimed.
Top-seeded Alex Rybakov of Plainview, N.Y., now living in Coral Springs, advanced as did American teens Gavin Goode of Raleigh, N.C., and wild card Jordan Lee of Orlando Qualifier Matthew Segura of Orlando, the great-nephew of legendary Ecuadorian star Pancho Segura, who taught him his ambidextrous style, advanced into the second round with a straight-set victory over Romanian Vladislav Melnic.
The entire Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships is sold out, marking the first time at $15,000-level USTA Pro Circuit, ITF World Tennis Tour event has sold out.
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.
Played annually in Vero Beach since 1995, the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships is the fourth longest running active professional tennis tournament in the state of Florida behind the Miami Open (started in 1985), the Delray Beach Open (started in 1993) and the Tallahassee Challenger (started in 1993). 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. Twelve 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.
