NEWS RELEASE

The SorensenRealEstate.com Tennis Classic returns to Vero Beach for the 20th consecutive year; the city also hosted USTA Pro Circuit tournaments from 1979 to 1981 and in 1983. It is the first of three consecutive clay-court USTA Pro Circuit Futures. In all, there are 15 events held in Florida in 2014. In conjunction with USTA Player Development, the USTA Pro Circuit continues to emphasize the importance of increased training for younger players on clay.

Qualifying draw be can Friday and main draw, including 32 singles and 16 doubles, begins April 29 at the Boulevard Village & Tennis Club.

Notable players competing in the main draw include:

Sixteen-year-old Francis Tiafoe, one of the world’s most promising players his age, who ranks a career-high No. 2 in the ITF World Junior Rankings and is the top-ranked American boy. Tiafoe won the prestigious Orange Bowl International Tennis Championships junior tournament in December 2013 in Plantation, Fla., becoming the youngest-ever boys’ champion in the 67 years of the event. He also won the Easter Bowl junior tournament this year and reached the final of the USTA International Spring Championships, in addition to reaching the singles quarterfinals of two USTA Pro Circuit events. In 2012, Tiafoe won two significant 14-and-under tournaments (Les Petits As in Tarbes, France, and Teen Tennis in Bolton, England) and helped lead the United States to a gold medal in World Junior Tennis – th premier 14-and-under team competition. Tiafoe is a product of the Junior Tennis Champions Center in College Park, Md., a USTA Certified Regional Training Center, where his father, an immigrant from Sierra Leone in Africa, worked as a custodian.

Jeff Dadamo, who earned a wild card into the 2013 US Open Qualifying Tournament by winning the US Open National Playoffs men’s title (out of 649 men who competed). Dadamo has won two USTA Pro Circuit doubles titles and one singles title during his career. He graduated from Texas A&M in 2011, where he won the NCAA men’s doubles title with Austin Five-time University of Florida All-American Greg Ouellette, who won the bronze medal in doubles at the 2011 Pan Am Games with Nicholas Monroe. Ouellette holds two USTA Pro Circuit singles titles and four doubles titles, with his last titles coming in 2012.

Devin McCarthy, who played for Ohio State and received All-Big Ten honors. McCarthy was also a four-time Ohio State Scholar-Athlete recipient and won the 2008 Division II state high school singles title in Ohio. McCarthy won his first career USTA Pro Circuit title this year by capturing the doubles crown at the $15,000 Futures in Harlingen, Texas, with Evan King.

Deiton Baughman, who won his first career USTA Pro Circuit title this year by capturing the doubles crown at the $10,000 Futures in Boynton Beach, Fla., with Collin Altamirano. As a junior player, Baughman reached the doubles semifinals of the USTA International Spring Championships this year and reached the singles semifinals of the Eddie Herr International Junior Tennis Championships last winter—both prestigious junior events.

For more information, visit: www.verobeachtennisnewscom.