March 2nd, 2020
Segura Wins 3rd Straight Mardy Fish Wild Card Title
Matthew Segura, the ambidextrous great-nephew of Tennis Hall of Fame legend Pancho Segura, won the Sea Oaks Mardy Fish Wild Card Championships Friday with a 6-0, 6-0 victory over ATP-ranked Emmett Ward of Delray Beach, Fl.
Our “Wild Card” singles finalists Emmett Ward of Delray Beach, Florida (left) and Matthew Segura of Apopka, Florida pic.twitter.com/aUdCKaq0nO
— Vero Beach Futures (@VeroFutures) February 28, 2020
It marked the third straight year that the 19-year-old from Apopka has won and earned a wild card into the main draw of the $15,000 Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships, the USTA Pro Circuit event to be held April 26-May 3 at The Boulevard tennis club.
“There are hardly any occasions where I win 6-0, 6-0,” Segura said. “I just played really well. I was in the zone.”
Earlier Friday in the semifinals Segura saved a match point before edging 18-year-old Quinn Snyder of New Jersey 4-6, 7-5, 14-12. Ward, ranked No. 1,892 in singles, also needed to work to get to the final, beating former US Open doubles and mixed doubles competitor Brian Battistone of Las Vegas 6-4, 4-6 (10-2) in his semifinal.
“It’s amazing playing in front of all these amazing people,” Segura said after the final. “I like it here. The crowd here is amazing and it also kind of feels like a mini ATP event.”
Action from our “Wild Card” final at Sea Oaks in front of a crowd of several hundred. Matthew Segura (Pancho’s great nephew) “zoned” in a 6-0, 6-0 win over ATP-ranked Emmett Ward pic.twitter.com/ZSGZayayEe
— Vero Beach Futures (@VeroFutures) February 29, 2020
Segura’s double-handed ambidextrous game is very similar to his great uncle Pancho, a member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame who tutored his great-nephew for 10 years before his death in 2017. The young Segura also recently received tutoring from five-time US Open champion Jimmy Connors, who was a pupil of Pancho Segura during his tennis career.
Proceeds from the event benefit the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation, the non-profit tennis foundation benefiting at-risk children, named for Vero Beach native son Mardy Fish, the former top 10 tennis star and the current U.S. Davis Cup captain.
Tournament tickets and sponsorships for the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships are now on sale and can be purchased at www.MardyFishChildrensFoundation.org.
