Mardy Fish Pro Circuit: Underdog Jayce Lyeons wins dramatic semifinal to reach championship
It was the match of the tournament: Three hours, 18 minutes with twists, turns, smashed rackets, thrown rackets and a questionable line call on one of the match points at the Vero Beach Tennis & Fitness Club.
With rain falling and thunder rolling on the final points, underdog Jaycer Lyeons rallied from a set down to defeat former University of Florida star Duarte Vale 3-6, 7-6 (9-7), 7-5 in the semifinals of the $15,000 Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships.
“I tried to keep my mind in it,’’ said Lyeons, a last-minute entrant as a wildcard into the draw. “The momentum swings were crazy. I was just trying to find my center.’’
In Sunday’s Finals, Lyeons will face the University of Miami’s Dan Martin to conclude the wet week on green clay.
A Houston resident who attended Tyler Community College, Lyeons had quit playing competitive tennis for 18 months after graduating in 2021 to teach the sport. He only got back on the pro circuit 8 months ago and moved to Miami.
As the last player accepted to the draw, Lyeons’ entry ranking was a low 1,331. The “Futures’’ circuit is the bottom rung of professional tennis after Challengers and ATP Masters events.
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Previously, Lyeons knocked out the top seed, Adrian Boitan, in a match that lasted two days because of the rain during which he saved three match points.
Lyeons saved another match point in Saturday’s semifinal after he had blown his own two match points. Leading 6-4 in the tiebreaker, he fell behind 6-7.
Lyeons, 22, pulled out the tiebreaker 9-7 and stormed to a 5-2 lead in the third set.
That’s when the wildest moments occurred. Lyeons charged up love-40 on Vale’s serve and blew three straight match points and lost the game.
Lyeons took his racket and smashed it against the clay, cracking the frame and receiving an umpire warning.
Vale charged back to tie the third set at 5 before Lyeons settled down. His superior court movement was too much for Vale, who had so dictated the match in the first set with a booming forehand..
“My mind was racing,’’ said Lyeons. “I released my energy to my poor racket, unfortunately for the racket. But it got the nervous energy out of me and I got back to my baseline and it went my way.’’
The drama lasted until the very end. On match point at 6-5, Lyeons thought it was over when he hit a crosscourt winner. But the umpire got out of the high chair to check the mark in the clay and saw something.
Lyeons didn’t see, began walking over to that end of the court to see for himself. The umpire stopped the player, saying he wasn’t allowed on the other side.
“Where is the mark?’’ Lyeons shouted.
Finally on his sixth match point, Lyeons closed it out with a backhand winner on the line minutes. Minutes later, a downpour ensued.
“I was really hoping not,’’ Lyeons said. “So much craziness happening, I just wanted to get it done today. I’m happy to finish it. A lot of things were going on.’’
Lyeons victory spoiled a Finals showdown between Florida and the University of Miami.
Sunday’s opponent, Martin, played four years at Dartmouth, then used his final year of eligibility provided by the Covid-19 wipeout at Miami to get his masters in sports administration.
Martin, 26th in the college rankings, will head to the NCAA Tournament in late May. Then the 23-year-olld Romanian, who had 7 aces in his 7-5, 6-1 victory over Jacob Brumm, has visions on becoming full-time on the tour.
Martin wasn’t the only former Dartmouth player to create tennis waves in Vero Beach.
James Bragg, a Vero Beach resident who is 53 years old, became the third-oldest player to ever compete in a professional men’s tennis tournament Saturday when he played his first-round doubles match.
In fact, tournament officials believe it’s the first pro circuit event to have a teenaged player (16-year-old Roy Horovitz), players in their 20’s, 30’s, 40’s (42-year-old Ryan Haviland)) and 50’s.
Bragg, who played at Dartmouth in the early 1970’s, was partnered with Sea Oaks teaching pro Ching Wang. The duo was defeated by Roberto Cidsubervyi-Sathi Reddy, 6-2, 6-0.
Afterward, Reddy, 33, said to tournamenmt director Randy Walker in the oncourt interview Bragg “was really inspiring to watch him come out at that age. I don’t think I’ll ever be that fit at that age.’’
While Bragg was giving an interview, a tournament official came up to him and said, “They’re making it sound like you’re four feet in the grave. You’re only 53.’’
Bragg, a financial analyst, captured a wildcard berth in a tournament by winning a tournament the week before with the winner granted an entry. ““It was very thrilling my first pro event at 53. Just to get in,’’ said Bragg, who moved to Vero Beach in 2020 and plays at the Boulevard.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Mardy Fish Pro Circuit: Underdog Jayce Lyeons reaches championship
