Boca Raton's Blu Baker wins Mardy Fish Tennis Championship for second career ITF pro title
VERO BEACH – Blu Baker has dominated the weekly Battle of Boca UTR cash tournaments with a record-13 titles.
On a picturesque Sunday afternoon at the Vero Beach Tennis and Fitness Club, Baker found himself in another Battle of Boca of sorts, in that both he and his finalist counterpart, the seventh seeded Will Grant, were born in the United Kingdom but eventually have settled in tennis-rich Boca Raton.
Only this time it was the finals of the 30th Mardy Fish Children’s Tennis Championships, an ITF-USTA $ 15,000 Pro Circuit tournament and instead of just cash, the similar-style 6-foot-3 powerhouses were playing for career-building ATP ranking points (10 for the winner and 6 for the loser).
All the proceeds of the tournament go to benefit at-risk children in Indian River County for their after-school care and to provide healthy activities in summer programs.
Baker, 23, had all the answers to Grant’s formidable serves and inside-out forehands, combining his own mixture of Novak Djokovic-type defense and laser forehands down the line in winning 7-6 (3), 6-4 for his second career ITF pro title, but first since September 2022, coincidentally in Boca Raton.
Baker missed all of 2024, dealing with elbow surgery, a ruptured eardrum and mononucleosis.
“I just try to fight until the end and that’s what I did today and yesterday and I’m going to carry on for the rest of my career,’’ said Baker, whose mother Tessa, 86-year-old British grandmother June Tremblett and girlfriend Mia drove in from Bonita Springs to watch the match.
“I haven’t played a full season in my whole life so for me to come out here and do this, it’s the dream come true.
“This is just one step to be the best and steps you need to take to be the best. I haven’t had the opportunity to take the steps so now I’m finally getting the chance, knock on wood, nothing else happens.”
“I taught him everything he knows and backwards,’’ joked grandma Tremblett.
Baker is the second Brit to win the Vero Beach Future’s event, as 14th-ranked Kyle Edmund won it in 2013. Baker, who was born in Portsmouth, UK., about six months before Grant and 90-minutes away from London where his American opponent was born.
Baker, who grew up attending Wimbledon with his father and played in Junior Wimbledon in 2018 and ’19 as a wild card 87th-ranked junior, hopes to play in the main draw someday.
“I was eight years old and sat on the outside courts at Wimbledon next to Pat Rafter [winner of two US Opens] and he looked at me and said I looked like a surfer dude with my long blonde hair and tan. I said I played tennis and he was like, ‘Wow, that’s amazing!’ ”
His father, Kevin, remained home to run the family’s Portsmouth Tennis Academy, where Baker honed his strokes from ages 3-10. Baker eventually moved to Naples and trained at the Gomez Tennis Academy until he was 20. Baker now works out at the One Tennis Academy in Boca Raton.
Grant, 24, who snapped his dubious streak of eight consecutive losses in semifinals, was unable to win his first title in four final berths. After several breaks of serve, Grant, ranked 692nd, served for the opening set up 30-0, however, Baker ripped a forehand passing shot and after a long baseline rally Grant committed one of his 13 unforced errors to make it 5-5.
In the eventual tiebreaker, at 3-3, Grant was bothered by a ringing cell phone in the packed crowd and proceeded to drop the last four points to hand Baker the set.
“I think that Will has more firepower on his strokes, but he has to learn to play the important moments a little better, a bit more offensive while maintaining his emotional stability,’’ said Grant’s coach Antonio Fernandez, who trains him at the Pro World Tennis Academy in Delray Beach. “Baker was a little bit more consistent.”
In the second set, Grant cut down on his errors and once again went up a break at 4-2 before Baker broke him right back when he returned a drop shot with a rocket backhand down the line. Then at 4-4, 15-40 with Grant serving, Baker won a protracted backhand rally with a delicate slice angled off the line for a 5-4 lead.
“It was a great weekend for me and congrats to Blu, it was a great week for him as I know what he’s been going through the last couple of years, so it means a lot to him,’’ Grant said in the trophy presentation before bolting with his parents.
While serving for the match Baker faced a break point at 30-40 but Grant hit an errant backhand. On his second match point, Baker clinched the $ 2,175 first prize with a bullet inside-out forehand winner and then dropped a racket while raising his arms in glee.
Baker gets his name engraved on the Mike Frahaley Memorial Trophy, the founder of the event in 1995.
“This is what I’ve been needing to kind of wake me up and bring a little bit of self-belief,’’ he said. “When you’re out of the sport for so long it goes away and the confidence goes away. Now, all of a sudden, it’s aligned so let’s keep going with it.”
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Boca Raton’s Blu Baker wins Mardy Fish Tennis Championship
