Tennis: Will Grant ready to step up at Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation tournament
VERO BEACH — Will Grant is ready to make his own mark in tennis.
He hopes to accomplish that by winning his first pro title this weekend at the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation $15,000 ITF World Tennis Tour event on the clay at Timber Ridge. If he does, Grant, would be the first in his family to do so.
His big brother, Michael Grant, who was part of four consecutive national championship teams at the University of Southern California with former ATP favorite Stevie Johnson, never won a pro singles title and topped out at 750th in 2016.
Will is already ranked 738 so check that box off. He also played No. 2 doubles for the NCAA national championship University of Florida tennis team in 2021 along with breakout star Ben Shelton, now ranked 15th after a meteoric rise and semifinal finish at last year’s U.S. Open.
Another brother, Christopher, went 20-1 in doubles in his senior year at Columbia University but reached a career-high of 1735 during a brief attempt at the pros. Michael and Christopher (known as Booie) did win an ITF F-1 doubles title in Mozambique in 2016.
Will has already won two $15K doubles titles in Champaign, Illinois, and Serbia with partners Tyler Zinc and Axel Nefve respectively last year, so scratch that one off, too.
Will has surpassed his brothers in juniors, winning his first Gold Ball by winning the USTA National Hard Courts 12s with fifth-year Duke standout Garrett Johns, his second-seeded semifinal opponent Saturday and his housemate all week.
Will also won the National Hard Courts 16s’ doubles in 2016 with Zinc. In 2019, he fell to Carlos Alcaraz 8-6 in the third round of Junior Wimbledon.
“I don’t like to talk about that,’’ laughed Grant. “Carlos was 16 and I was 18, and he was already No. 1 in the world [last year].”
Michael, now 32, did post minor league wins over young Stefanos Tsitispas (ranked third last year) on his home turf of Greece in 2015 and a victory over Brit Dan Evans (ranked 21st last year) in 2016 outside of London, where Michael and Will were also born before moving to Santa Barbara, California, when Will was 4.
“I’m trying to make my own way. We still keep in touch and Ben is definitely a role model for all of us,’’ said Grant, who moved to Boca Raton at 14 to train at the USTA Training Center before it moved to Orlando. “It’s amazing what he’s doing. Hopefully, I can get out of these Futures levels and start playing with him. That would be great.”
After college, Grant has reunited with his childhood British tennis coach Damion Jackson, who gave him his first lesson when he was 3. Early Friday evening, Jackson watched his fifth-seeded disciple gut out a three-set slugfest, 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 over 27-year-old wild card Chad Kissell, of Wichita, Kansas, to reach the semifinals.
Jackson, who has coached all four Grant brothers, believes Will has the tools to join Shelton on tennis’ biggest stages.
“That match was all heart as he wasn’t feeling that great from a physical standpoint,’’ Jackson said. “I’m really proud of the way he dug deep in this match and played with a lot of courage in the back end of the last set.
“He has got the tools and I definitely think he has the strength. Technically, I think he’s in good stead, but you just got to get the belief.’’
Those tools include a monstrous, inside-out forehand and speed, as well as a fiery on-court personality. They all came in handy serving at 3-4, 15-40 of the third set, when Grant came up with a sensational drop volley to save the first break point. He followed that with a timely serve-and-volley winner on the next one.
“Toward the end of the match we don’t try to think too much, you just try to play off feel and base it off reaction,’’ he said. “I came up with the goods when I needed it. That’s how tennis is. Sometimes it goes your way.”
Grant is hoping it goes his way and wins his first pro title after three final berths in ITF $15,000 tournaments, including two consecutively last year in which he was beaten by Canadian Liam Draxl, a two-time semifinalist here now ranked 268.
“I’m trying to get over that hump,’’ he said. “Like my dad [Geoff] always said, tennis is like a boxing match out there. Just keep sort of punching each other and see who the last one standing is.”
To get that elusive title Grant would have to knock out the 448th-ranked Johns, who won three ITF $15K singles titles and four ITF $25,000 doubles championships in 2023. He has yet to drop a set this week and owns bragging rights for a collegiate doubles victory over Grant.
“I beat him in a 10-point tiebreaker, so I got his number right now,’’ smiled Johns, an Atlanta native who is moving to Boca Raton near Grant where he often sleeps on his couch. The two shared a Carrabbas Italian dinner on the eve of their match and talked about everything except tennis.
“He’s my oldest friend in tennis, since the 10s,” Grant said. “I’ll have to play my brand of tennis to be aggressive when I can. In the tough moments, I’ll have to grind.”
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: mardy fish tennis tournament will grant
