Delray Beach Tennis – US Open Finalist Leylah Fernandez, Bryan Bros. Among Four Sets of Siblings Playing Opening Weekend • Sponsored by VITACOST.com

By Witherspoon
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Updated: December 18, 2021

US Open finalist Lelyah Fernandez will play in Delray Beach. EPA-EFE/JUSTIN LANE

Opening weekend at the 2022 Delray Beach Open by VITACOST.com will feature US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez and six-time Delray Beach Open doubles champions Bob and Mike Bryan along with the annual ATP Champions Tour event and qualifying for the ATP 250 tournament on February 11-13th.

As one of four sets of siblings competing in Delray Beach on opening weekend, the Bryans will take part in the event’s first-ever mixed doubles match at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, February 13. Bob will partner with Boynton Beach’s Fernandez while his twin brother Mike will team up with the US Open finalist’s 17-year-old sister Bianca.

The Bryans’ participation in the mixed doubles match will come after they return to Delray Beach to take part in the ATP Champions Tour event for the second time. They will be joined by another pair of brothers in Luke and Murphy Jensen along with James and Thomas Blake. Two former Delray Beach Open singles champions – two-time winner Jan-Michael Gambill and 2006 champion Tommy Haas – as well as former ATP stars Jesse Levine and Scoville Jenkins round out the field for the three-day ATP Champions Tour event.

Leylah defeated two former World No. 1s and two top five players to reach the US Open final in September shortly after turning 19. In March, she claimed her first WTA title as an 18-year-old without dropping a set in Monterrey. She also won the 2019 French Open junior title.

Bianca, who is younger than Leylah by two years, captured the J4 Guatemala\Copa Universidad Galileo girls’ title in 2020 and was a quarterfinalist at ITF/Tennis Europe’s tournament in Prokuplje in July. The Canadian sisters have an Ecuadorian father and Filipino mother.

The Bryan Brothers are six-time doubles champions in the ATP 250 event, holding a 30-7 career record in Delray Beach. They are the winningest team in the history of the sport with 119 titles, including 16 Major titles. The Bryans, who finished as the No. 1 doubles team 10 times, are also the only doubles or singles players to sweep all four Grand Slams, nine ATP Masters 1000 events, the ATP Finals and Olympics, winning gold in London (2012) and bronze in Beijing (2008). Mike is older than Bob by two minutes.

US brothers Bob (L) and Mike Bryan (R) return the ball during the Davis Cup match against Spain. EPA/Alberto Morante

The Jensen Brothers played the ATP Tour event eight times, making the final in 1997 after going on a semifinal run in 1996. Following their 1993 French Open doubles title, Luke and Murphy finished the season as the No. 5 doubles duo on the ATP Tour. Luke, who is older than Murphy by two years, won an additional six titles with four other partners during his career.

James Blake is making his fourth appearance on the ATP Champions Tour in Delray Beach and first with brother Thomas. James, who finished as a two-time singles finalist in Delray Beach, is one of nine players in tournament history to play the event with a top 10 ranking when he was No. 6 in 2007. Thomas, James’ older brother by three years, is a former Harvard All-American that made two US Open doubles appearances in 1999 and 2002. The Blakes won their first event as a doubles duo at Winnetka in 1999 on the ATP Challenger Tour.

Tommy Haas held a career-high ranking of No. 2 in the world and captured 15 titles on the ATP Tour. He is also a three-time Australian Open semifinalist and a three-time US Open quarterfinalist. Claiming the singles title in Delray Beach in 2006 in his tournament debut, Haas currently holds the fifth-most appearances in tournament history with nine.

Jan -Michael Gambill, a seven-time veteran of the ATP 250 event, is making his second appearance on the ATP Champions Tour in Delray Beach. Winning the singles titles in 2001 and 2003 in the ATP 250 event, Gambill became the tournament’s second two-time champion. In addition to his singles title in 2001, he partnered with Tennis Hall of Famer Andy Roddick to win the doubles title in the same year. That allowed Gambill to become the second player in tournament history to win the singles and doubles title in the same season.

A four-time veteran of both the ATP Champions and ATP 250 event in Delray Beach, Levine won five career Challenger titles in eight finals. Levine also reached a career-high ranking of No. 69 in 2012. Before turning pro, Levine put together a 24-1 freshman record during an All-American season in 2006-07 at the University of Florida, awarded the National Rookie of the Year in the process. Levine currently serves as the tennis director at Boca Bridges. Jenkins, who is making his first appearance on the ATP Champions Tour, became the first African American to win the Boys’ 18 USTA National Hard Court singles championship in 2004. He made his lone appearance in Delray Beach in 2007 and made coaching stints at Oklahoma State, Wisconsin, Washington and Kennesaw State after his playing days. He is currently a tennis professional at The Club at Ibis in West Palm Beach.

The opening weekend schedule is as follows:

Friday, Feb. 116 p.m.: Tommy Haas vs. Jan-Michael Gambill8 p.m.: Bryan Brothers vs. Blake Brothers
Saturday, Feb. 1210 a.m.: ATP 250 QualifyingFollowed by: ATP 250 QualifyingNot Before 1:30 p.m.: Bryan Brothers vs. Jesse Levine/Scovillle JenkinsFollowed by: ATP 250 QualifyingNight Session6 p.m.: Jensen Brothers vs. Jesse Levine/Jan-Michael Gambill8 p.m.: Tommy Haas vs. James Blake
Sunday, Feb. 1311 a.m.: ATP 250 QualifyingNot Before 12:30 p.m.: Tommy Haas/Jan-Michael Gambill vs. Jensen Brothers2:30 p.m.: Bob Bryan/Leylah Fernandez vs. Mike Bryan/Bianca Fernandez

Tickets are available at YellowTennisBall.com and at the on-site box office (561-330-6000, 30 NW 1st Ave., Delray Beach FL 33444) with individual tickets starting at just $33.