Wall Street's Tennis Championship: Inside the 2026 Finance Cup in Marbella

Written by:

Christine Schott

Photographs © Jennie Kumlin

06/26/2026

During the week they’re running hedge funds and private equity firms, but come the weekend, they’re back on court. The 2026 Finance Cup, an annual tournament that brings together former professional and top collegiate tennis players now working in finance, returned this year on June 12-13 at the Rafa Nadal Academy in Marbella, Spain.

Organized by Palm Beach County’s Jeffrey Appel and Europe’s David Anving, the event pits Team USA against Team Europe in a Ryder Cup-style competition that has become one of the sport’s most exclusive reunions.

A 2025 Eastern Tennis Hall of Fame inductee, who heads the alternative investment firm JDA Funds Management, Inc and serves as a special advisor and head of capital formation for Palm Beach based Snowpoint Ventures, Appel has spent decades helping more than 130 former professional and collegiate players transition from competitive tennis to careers on Wall Street. “This year, we had a beautiful venue and perfect weather,” he said. “There were a few new additions to the group that elevated the level of play and made for another successful event.”

This year’s Open finalists are Former World No. 3 Milos Raonic and Palm Beach’s Louis Samson, Co-President of Platinum Equity, who fell 7-6 to Brian Compton and Kevin Kim in a closely contested championship match. The tournament alternates each year between Europe and the United States.

“Louis Samson is a fabulous athlete. He was a highly ranked junior tennis player in Canada, played college football, is a 3-handicap in golf, and has a son playing professional soccer. He’s not just a tennis-only nerd like the rest of us,” quipped Appel.

Last summer, players gathered on the historic grass courts of the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island. This year, the action unfolded on the red clay courts of Marbella, Spain.

Rafa Nadal Academy in Marbella, Spain

The event sits at the unique intersection of world-class tennis and top-tier finance, bringing together approximately 60 former professional and collegiate players, many of whom now lead some of the world’s most prominent investment firms and financial institutions. Among this year’s participants were:

Bill Ackman – Founder & CIO, Pershing Square Capital Management
Rob Pohly – Founder & CIO, Samlyn Capital
Christer Gardell – Founder & CIO, Cevian Capital
Per Franzen – Managing Partner & CEO, EQT
Louis Samson – Co-President, Platinum Equity
Ian McKinnon – Former Managing Partner and CIO of Ziff Brothers Investments; Founding Partner of Team8/Laver Cup
AJ Rohde – Senior Partner, Thoma Bravo; Head of Middle Market Business & Funds
John Doran – General Partner, CEO of TCV
Loïc Féry – Founder & CIO, Chenavari
Mark Woolley – Former CIO, BlackRock Alternative Advisors

Milos Raonic – ATP #3 Singles
Mario Ančić – ATP #7 Singles
Karel Novacek – ATP #8, #25 Doubles
Vasek Pospisil – ATP #25 Singles, #4 Doubles
Amer Delić – ATP #60 Singles, #74 Doubles
Kevin Kim – ATP #63 Singles, #118 Doubles
Ricky Meyer – ATP #83 Singles, #103 Doubles
Mark Kaplan – ATP #117 Singles
Albert Chang – ATP #140 Singles
Michael Yani – ATP #143 Singles
Alberto Francis – ATP #275 Singles, #225 Doubles
Ludovic Walter – ATP #279 Singles, #325 Doubles
John Doran – ATP #375 Singles, #253 Doubles
Byron Talbot – ATP #20 Doubles
Henrique Jan Davids – ATP #26 Doubles

2026 Finance Cup Open Winners (R) Brian Compton & Kevin Kim; (L) Runners-up Louis Samson & Milos Raonic

Host Christer Gardell with Bill Ackman at the Event Dinner at Marbella Club

Milos Raonic, who now works full-time in Goldman Sachs’ Technology Equity Research Group, hits a backhand as he showed he still looks strong on-court

Jeffrey Appel (center) with Team Managers and two of his favorite mentees, Tim Wang (Columbia Tennis, Goldman Sachs, TJC); and Sameer Kumar (Stanford Tennis, BAML, Thoma Bravo)