NorCal amateur Brooksby, 18, earns first pro title

Jenson Brooksby, practicing in Sacramento last May, routed No. 2 seed
Aleksandar Vukic of Australia 6-3, 6-1 on Sunday to win the $25,000
Bakersfield Tennis Open in Southern California. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Jenson Brooksby, an 18-year-old amateur from Carmichael in the Sacramento area, won his first professional title on Sunday.
   The wild card routed second-seeded Aleksandar Vukic of Australia 6-3, 6-1 in the final of the $25,000 Bakersfield Tennis Open in Southern California.
   Brooksby, who's listed at 6-foot-1 (1.85 meters) and only 140 pounds (64 kilograms), lost no more than six games in four of his five matches.
   However, Brooksby barely survived in the second round against unseeded Alexander Ritschard, a 24-year-old Swiss native who starred at Virginia and plays for the United States. Brooksby prevailed 6-7 (2), 7-5, 7-6 (5) in 3 hours, 7 minutes but did not face a match point.
   Brooksby won the USTA Boys 18 National Championships in Kalamazoo, Mich. last August to earn an automatic wild card in the main draw of the U.S. Open, losing to Australian veteran John Millman 6-4, 6-2, 6-0 in oppressive humidity in the first round. Millman went on to stun Roger Federer in the fourth round before losing to eventual champion Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals.
   Brooksby plans to enroll at Baylor in Waco, Texas, in the fall or January 2020.