Austin's son routs Altamirano in Fairfield Challenger

Brandon Holt, the son of International Tennis Hall of Famer
Tracy Austin, dismissed Collin Altamirano of Sacramento 6-2,
6-2 today in the first round of the Fairfield (Calif.) Challenger.
2018 photo by Paul Bauman

   Collin Altamirano's stay in the Fairfield (Calif.) Challenger didn't last long.
   Playing 56 miles (90 kilometers) from his home in Sacramento, the 23-year-old Altamirano lost to Brandon Holt, a 21-year-old wild card from Rolling Hills in the Los Angeles area, 6-2, 6-2 in the first round of the $108,320 NorthBay Healthcare Men's Pro Championship.
   The match at Solano Community College lasted only 58 minutes. Altamirano is not entered in doubles.
   Holt, a USC senior and the son of International Tennis Hall of Famer Tracy Austin, has never lost a set in three career matches against Altamirano. Aside from one tiebreaker, Holt hasn't dropped more than two games in a set against Altamirano.
   Holt is scheduled to play fourth-seeded Taro Daniel, who trains in Bradenton, Fla., but plays for Japan, for the first time on Tuesday at about 2 p.m. All 16 seeds received first-round byes.
   Daniel, 26, reached the quarterfinals last week in Tokyo on the ATP Tour to rise 16 notches to No. 111. He was born in New York to an American father, Paul, and Japanese mother, Yasue. The family moved to Japan when Taro was an infant and to Spain when he was 14.
   Paul Daniel grew up in Santa Cruz, Calif., a two-hour drive south of Fairfield, and Taro spent summers there until he was 15 or 16.
   "It basically feels like home, my first home," Daniel told the Santa Cruz Sentinel during the $81,240 Aptos (Calif.) Challenger in August.
   In Tuesday's featured night match, top-seeded Steve Johnson, 29, of Redondo Beach in the Los Angeles region will play Michael Mmoh, 21, of Bradenton not before 7 p.m.
   Mmoh, the son of former journeyman pro Tony Mmoh of Nigeria, beat countryman Evan Zhu, an ex-UCLA star who won the 2018 NCAA doubles title with Martin Redlicki, 6-4, 6-3.
   Second-seeded Denis Kudla, 27, of Arlington, Va., will meet Zachary Svajda, a 16-year-old wild card from San Diego, on Wednesday at a time to be determined.
   Svajda, who won the USTA boys 18 singles title in August to earn an automatic wild card in the U.S. Open, defeated 6-foot-8 (2.03-meter) Michael Redlicki, Martin's older brother, 7-6 (5), 6-2.
   Both Kudla and Svajda, made news in the U.S. Open. Kudla reached the third round, losing to defending champion Novak Djokovic in straight sets, and Svajda extended Paolo Lorenzi, a 37-year-old Italian, to five sets in the first round.
   In the first round at 10 a.m., Sebastian Fanselow of Germany will play Bradenton resident Sebastian Korda, the 19-year-old son of former world No. 2 Petr Korda. Fanselow, a 27-year-old former Pepperdine All-American, has reached the Fairfield quarterfinals as a qualifier in each of the past two years.
   In the final round of Fairfield qualifying, Sem Verbeek, a former University of the Pacific standout from the Netherlands, beat Dennis Novikov, a 25-year-old San Jose product, 6-2, 7-6 (0).
   Here are the Fairfield singles and doubles draws and Tuesday's schedule.