Brooksby romps to title in first tournament as pro

Before this week, Jenson Brooksby had not played a 
match in 14 months. 2018 photo by Paul Bauman 

   Jenson Brooksby dominated in his first week as a professional, even after a long layoff.

   The 20-year-old resident of Carmichael, Calif., in the Sacramento area bulldozed Brandon Holt of Rolling Hills in the Los Angeles region 6-1, 6-3 today to win the $25,000 UTR Pro Tennis Series in Newport Beach, Calif.

   Brooksby did not lose a set in six matches, surrendered more than three games in a set only once and evened his record against Holt, the son of International Tennis Hall of Famer Tracy Austin, at 1-1.

   Before this week, Brooksby had not played a match since November 2019 — shortly after stunning 2010 Wimbledon runner-up Tomas Berdych to reach the second round of the U.S. Open as a qualifier — because of injuries and COVID-19 ending the collegiate season in mid-March. He turned pro last month, never having played a match in his two months as a Baylor University freshman.

   Brooksby pocketed $4,000 in the singles-only UTR tournament, and Holt earned $2,200. The bad news is that the non-sanctioned tournament does not affect their world rankings of No. 310 and No. 577, respectively.

   Meanwhile, Joshua Ortlip of Irvine, near Los Angeles, defeated Eric Hadigian, a Gonzaga University sophomore from Sacramento, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-3 in the final of the second-place playoff.

   Timothy Sah, a Stanford senior from San Diego, routed Miles Jones of Marina Del Rey in the L.A. region 6-3, 6-0 in the final of the third-place playoff.

   UTR Pro Women — Katie Volynets, a 19-year-old pro from Walnut Creek in the San Francisco Bay Area, outclassed Leyden Games, a USC signee from Irvine, 6-2, 6-2 in a round-robin opener in the $25,000 UTR Pro Tennis Series in Newport Beach.

    Scheduled to begin play on Monday are Bay Area residents Vivan Ovrootsky and Madison Weekley — who are headed to the University of Texas and Saint Mary's, respectively, in 2022 — and Priya Nelson, a high school sophomore from Sacramento.

   Australian Open qualifying — Lu Jia-Jing of China overwhelmed Jovana Jovic, a Sacramento resident from Serbia, 6-1, 6-2 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

   No. 16 seed Mayar Sherif (Fresno State, 2015-16) of Egypt is slated to play Akiko Omae of Japan in a qualifying opener on Monday. 

   The Australian Open is scheduled for Feb. 8-21, three weeks later than usual, at its traditional home in Melbourne. 

   ATP Tour — Mackenzie McDonald, a 25-year-old product of Piedmont in the Bay Area, and Tommy Paul beat Nicholas Monroe and Frances Tiafoe 6-3, 6-1 in an all-American quarterfinal in the Delray Beach (Fla.) Open.

   McDonald and Paul are set to face Ariel Behar of Uruguay and Gonzalo Escobar of Ecuador on Tuesday. Both teams are unseeded.

   Andres Molteni of Argentina and Hugo Nys of Monaco eliminated Austin Krajicek of Plano, Texas, and Sam Querrey, a 33-year-old San Francisco native, 6-3, 6-4.