NorCal's Brooksby ends long layoff, breezes in pro debut

Jenson Brooksby, 20, dominated in his first
match since November 2019. 2018 photo
by Paul Bauman

   Jenson Brooksby, making his professional debut, routed Alex Sarkissian 6-0, 6-3 today in the round-robin phase of the $25,000 UTR Pro Tennis Series in Newport Beach, Calif.

   Brooksby, a 20-year-old resident of Carmichael, Calif., in the Sacramento area, and Sarkissian, 30, of Glendale in the Los Angeles region met for the first time.

   Because of injuries and the COVID-19 pandemic, it was Brooksby's first match since a three-set loss to Marcos Giron in the third round of the $162,480 Houston Challenger in November 2019.

   Brooksby won the 2018 USTA 18-and-under national championship in Kalamazoo, Mich., and reached the second round of the 2019 U.S. Open as a qualifier, shocking 2010 Wimbledon runner-up Tomas Berdych.

   Sarkissian is ranked No. 432 after climbing to a career-high No. 157 in 2016. The former Pepperdine star advanced to the 2014 NCAA singles final, falling to UCLA's Giron.

   Brooksby is scheduled to play Miles Jones, a 20-year-old qualifier from Marina Del Rey in the L.A. area, on Tuesday in the second of three round-robin rounds.

   Jones lost to Alafia Ayeni, a Cornell senior from San Diego, 7-5, 6-1.

   Keenan Mayo, a Loyola Marymount junior from Roseville in the Sacramento area, and Tristan Boyer, a Stanford freshman from Altadena in the L.A. region, improved to 2-0 in round-robin play.

   Mayo outplayed Martin Redlicki, a former UCLA star who won NCAA doubles titles in 2016 and 2018, 6-3, 6-3. Boyer beat Spencer Johnson, a UCLA signee from Ladera in the San Francisco Bay Area, 6-4, 6-2.

   Eric Hadigian, a Gonzaga sophomore from Sacramento, improved to 1-1 with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Alec Adamson, a former UC Davis standout from Corona Del Mar near Newport Beach. Adamson fell to 0-2.

   Qualifier Luke Casper, a Texas A&M signee from Santa Cruz, Calif., opened with a 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 win over Ethan Quinn of Fresno, Calif. Quinn won the Orange Bowl 16-and-under doubles title last month.

   In another opener, Nicolas Barrientos, a 33-year-old Colombian, topped Aidan Mayo, a high school senior and Keenan's brother, 6-2, 6-4.

   Timothy Sah, a Stanford senior from San Diego, lost to Daniel De Jonge, a Pepperdine junior from the Netherlands, 6-1, 7-6 (1) to fall to 0-2.

   Qualifier Karl Lee, a UCLA signee from Sacramento, was scheduled to play Humberto Lopez of Mexico in a late match. 

   ATP Tour — Bay Area natives Sam Querrey, 33, and Mackenzie McDonald, 25, are slated to open their 2021 seasons against each other in the Delray Beach (Fla.) Open this week. It will be their first career meeting.

   Both the 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) Querrey and the 5-foot-10 (1.78-meter) McDonald have starred in Delray Beach. Querrey won the 2016 title and reached the 2008 semifinals. McDonald advanced to his first ATP semifinal in Delray Beach in 2019, stunning Juan Martin del Potro in the quarterfinals for his only victory over a top-10 player.

    In an interview posted on si.com today, Querrey discussed why he, his wife and their 8-month-old son fled Russia in October after testing positive for COVID-19. Ten weeks later, the ATP handed Querrey a suspended fine of $20,000 for what it called "a serious breach of protocol."