NorCal's Brooksby reaches semifinals in UTR $25K

Jenson Brooksby has won all eight of his sets in his first
tournament as a professional. 2018 photo by Paul Bauman

   Jenson Brooksby of Carmichael, Calif., in the Sacramento area outclassed Dusty Boyer of Ham Lake, Min., 6-2, 6-3 today in the first-place playoff quarterfinals of the $25,000 UTR Pro Tennis Series in Newport Beach, Calif.

   Brooksby, 20, has won all eight of his sets in his first tournament as a professional. He is scheduled to play Tristan Boyer, a Stanford freshman from Altadena in the Los Angeles region. Brooksby defeated Boyer 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 to win the 2018 Easter Bowl in Indian Wells, Calif.

   In the other semifinal, former USC star Brandon Holt will meet UCLA junior Govind Nanda in a matchup of L.A.-area products.

   Holt, the son of International Tennis Hall of Famer Tracy Austin, routed qualifier Karl Lee, a UCLA signee from Sacramento, 6-2, 6-0. Nanda eliminated Nicolas Barrientos, a 33-year-old Colombian, 6-2, 6-3.

   In the second-place playoff quarterfinals, Keenan Mayo is slated to play Eric Hadigian on Friday in a clash of Sacramento-area players. Aidan Mayo, Keenan's younger brother, will take on Mousheg Hovhannisyan of Los Angeles.

   Meanwhile, Stanford senior Timothy Sah of San Diego beat qualifier Luke Casper, a Texas A&M signee from Santa Cruz, Calif., by walkover in a third-place playoff quarterfinal.

   ATP Tour — In a matchup of San Francisco Bay Area natives, sixth-seeded Sam Querrey beat Mackenzie McDonald 6-3, 6-4 in the first round of the Delray Beach (Fla.) Open.

   It was Querrey's first match since the ATP handed him a suspended fine of $20,000 for breaching the COVID-19 protocol in Russia in October, the first victory in singles or doubles since last January and first match against McDonald.

   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 2009 U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro in the quarterfinals for his only victory over a top-10 player.

   Querrey, ranked No. 56 after climbing to a career-high No. 11 in 2018, will meet Italy's Gianluca Mager, a 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 winner over U.S. wild card Ryan Harrison.

   WTA Tour — Fifth-seeded Shuko Aoyama and Ena Shibahara of Japan edged Andreja Klepac of Slovenia and Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 4-6, 7-5 [12-10] in the first round of the $565,530 Abu Dhabi WTA Women's Tennis Open. Shibahara, 22, was born in Mountain View in the Bay Area.