Brooksby ousts top seed Seyboth Wild in Tallahassee

Jenson Brooksby reached the quarterfinals of his
first clay-court tournament in two years. 2018
photo by Paul Bauman

   Jenson Brooksby seemed to be at a disadvantage in almost every respect today against Thiago Seyboth Wild.

   As usual, none of it mattered as the 20-year-old resident of Carmichael, Calif., in the Sacramento area, prevailed 7-6 (6), 6-4 to reach the quarterfinals of the $52,080 Tallahassee Tennis Challenger on green clay.

   Brooksby, who turned pro in December, improved to 16-2 in Challengers this year with a seven-match winning streak.

   Seyboth Wild, a 21-year-old Brazilian:

   —Was seeded first at No. 124 in the world. Brooksby is ranked a career-high No. 194.

   —Grew up on clay. Brooksby grew up on hardcourts and is playing in his first clay-court tournament in two years.

   —Was fresher, having played only doubles on Tuesday while Brooksby battled 17-year-old wild card Martin Damm, a 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter left-hander), for 2 hours, 30 minutes. Furthermore, Brooksby won last week's $52,080 Orlando (Fla.) Open on hardcourts.

   —Saved four set points to send the first set to a tiebreaker, in which Brooksby netted an overhead to trail 1-4 and faced two set points at 4-6. 

   Brooksby recorded the only service break of the second set in the opening game. Seyboth Wild escaped two match points to hold for 4-5, but Brooksby held at 15 on Seyboth Wild's netted forehand for the match.

   Brooksby saved the only break point against him in the match and converted only one of eight break- point opportunities. He is set to play eighth-seeded Michael Mmoh of Bradenton, Fla., on Friday. Mmoh, who won the $100,000 Tiburon Challenger in 2018, dispatched wild card Ryan Harrison of Atlanta 6-4, 6-3.

   In the first round of doubles, second-seeded Treat Huey, a Washington, D.C., native who plays for the Philippines, and Sem Verbeek (University of the Pacific, 2013-16) of the Netherlands beat N.Sriram Balaji and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan of India 6-4, 7-5.

   The tournament is being streamed live.