Brooksby, 20, wins his first grass-court match ever

Jenson Brooksby of Carmichael, Calif., in the Sac-
ramento area made his ATP Tour main-draw debut
and recorded his second tour-level win. 2021 photo
courtesy of USTA

   New surface and level, same result.

   Jenson Brooksby, a 20-year-old resident of Carmichael, Calif., in the Sacramento area, defeated Evgeny Donskoy, 31, of Russia 7-5, 6-3 today in the first round of the Hall of Fame Open in Newport, R.I.

   It was Brooksby's first match ever on grass, first in the main draw on the ATP World Tour and first since withdrawing from the quarterfinals of the $52,080 Orlando (Fla.) Challenger 2 with a right arm injury five weeks ago.

   Brooksby recorded his second tour-level victory, having stunned 2010 Wimbledon runner-up Tomas Berdych in the first round of the 2019 U.S. Open as a qualifier.

   Brooksby has won three Challenger tournaments this year and reached the final of another. He improved to 29-6 overall, including a first-round loss to No. 24 seed Aslan Karatsev in the French Open as a qualifier, since turning pro in December.

   "I try to treat every match the same," Brooksby, who will rise at least three notches to No. 149, said on atptour.com. "But I want to prove that I can do the same things at all the ATP Tour events as I've done at the Challengers so far. I'm very motivated to prove myself and for everybody to see how well I can do here. I'm pushing for that."

   Brooksby faces a tough assignment on Wednesday against Denis Kudla of Arlington, Va. Kudla, the runner-up in the 2015 Tiburon (Calif.) Challenger, outlasted No. 6 seed and 2018 Newport champion Steve Johnson 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-4.

   Kudla, 28, reached the third round at Wimbledon as a qualifier two weeks ago, losing to eventual champion Novak Djokovic 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (7). Kudla also advanced to the fourth round at Wimbledon in 2015. 

   Brooksby beat Kudla 6-3, 6-3 in the final of the $52,080 Orlando Challenger 1 on a hardcourt in April in their only previous meeting.

   In the opening round of Newport doubles, Hunter Reese of Knoxville, Tenn., and Sem Verbeek (University of the Pacific, 2013-16) of the Netherlands defeated Peter Gojowczyk of Germany and Bernabe Zapata Miralles of Spain 6-1, 7-5.

   USTA Pro Circuit — No. 9 seed Sabastiani Leon (San Jose State, 2011-14) of San Diego routed Sumvruta Iyengar from Prosper, Texas, in the Dallas-Fort Worth region 6-0, 6-1 in first-round qualifying in the $25,000 Women's Hospital Classic in Evansville, Ind.

   Juniors — Top-seeded Emon van Loben Sels of Sacramento beat James Lian of Parsippany, N.J., 6-2, 7-5 in the second round of the USTA Boys 16 National Clay Court Championships in Delray Beach, Fla.