Brooksby, Evans Advance To San Diego QFs

On a day of upsets at the San Diego Open, second seed Jenson Brooksby bucked the trend to advance to the quarter-finals in his debut at the ATP 250. Opening his campaign on Thursday, Brooksby downed Mackenzie McDonald 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 in a battle of California natives.

After a single break decided each of the opening two sets, Brooksby broke serve three times in the decider to win the afternoon match. The World No. 50 opened up a 3-0 lead in the final set before McDonald broke back for 2-3, but Brooksby snapped back with eight straight points to move ahead 5-2 then broke again to seal the victory.

“I thought it was definitely a solid match. First match, it’s always good to get through,” Brooksby said after the win. “I was feeling really confident with my training since the US Open, back home in Sacramento. We headed here, it’s a short flight and it’s always nice to play in your home state.”

Brooksby finished four-of-eight on break-point chances, while saving six of the eight break points against him. He won 78 per cent (40/51) of his first-serve points in the victory.

“My serve has been feeling pretty good,” he added. “We’ve been working on a couple things. I still need to ingrain it better, but I think when I did that right my serve was getting a lot better, which showed in the stats.”

The American improved to 9-6 in his past 15 matches, all against Top 100 opposition. A two-time ATP Tour finalist in 2022, and a three-time finalist in his young career, Brooksby is seeking his first tour-level title this week. He could rise as high as World No. 37 with the San Diego trophy, according to the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings.

Brooksby will face Christopher O’Connell in the quarter-finals, after the Aussie’s 6-3, 7-5 victory against eighth-seeded American J.J. Wolf.

Fourth seed Pedro Martinez of Spain was also knocked out on Thursday, Colombia’s Daniel Elahi Galan coming from behind for a 5-7, 6-1, 6-4 upset. Galan will next face Brandon Nakashima — the fifth seed and San Diego native — who closed the evening’s play with a 6-3, 6-4 win against fellow American Denis Kudla.

Top seed Daniel Evans also avoided an upset by defeating Japan’s Taro Daniel 6-4, 6-4 to open the evening session. The Briton will next face France’s Constant Lestienne, who knocked off Chilean sixth seed Alejandro Tabilo, 6-1, 6-3.