A former top Trojan will play San Diego next week.
The San Diego Open ATP 250 has extended a singles main draw wild card to Brandon Holt of Rolling Hills, Calif., and a singles qualifying wild card to Learner Tien of Irvine, Calif.
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The $612,000 tournament is scheduled for September 17-25th at Barnes Tennis Center, 4490 W. Point Loma Blvd. San Diego, CA 92107.
Holt, the son of former world No. 1 Tracy Austin, entered the recent US Open as a wild card in the qualifying tournament and won three consecutive three-set matches to qualify for the US Open men’s singles main draw.
In his first-round main draw match, Holt ousted Taylor Fritz, the No. 1 ranked American, 6-7 (3), 7-6 (1), 6-3, 6-4. He fell in the second round to Argentina’s Pedro Cachin 1-6, 2-6, 6-1, 7-6 (1), 7-6 (6).
The 24-year-old Holt, a four-time All-American at the University of Southern California (2017-2020), finished 2021 ranked No. 822 in the Pepperstone ATP Singles Rankings. He captured five International Tennis Federation World Tennis Tour singles titles this year and his current ranking is at a career-high No. 223.
“I would like to thank Tournament Director Ryan Redondo and everyone who is part of the San Diego Open for bringing such a high-level tennis event to Southern California and for giving me the opportunity to compete in such a large tournament at Barnes Tennis Center. I have many fond memories of playing there during my junior career,” Holt said.
Tien won the 2022 USTA National Boys’ 18s Championships in Kalamazoo, Mich., this past August. Winning the prestigious junior boys title earned the 16-year-old Southern Californian an automatic wild card entry into the men’s singles draw at the recent US Open.
He became the youngest male to play in the US Open men’s singles draw since 2019. Tien dropped his first-round match to 32nd seeded Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia 3-6, 6-1, 6-3, 6-3.
“We are very happy to offer two Southern California-based players like Brandon and Learner the opportunity to play in the 2022 San Diego Open ATP 250,” said Tournament Director Ryan Redondo. “Fans coming to the tournament at Barnes Tennis Center are going to see two very talented up-and-coming players with bright futures.”
The 2022 San Diego Open ATP 250 tournament will feature a 28-player singles main draw and a 16-team doubles draw. The event offers a total of $612,000 in prize money and tournament champions will receive 250 ATP ranking points.
Main draw matches will begin at 11:30 a.m. (PDT) Monday, September 19. The tournament will conclude on Sunday, September 25 with the singles and doubles championships. There will also be a 16-player qualifying singles draw with qualifying rounds beginning at 11:30 a.m. (PDT) on Saturday, September 17 and Sunday, September 18. Four qualifiers will advance to the main draw.
Photo credit: USC Athletics/USCTrojans.com