by Hanlon Walsh
Wednesday’s second round was an exciting day for Houston fans as all four Americans won their singles matches to book their place in the quarterfinals. Leading the way was top seed Tommy Paul, who gutted out a three-set victory over Christian Garin, the 2019 US Clay champion. Paul fought through difficult conditions that suited Garin, outlasting the Chilean clay court specialist 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(5) in front of a packed stadium of pro-Paul fans.
Paul’s next opponent is 22-year-old Colton Smith, an American qualifier who won his fourth consecutive match of the week, downing fellow 21-year-old Ethan Quinn. Smith, who is still juggling his college tennis schedule as an Arizona senior, served up a straight-forward 6-3, 6-4 victory and finished the match with an ace.
“I felt like I executed my game plan from start to finish and served pretty well. Being able to go through a match without getting broken was nice and helped free me up on the returns. It was important to stay present and not get caught up in the moment or think about what was at stake for both of us. I’m excited to see how my game stacks up this week against the top guys.” - Colton Smith
Smith wasn’t the only American qualifier who advanced on Wednesday. In another three-set thriller, Jenson Brooksby upset No. 3 seed Alejandro Tabilo 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(6), saving three match points en route to his near three-hour victory. With the win, Brooksby is projected to rise nearly 100 ranking spots on his comeback road after being sidelined from the tour for the last few seasons.
“It feels great to have four wins and a lot of clay rhythm under me. I knew it was going to be a battle against Tabilo. He’s a great player, especially on clay. I had to give every bit of my fight to come out on top at the end and treat each of the match points like they were any other point. I think that’s the best tie-breaker finish I’ve played throughout my career, winning five points in a row at the end.” - Jenson Brooksby
In the final second round match of the day, American Aleksandar Kovacevic backed up his impressive first round win over No. 7 Tomas Martin Etcheverry with another straight-set victory, this time over French qualifier Corentin Denolly. Kovacevic, a 26-year old New York native, dispatched Denolly 6-3, 6-3 and will advance to his first US Clay quarterfinal.
Wednesday Doubles Recap
Both seeded American doubles teams were victorious on Wednesday with Olympic silver medalists, Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram, leading the winners circle on Stadium Court. The Olympic stars eliminated Liam Draxl and Cleeve Harper 6-4, 6-2 to advance to their first US Clay quarterfinal as a pair.
Top seeds Robert Galloway and Jackson Withrow edged the Brazilian team of Rafael Matos and Marcelo Zormann 5-7, 6-3, 10-7 to book their spot in the semifinals.
Court 3 featured an all-Australian battle where the underdog team came away with the victory.
Aussies Adam Walton and Matthew Christopher Romios eliminated the two-time US Clay defending champion, Jordan Thompson, and his partner Rinky Hijikata. Rounding out Wednesday’s doubles action was JP Smith and Fernando Romboli, who defeated Americans Brooksby and Learner Tien 6-3, 6-4.
