by Hanlon Walsh
The 2025 edition of the Fayez Sarofim U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship gets underway Saturday with eight first round qualifying matches on the schedule alongside a busy day of practices.
Americans make up half of the 16-player qualifying field, which includes 24-year-old Jenson Brooksby, a former Top 35 standout who is climbing back up the rankings while on his comeback journey. Brooksby, a three-time ATP finalist, advanced to all three of his singles finals on U.S. soil in Newport, Dallas, and Atlanta.
The American enters Houston with convincing form after advancing to the third round at Indian Wells, scoring a top 20 victory over Felix Auger-Aliassime along the way. The wildcard entrant kicks off his U.S. Clay qualifying campaign against the top seed, Federico Agustin Gomez of Argentina.
Dallas resident Mitchell Krueger, seeded second, takes on Toby Kodat in an all-American opening round matchup. Krueger advanced to the second round of the 2025 Australian Open after coming through qualifying, tying his career-best grand slam performance.
Frenchman Adrian Mannarino, a former top 20 player who owns five ATP career titles, marks another notable name anchoring the U.S. Clay qualifying draw. Seeded third, he will square off against Naoki Nakagawa of Japan.
Qualifying starts at 11 am and is free to attend.
QUALIFYING ORDER OF PLAY - SATURDAY, 29 MARCH 2025
Court 3 - start 11:00 AM
- [3] [Alt] Adrian Mannarino (FRA) vs Naoki Nakagawa (JPN)
- [1] Federico Agustin Gomez (ARG) vs [WC] Jenson Brooksby (USA)
- [2] Mitchell Krueger (USA) vs Toby Kodat (USA)
- [Alt] Evan Zhu (USA) vs [6] [WC] Colton Smith (USA)
Court 7 - start 11:00 AM
- Corentin Denolly (FRA) vs [5] James Trotter (JPN)
- Patrick Maloney (USA) vs [7] Andres Andrade (ECU)
- [Alt] Felix Corwin (USA) vs [8] [Alt] Patrick Zahraj (GER)
- [4] Liam Draxl (CAN) vs Alafia Ayeni (USA)
