SAN DIEGO, September 7, 2022 (Press Release)
Two young rising American tennis stars and a Top 25 British native highlight the player field for the upcoming 2022 San Diego Open ATP 250 men’s professional tennis tournament scheduled for September 17-25 at Barnes Tennis Center.Brandon Nakashima of San Diego, currently ranked No. 69 in the Pepperstone ATP singles rankings, will be the hometown tournament favorite. The 21-year-old has risen steadily up the rankings since turning professional in 2019. This past summer, Nakashima reached the fourth round at Wimbledon (his best Grand Slam result to date) and reached a career-high No. 49.Last week at the 2022 US Open, Nakashima dismissed 17th seeded Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria 7-6 (5), 7-5, 6-3 in the second round. He was defeated by 11th seeded Jannik Sinner of Italy 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 in the third round. Jenson Brooksby is another young American entered in the San Diego Open ATP 250. The 21-year-old native of Sacramento, Calif., turned pro in 2021 and went on to reach his first ATP singles final last year at the ATP Tour event in Newport, R.I. He also advanced to the fourth round of the 2021 US Open as a 20-year-old Wild Card, becoming the youngest American in the US Open fourth round since Andy Roddick accomplished the feat in 2002.Voted 2021 ATP Newcomer of the Year by his fellow players, Brooksby continued his impressive play this year, scoring the biggest victory of his career in March with a win over fifth-ranked Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece in Indian Wells, Calif., and achieving a career-high No. 33 in the singles rankings this past June. Brooksby then defeated six-time champion John Isner in July on his way to reaching the singles final of the ATP tournament in Atlanta.At the 2022 US Open, Brooksby eliminated 25th seeded Borna Coric of Croatia 6-4, 7-6 (10), 6-1 before falling to third-seeded Carlos Alcaraz of Spain 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 in the third round.Daniel Evans of Great Britain, currently ranked No. 23 in the world, will be the tournament’s highest ranked player. The 32-year-old Evans was unranked in April 2018 before becoming the No. 1 Brit for the first time in October 2019 and achieving a career-high No. 22 in September 2021. Evans, who reached the fourth round at the 2021 US Open, defeated No. 1 ranked Novak Djokovic last year in the third round of the ATP event in Monte Carlo.Seeded No. 20 at the 2022 US Open, Evans advanced to the third-round where he dropped a 7-6 (11), 6-7 (3), 6-2, 7-5 decision to former US Open champion Marin Cilic of Croatia. “Fans are going to have a great opportunity to watch a strong field of young up and coming players along with tour veterans during the San Diego Open 250,” said Tournament Director Ryan Redondo. “It’s going to be an amazing week of exciting men’s professional tennis. I encourage sports fans to purchase their tickets now.” The international field of players, which represents 12 different countries, also includes Americans Marcos Giron, Mackenzie McDonald, J.J. Wolf and Denis Kudla, in addition to international stars Pedro Martinez of Spain, Jiri Vesely of Czech Republic, Cristian Garin of Chile and Australians James Duckworth and Alexei Popyrin.Of the 21 players who have direct entry into the main draw, 15 have accomplished career-highs in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings this season.To view the full list of tournament competitors for the San Diego Open ATP 250, click here.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.Tickets for the 2022 San Diego Open ATP 250 are on sale now on the official tournament website.Barnes Tennis Center will also host the 2022 San Diego Open WTA 500 from Saturday, Oct. 8 through Sunday, Oct. 16. The tournament will feature the top players in women’s professional tennis.
