ATP Tour

McDonald ousts defending champion Brooksby in Houston

Mackenzie McDonald spoiled Jenson Brooksby’s title defence with an early exit at the Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men's Clay Court Championship on Monday, when he defeated the 25-year-old 6-4, 6-2 in the opening round.

With his one-hour, 19-minute victory, the American recorded his first clay-court win since defeating Daniel Elahi Galan in the first round in Houston last year.

"Proud of my start to the clay season this year," McDonald said. "I worked really hard during the last two weeks, so I'm happy to see a little bit of that reflecting in the match."

Brooksby came through qualifying to win the title in 2025 and saved at least one match point in three of the seven matches he played. But he could not conjure the same magic this year as his opponent delivered a composed performance.

McDonald saved all four of the break points he faced, according to Infosys ATP Stats, and capitalised on Brooksby's 30 unforced errors. With the triumph, the 30-year-old earned his first Top-50 win since defeating No. 42 Gael Monfils in the first round at Queen's Club in June last year.

The next test for McDonald at the clay-court ATP 250 event in Houston will be a second-round meeting with Thiago Agustin Tirante, who eliminated home favourite Colton Smith 6-0, 6-3 in 71 minutes.

In other opening-round action on Monday, wild card Zhang Zhizhen set a second-round clash with top seed Ben Shelton after defeating British qualifier Jack Pinnington Jones 6-1, 6-3. With his 63-minute win, Zhang earned his first win on clay courts since advancing to the quarter-finals in Hamburg in 2024.

Watch Zhang vs. Pinnington Jones HLs

Adolfo Daniel Vallejo also advanced to the second round by racing past American Zachary Svajda 6-1, 6-4 and became the first Paraguayan to win multiple ATP Tour matches in a season since Ramon Delgado in 2006. The 21-year-old will next face fourth seed Tommy Paul.

Alex Bolt and Thiago Agustin Tirante also earned first-round wins on Monday. Bolt defeated Yibing Wu 7-6(6), 6-2 and will next face fifth seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry or Federico Agustin Gomez. Tirante cruised past Colton Smith 6-0, 6-3.