Brandon Holt wasn’t a name that was on many radars coming into the 2022 US Open, but his underdog story captured the hearts of the fans at Flushing Meadows. However, after controlling his round one match against 10th-seeded American Taylor Fritz 6-7 (3), 7-6 (1), 6-3, 6-4, Holt wasn’t able to capitalize on an early lead and lost in five sets to Argentinian Pedro Cachin.
Holt was in control from the start, playing aggressively and with tons of confidence. He won the first two sets 6-1, 6-2 and appeared to be cruising into the third round of the 2022 US Open.
It would have been quite the turn of events for Brandon Holt after a hand injury had previously threatened his career and had him ranked in the 900s back in January. He was out for eight months and made the decision to head to Cancun to “basically start from scratch down there.”
Over three consecutive, he won three straight ITF events and began climbing the ranks again, but he still had to qualify for the US Open. While none of the matches were easy, as Holt lost a set in each match, he won all three matches and forced his way into the open.
Unfortunately, all of those matches over the course of a hot week in New York may have taken their toll. Holt just seemed to wear down at the end of the match. He never tried to put much pace on the ball, choosing instead to hit it with control back over and let his opponent make a mistake. While that worked against Fritz, it didn’t against Cachin.
The 66th-ranked Argentinian had 30 aces and controlled the pace on the ground. When he began to assert pressure, the inexperienced Holt wilted. After losing the third set 6-1, Holt fought back to a fourth set tiebreaker, but he seemed to crumble under the pressure of that moment, mishitting ground strokes and scoring only one point in the tiebreaker.
He would fight back for another tiebreaker in the fifth set, but lose that on a crucial double fault on the last point. At the end of the day, it was a valiant effort for the American, falling 6-1, 6-2, 1-6, 6-7 (1-7), 6-7 (6-10).
For Brandon Holt, this is the beginning of starting to establish his career on his own. As the tournament began, all anybody could talk about was how he was the son of former American great Tracy Austin.
Austin is a legend as the youngest US Open female singles champion when she won at age 16, and she’s also the youngest inductee into the International Tennis Hall of Fame at age 29. She won thirty singles titles during her career, but a series of injuries and a serious automobile accident in 1989 cut short her career.
For more coverage of the 2022 US Open, visit amNY Sports
