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Brandon Holt, Tracy Austin’s son, in familiar surroundings at U.S. Open

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Future USC tennis teammates and Southern California junior tennis players Brandon Holt and Riley Smith won their first-round match at the U.S. Open Junior Championships in doubles on Monday, and no one in the media center took notice.

It wasn’t until word started getting around that Holt is the son of two-time U.S. Open champion and tennis Hall of Famer Tracy Austin, and Smith’s dad has coached the Trojans to five of the last seven NCAA team titles, that interview requests started coming in.

“I’ve come here every year since I was 1,” said Holt, his father and Austin’s husband Scott Holt nodding in confirmation. “To be able to win a match here, let alone play, is a real dream come true.”

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Holt and Smith beat Russians Alexey Aleschev and Denys Klok 6-4, 6-0 on Monday at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, and will next face the No. 6-seeded team of Corentin Denolly (France) and Djurabeck Karimov (Uzbekistan) in the second round on Wednesday.

“I just feel I’m in a normal tennis family,” said Holt, who received a USTA wild card into the tournament. “The only time it is different is when I come to events like this and everyone is asking me about my mom, and that’s only a few weeks out of the year.”

Austin has kept a low profile about her son following in her footsteps, and attended the match on Monday. “She helps me a lot,” said Holt, the middle child of three boys in the family. “She keeps me focused and I look up to her and how she played when she was a player.”

Austin, a Tennis Channel commentator, grew up in the South Bay and in 1979 became the youngest women’s Open champion as a 16-year-old, later reaching No. 1 in the world. She was known for her mental toughness and laser focus.

“I think I have that a little bit,” Holt said. “Even now she is probably the most focused person I know. She was born with that. My dad is definitely a little more laid back.”

Holt resides in Rolling Hills and is a Palos Verdes High senior, the same high school Pete Sampras attended. Smith lives in Los Alamitos and plays on the Los Alamitos High team. Last spring, Holt won the CIF Southern Section Individual Championship in singles, the first Palos Verdes High player to do so since the 14-time major winner Sampras did it in 1987.

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