Week #1 SoCal Pro Series Winner Keegan Smith to
Face Dominique Rolland for Second Straight Week

Several Local Southern California Players Earn First WTA Ranking Points with First-Round Wins to Start of Week #2 of SoCal Pro Series in San Diego

As a youngster growing up, Dominique Rolland didn’t miss very many USTA Pro Circuit tournaments that have been played for years at his home club, the Calabasas Tennis & Swim Center.

Rolland’s parents handled all the catering for the club, making all the food daily for the players and staff at the popular March $25,000 tourney meaning Rolland was often the first to arrive each day, and one of the last to leave. He served as a ball kid early on for teenagers and young ATP pros like Frances Tiafoe and Taylor Fritz and recalled how nice Marcos Giron was on his way to the 2017 Calabasas singles title.

“It did give me a lot of inspiration,” said Rolland, 20, a 6-foot-4 UC-Santa Barbara junior who beat Canada’s Joshua Peck, 6-3, 6-4, in the first round of this week’s University of San Diego SoCal Pro Series event on Wednesday. “They’re all from SoCal so you look at them and say, ‘Hey, I think I can do that too.’”

It was the second ATP world-ranking point for Rolland, who had to also qualify last week to earn his first point. Rolland, who worked with noted Woodland Hills teaching pro Zibu Ncube from the ages of 15 to 18, trained in Spain for a year in high school.

Rolland drew the unlucky task of having to face last week’s SoCal Pro Series singles winner Keegan Smith from San Diego in the second round on Thursday. Last week, Smith beat Rolland in the Round of 16. “I didn’t serve that great last week against him,” Rolland said. “I’m going to have to get a higher percentage of first serves in to beat him.”

Smith won his sixth straight match as the top-seeded men’s player took out Gage Brymer from Irvine, 6-1 6-4, in a battle of former UCLA Bruins.

In the biggest upset of the day qualifier Phillip Jordan took out No. 2 seeded Alafia Ayeni, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (1), in the one of the closest matches of the day. The South Carolina native Jordan, 24, was the 2022-23 Big West Conference Player of the Year for UC-Santa Barbara before transferring to the University of North Carolina.

San Diego’s Bryce Nakashima, an Ohio State junior, beat Long Beach high school senior wildcard Nav Dayal in yet another three-setter, 2-6, 6-1, 7-5. No. 3 seeded Jacob Brumm from Rancho Santa Fe took out fellow San Diego County native Noah Zamora, who plays at UC-Irvine, in a three-set thriller, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.

On the women’s side, Patsy Daughters, a 20-year-old who recently finished up her freshman year at Oregon and who trained as a junior in Palm Desert, took advantage of her USTA wildcard beating Kelly Keller of Laguna Beach in straight sets. Daughters meets her doubles partner Jane Dunyon, a recent Utah high school grad headed to South Carolina, in the second round. A day after earning her first WTA ranking point, Dunyon teamed with Daughters to also win their first-round doubles match Wednesday.

Two local qualifiers recorded their first WTA ranking points as San Diego State senior Jo-Chee Chan from Georgia beat Yulia Zhytelna from Ukraine, 6-4 6-2, and Kenzie Nguyen, a 17-year-old high school senior from Irvine, beat Yilin Chen, a high school junior from San Diego’s Westview High, 6-1, 6-3. Yet another qualifier from San Diego, Kaila Barksdale, a Utah senior, was victorious as she dropped just two games over Shria Atturu.

A year after winning her first point as a 14-year-old, high school sophomore Sophie Suh from Orange won her third match in a row coming through qualifying to beat Texas sophomore Ariana Anazagasty-Pursoo, 6-2, 2-6, 6-4, for her second ITF pro win.

A recent high school graduate and No. 5 seeded Alyssa Ahn from San Diego and headed to Stanford took out Georgia-bound qualifier Emily Deming from Fallbrook, 6-0, 6-1.

Players to Watch

Oliver Tarvet – In a battle of University of San Diego teammates, No. 5 seeded Tarvet from Great Britain beat Savriyan Danilov, 6-0 6-3. It was recently announced that Tarvet, who holds a world ranking of No. 738, has been named to the ATP Next Gen Accelerator program. Also named was first-round doubles winner Spencer Johnson of UCLA.

Dejana Radanovic – Last week’s SoCal Pro Series singles finalist is the top-seeded singles player this week. The Serbian had a tough first round taking out North Carolina’s Claire Hill, 6-2, 3-6, 6-1. This is just Radanovic’s second time ever in California having played one event in Norther California several years ago.

“The first match is always a little tough,” said Radanovic, 28, who is traveling with her husband and coach Ilija Jankovic. She next faces New York teenager Claire An, who she beat last week dropping just two games.

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