The church bells tolled to mark 9 o'clock on an April night in Ojai, CA. In what was billed as "freshman talent vs. senior leadership," USC's Brandon Holt was locked in a battle with UCLA's Gage Brymer to decide the Pac-12 Men's Tennis championship.
The Trojans had made their way out to a 3-1 lead, but UCLA roared back to tie the match at 3-all, turning all eyes toward the final clash on Court 1. Holt and Brymer had traded the first two sets, then held serve all the way until the final game of set three. Nineteen-year-old Holt crushed a cross-court forehand on his third match point to finally break Brymer and clinch the victory for USC. His teammates rushed the court, lifting him up on their shoulders, and his mother -- Tracy Austin -- breathed a sigh of relief as she buried her head in her hands.
"Oh my gosh, that was so exciting," said Austin, who is a former world No. 1 tennis player and the youngest woman to ever win the U.S. Open. "All of a sudden Brandon's put into the situation as a freshman to play [Brymer], who is one of the most successful juniors in Southern California in the last decade, and he's a senior at your rival school. You just couldn't have put the pieces of the puzzle together better."
Holt is the first USC freshman to play consistently at No. 1 singles since 2003, and with such a highly touted team this year, the accomplishment -- and the match-clinching victory at this year's Pac-12 Championship -- were all the more impressive.USC men's tennis coach Peter Smith attributes Holt's success at the No. 1 spot to his level-headedness and ability to not put pressure on himself, even drawing a comparison between Holt and the calm, cool and collected USC football star Sam Darnold.
"He makes everything look routine," Smith said of the freshman, who's ranked No. 19 in the nation. "In a way it's like, 'Whatever,' and I can promise you if Brandon was playing any other position it would be the same."
In fact, Holt conveyed an almost identical sentiment.
"If coach wanted me to play two, I would be completely fine with that because I think that is what would be best for the team at the moment," Holt said. "I guess I didn't really expect to play No. 1, but I also wasn't very surprised. Coming in, I knew that I was playing very well, getting into the junior slams, I think I was around 40 in the world in the juniors, so I had a lot of confidence coming in, which was very nice, but it was never, 'I'm going to play one, I need to play one.'"
Holt's lack of total surprise makes sense, though, as he had already secured some major accomplishments under his belt on the junior circuit. While a student at Palos Verdes High, Holt traveled with the United States Tennis Association as a representative from his age group and played tournaments in Brazil and even in Europe for the Junior French Open.
"It's all fun, I mean I love it. You're traveling with your best friends and then coaches that are a lot of fun, so I mean every single trip is fun, but Brazil was a lot of fun," Holt said. "We went to Porto Alegre and São Paulo, we played two tournaments there, but the most fun was the one where we flew into Italy and played two tournaments in Italy, then one tournament in Belgium, and then the French Open, and unfortunately I got a stress fracture, so I had to pull out of Wimbledon, so that was kind of a bummer, but I think that was the most fun trip. It was four weeks in Europe with your best friends, just competing and just having a lot of fun."
Holt calls the International Tennis Federation Pan American Games, where he won in singles and doubles, his most memorable tournament as a junior. Holt also paired up with now-teammate Riley Smith at the Junior U.S. Open, where they earned wild cards into the draw, but made it to the finals.
Holt and Smith have continued to build upon that chemistry as USC's No. 1 doubles team this season, racking up a 24-7 record and a No. 14 national ranking. They recently earned an invitation to compete in the NCAA Doubles Championships, following the culmination of the team championships this month.
Both freshmen come from tennis families, but Holt's mother has never put pressure on her son to become a professional tennis player like she was. She insisted he continue attending high school when many other at his level opted to be homeschooled in order to practice and travel more often.
"I went to regular public high school even after I won the U.S. Open," Austin said. "I think that it's very important for us -- my husband Scott and I -- just to not put all of your eggs in one basket where you're missing out on the socialization, and that's even problem solving and time management and trying to figure out your day. I think it's benefited Brandon greatly with his academics, making that transition to USC. He's a very social kid, a very well-rounded kid, and I think even a lot of that shows up on the tennis court, that balance."
Holt insists that while supportive, his family has never forced him into tennis. His motivation comes from within.
"I'm definitely trying to play professional tennis. Every day I wake up trying to think of how I can improve on the tennis court," Holt said. "I'm still just trying to keep that door open [as a business administration major] in case anything happens. I'm just trying to be realistic and honest with myself that there's a lot of people who are trying to be professional athletes, and it's not as easy as you think, things can happen. I think I'm on a great path and I'm giving myself every opportunity that I can to play professional tennis."
Holt and the Trojans secured the No. 4 seed in this month's NCAA Tournament and will host Denver in a first-round matchup at 1 p.m. this Friday. Should the Trojans win, they'll host the winner of Wisconsin vs. USD on Saturday at 1 p.m. Both matches take place at USC's Marks Stadium.
