Tracy Austin's son Brandon Holt opens up about her influence on his career, Taylor Fritz & Frances Tiafoe's Slam chances and more (Exclusive)

USA's Brandon Holt, son of two-time Major winner Tracy Austin, is on his way up the rungs of men's tennis. The 26-year-old reigned supreme at the DafaNews Bengaluru Open last week to pick up his second career ATP Challenger title. The path to the triumph wasn't easy for the American, as he had to fight past Shintaro Mochizuki, Billy Harris and Bernard Tomic - all of whom have tasted ATP Tour success in the past.

Now at a career-high No. 111 in the world, Holt is the 14th-highest-ranked male player on the pro tour. Although he is living proof of the USA's recent success in tennis, the two-time Challenger-level titlist didn't always have it this easy, as he had to overcome a career-threatening injury a few years ago.

Aside from that, there is the obvious pressure of having the legendary Tracy Austin as his mother. However, Brandon Holt has a calm and concise demeanor despite his roots and past, which is not unlike his playing style that carried him to the 2025 DafaNews Bengaluru Open title.

During his campaign at the ATP Challenger event in Bangalore, India, the American sat down for a one-on-one exclusive chat with Sportskeeda on a wide variety of topics, including his mother's influence on his early career, his relationship with his countrymen, the Major-winning prospects of Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul and Frances Tiafoe, and his dream doubles partner.

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Exclusive chat with Brandon Holt

Sportskeeda: What are your goals for 2025? Do you want to get your ranking up, or do you want to be playing more ATP events?

Brandon Holt: Yeah, for sure, get my ranking up as high as possible. Get to the top 100 as soon as possible. That's the most important thing.

Sportskeeda: We take it that this year is your first time in India. How has your experience been?

Brandon Holt: Good, yeah! The Indian people are really nice. Bangalore's beautiful, a lot of trees and beautiful parks. So it's been fun to be out here.

Sportskeeda: Your mother, Tracy Austin, is one of the greatest tennis players of all time with two Major titles to her name. She also spent 21 weeks at No. 1 in the WTA rankings. How much of an influence did she have in your early career?

Brandon Holt: I mean, growing up, she obviously was very focused and driven. So learning from that as your mom, I think it definitely affects the way that you play, the way you train, the way you live your life.

Sportskeeda: You endured a hand injury in 2021 that almost derailed your career. But less than a year later, you beat Taylor Fritz at the US Open. Tell us about your recovery process.

Brandon Holt: Yeah, there was a chance that I was never gonna be able to play again. So it was a really weird situation. They had to cut a part of my bone out of my hand, and it was really scary. I wasn't able to play for a long time and didn't know what it was for a long time. Then, finally, after the surgery, everything was better, and I was able to start playing and had some success.

Sportskeeda: If you had to pick between Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul, Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe to win a Major first, who would you pick?

Brandon Holt: I have no idea. That's such a hard question. I hope all of them win a grand slam. And I think all of them can. I know Tommy [Paul] made semis, Taylor [Fritz], yeah, Frances [Tiafoe] made semis. I think all of them can do it. I don't know who [will win it first].

Sportskeeda: Michael Chang recently assessed the US' men's tennis contingent’s future to be promising. Currently, there are 21 Americans ranked inside the top 100. What makes you guys stand apart?

Brandon Holt: I train at the USTA Center in Carson in Los Angeles with Taylor [Fritz], Marcos Giron, Zack Svadja, Learner Tien, and we all train in the same place. Some of the other players don't train with USTA. I think, but America is a lot better at tennis.

There's a lot of great practice people to practice with. I know, in Florida it's like Tommy Paul, [Ethan] Quinn, those guys are all training together. I think that's why there's a lot of success because there are great players that all live with each other.

Sportskeeda: What about the Challenger circuit in USA or funding of the players? What else is the USTA doing to ensure success?

Brandon Holt: I don't know, just the training, probably. I mean, there are a lot of tournaments in the States. But there aren't many 125s or anything like that. It'd be great if they could have bigger Challenger tournaments in the States. But I think, honestly, it's just because there are so many people that like tennis in the States that it's really the competition that has many people get a lot better.

Sportskeeda: You seem to play your countrymen a lot on the circuit. How would you describe your relationship with them?

Brandon Holt: It's competitive on the court. Off-court, I think we're all friends, very close. We catch [up with] each other, know each other very well. Yeah, I mean, going to the tournaments when you know that one of those guys is there, it's a huge plus. You get to go to dinner with them and have someone else to hang out with. So for sure, we're all friends and chilling.

Sportskeeda: Did you see that viral video of Tristan Boyer smashing his racket six times? It happened two days ago in the first round of the San Diego Challenger. He was at odds with a call that the umpire made, and that apparently cost him the match. What do you think is the state of umpiring right now? Do you think umpires are held accountable enough, or would you say it's just a part of the ATP structure?

Brandon Holt: I think it's an impossible job. I mean, have someone sit in a chair and sideways watch a 140mph serve that lands on the line. It's very, very difficult to do. But as a player, obviously, you want them never to miss a call. And it's really unfortunate when it goes against you because it can fully change a whole entire match and change, you know, a career. But I think they're all doing the best thing they can, so it's hard to blame them.

Sportskeeda: Who would be your dream doubles partner if you had to choose one?

Brandon Holt: Maybe Rod Laver. Yeah, Rod Laver, Arthur Ashe, or one of them.

Sportskeeda: Talking about doubles, Reilly Opelka is a staunch critic of doubles and wants to take it off the latter stages of big tournaments. What are your thoughts?

Brandon Holt: Yeah, I love playing doubles. Doubles is a lot of fun. Sometimes you don't play if I'm going to go to the next tournament, but yeah, I mean, I think doubles is great. I don't know; singles players should probably play some doubles.