Jenson Brooksby overcame the odds to lift his maiden tour title in Houston. Ranked at No. 507 in the world after injuries and a ban sidelined him for two years, the American needed a wildcard just to get into the qualifying event. Brooksby won two matches in qualies before storming through the main draw.
The 24-year-old beat the top two seeds back-to-back to be crowned the champion on Sunday, becoming the third-lowest ranked champion on the ATP Tour. Brooksby shot up the rankings as a result and now sits at No. 172
Brooksby was just starting to make waves on the professional circuit when he was forced out of the game for two years. The American reached a career-high ranking of No. 33 in 2022 and started the 2023 season on a high.
After earning his first top-three win over Casper Ruud at the Australian Open, he was sidelined by wrist surgery. Then, in October, Brooksby was hit with a ban for “whereabouts failures” – being accused of missing three doping tests in a one-year span.
Brooksby disputed the second missed test. The International Tennis Integrity Agency later reduced his suspension from 18 months to 13 months when “new information relating to the circumstances giving rise to the missed tests” was submitted. The ITIA concluded that his degree of fault “should be reassessed”.
It meant Brooksby was eligible to return in March 2024. But more physical setbacks meant he didn’t return to competition until January this year.
The 24-year-old initially struggled when he came back, losing his first three matches in a row. But he gained momentum in Indian Wells, upsetting Felix-Auger Aliassime, and has now done the unthinkable in Houston.
Brooksby was ranked outside the world’s top 500 entering the clay-court event, but organisers gave him a wildcard into qualifying, and he saved a match point to beat top seed Federico Gomez before taking out Patrick Maloney.
The American continued his fairytale run in the main draw, saving more match points in his second-round contest against Alejandro Tabilo and in his semi-final showdown with world No. 13 Tommy Paul.
On Sunday, Brooksby capped off his statement week by beating another top-20 player, Frances Tiafoe, 6-4 6-2 to claim his first title.
“The support has been amazing since round one of qualifying. Thank you, everybody. I’ve loved the support here and it’s great to be back in Texas,” the newly-crowned champion said.
Brooksby later told the ATP: “It means the world. It was one of my biggest goals ever since I’ve been a professional tennis player.
“It just means a lot to have my first one. It really does. It’s probably the best week of my life.”
Reflecting on all the match points he saved in Houston, he added: “I’ve had a lot of different life adversity, whether it’s on the court or off the court.
“So I think it makes these situations… I still get nervous about them and somewhat tense for sure, but I think it gives you a different perspective once you’ve had to face other difficult things in life.
“And then also, I’m just someone who hates to lose and loves to win in general – obviously tennis being most important, but even in other games, and I think that’s just how I’m wired as a person.
“I just really love winning, so that transfers over into when I’m in tough positions and maybe you should lose in those situations, that I’m able to at least find a way out of it sometimes.”
Content Source: www.express.co.uk