I’m sure not too many people expected Jenson Brooksby to be the only American man to qualify for the US Open. The 18-year-old from Sacramento received an entry into the qualifying draw via wild card from the USTA, and he certainly made the most of it.
Last year, Brooksby received a main draw wild card into the US Open after winning the Boys 18s title in Kalamazoo. Brooksby lost to John Millman in the first round, who eventually went on to upset Roger Federer in the Round of 16.
As of now, Brooksby is still planning on going the college route and will enroll at Baylor University in January. After beating three high-quality players in qualifying, I’d be shocked if Brooksby ends up playing college tennis. Some players need to go the college route to work on their game/mature, but Brooksby looks like he’s ready for the big stage right now.
Brooksby qualifying for the main draw doesn’t come as a complete shock. Just look at his recent results at the ITF level. The American won back-to-back ITF events in July in Champaign and Decatur, Illinois. Even though the US Open qualifying is a huge step up from that level, Brooksby only lost one set in the ten consecutive matches that he won.
In April, Brooksby had success at the Challenger level, reaching the Round of 16 in Sarasota before falling to Peter Polansky in a third-set tiebreaker. It will be interesting to see how he does at the Challenger level in the fall after this recent run. Winning matches in those tournaments might ultimately make his decision easier on whether or not to play college tennis.
Overall, qualifying was not a success on the men’s side for Americans at this year’s US Open. Wild card snub Tommy Paul fell in the second round, while Mitchell Krueger was unable to back up his run through qualifying last year.
All eyes will now be on the likes of Frances Tiafoe, Christopher Eubanks, Taylor Fritz, Reilly Opelka, and John Isner as the main draw gets underway on Monday at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
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