Jenson Brooksby has built on his impressive results so far this year with a run to the fourth round of the 2021 US Open. The 20-year-old American next faces the task of stopping World #1 Novak Djokovic, who is four wins away from completing a Calendar Grand Slam. Despite being ranked 99th in the world heading into the season’s final major, the Californian’s progress in New York has not come out of the blue. This is his third US Open main draw appearance after being given a wildcard in 2018, and coming through qualifying in 2019. Brooksby defeated former world number four Tomas Berdych in the opening round in the latter of those outings.
Jenson Brooksby Continues Breakthrough Season at US Open
Surviving Three Tough Battles
Brooksby has had to fight hard for his three victories at Flushing Meadows – spending a total of 11 hours and 56 minutes on court. He first held off Sweden’s Mikael Ymer–a recent finalist in Winston Salem–in four hours across four tough sets. The American let a 5-3 third set lead slip, before getting over the line against the World #72.
The World #99 then faced his compatriot–42nd-ranked Taylor Fritz–in a grueling four-hour-six-minute second round contest. The pair split two marathon tiebreak sets, before Brooksby continued his momentum from saving three set points to take the second set to edge the third 7-5. He converted his sixth match point to take the fourth set to seal the win.
Brooksby then faced an even bigger challenge in the third round against Aslan Karatsev – the world number 25. Karatsev – who sits 11th in the ATP Race to Turin rankings – is a player who, like Brooksby, has translated superb Challenger Tour results into success on the main tour. After falling behind 2-1 in sets, the American did not face another break point as he held off the Russian in a three-hour-50-minute five-set thriller.
Making Winning a Habit
With his three wins so far in New York, Brooksby has moved to an excellent 11-4 ATP Tour record this year. The Californian reached the final of the grass court ATP 250 event in Newport in July – where he lost to Kevin Anderson in two close sets. He went on to make the last four at the Citi Open ATP 500 tournament shortly after – losing to eventual champion Jannik Sinner in straight sets. Brooksby beat Anderson, Frances Tiafoe, Felix Auger-Aliassime, and John Millman without dropping a set in Washington.
As mentioned, though, it is on the Challenger Tour where Jenson Brooksby has been particularly outstanding. The 20-year-old has compiled an imperious 23-3 ratio at that level in 2021–including three titles and a runner-up showing. The victories came at hard court events in Potchefstroom and Orlando, while he also triumphed on the green clay in Tallahassee.
The wins in Orlando and Tallahassee were part of a 13-match winning streak during April and May–which also saw Brooksby qualify for the French Open. He fell in the first round in Paris to Karatsev in June, but has lost just four matches at all levels since.
