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Jenson Brooksby US Open 2021
ATP Tennis Players, Tennis News, US Open Tennis

Five things to know about Jenson Brooksby


Read up on Jenson Brooksby, the American prospect making waves on the ATP tour and under the lights in New York.

The 20-year-old is going strong at his home slam as he continues his rise in the tennis spotlight.

Join Tennishead for a look at fives things you should know about the young star in the making.

1) Shot at a US Open

Back in August of 2018, Jenson Brooksby and Brandon Nakashima faced off for the USTA under-18 National Championship.

Then 17-year-old Brooksby came out on top, earning him a wildcard spot into the main draw of the US Open that year, ranked at 1229 in the world.

He faced Australian John Millman, losing in straight sets, his opponent going on to defeat Roger Federer and reach the quarter-finals.

2) A first Slam win

The following year at the 2019 US Open, Jenson Brooksby, now ranked just inside the top-400, came through qualifying to make a second appearance at the US Open.

He then came up against former world number four and 2010 Wimbledon finalist Tomas Berdych.

Aged 33 and ranked No. 98 in the world, Berdych was past his prime, but it was still impressive to see Brooksby defeat the Czech in four sets, 6-1, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 for his first Slam main draw victory.

The 18-year-old then lost to Nikoloz Basilashvili, but did take a set off the Georgian.

3) Challenger success

At the start of 2021, Jenson Brooksby was ranked at 310 in the world and had not played a tournament in the entirety of 2020 due to the Covid pandemic.

After a rocky start at an ITF and then an ATP Challenger event, Brooksby got on a win streak, winning a Challenger in Potchefstroom, South Africa, befoer making the final of another in Cleveland, Ohio, in the US.

Fellow American Bjorn Fratangelo broke Brooksby’s win streak at nine, but the 20-year-old secured back-to-back US Challenger titles soon after in Orlando and Tallahassee, both in Florida.

This brought the youngster up to world number 166.

4) ATP Finalist

Brooksby entered the Hall of Fame Open on the grass courts of Newport, Rhode Island, an event that immediately follows Wimbledon.

He dispatched Evgeny Donskoy, Denis Kudla, Peter Gojowczyk and Jordan Thompson to reach a first career ATP Final.

In that final, Brooksby lost to former top-10 player Kevin Anderson, but he was not deterred.

After receiving a wildcard into the ATP 500 Citi Open in Washington, DC, Brooksby exacted revenge on Kevin Anderson in the first round.

He then went on to reach the semi-finals, landing his first top-50, and simultaneously top-20, win in the process by beating world number 15 Felix Auger-Aliassime in the round of 16.

He lost to eventual champion Jannik Sinner in the last four.

5) Race to Milan

As a player who turns 21 during the current season, Jenson Brooksby is eligible to compete in the ATP Next Gen Finals should his rankings results be up to standard by the end of the season.

At time of writing, the 20-year-old currently sits sixth in the ‘ATP Race to Milan’, just behind Italian star Lorenzo Musetti.

And, coincidentally, he is just ahead of fellow American and 2018 USTA under-18 National Chjampionship runner-up Brandon Nakashima.


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