Jenson Brooksby: Up-and-coming Player Analysis
Jenson Brooksby has been making waves on the Challenger Tour over the last few months. I've analysed a couple of his matches to introduce you to the young American phenom.
Every so often, I feel it is pertinent for me to introduce you to an up-and-coming player, a youngster with talent up to their eyeballs.
I wouldn’t want you to feel left out when said phenom inevitably beats an ATP vet at 16 years old / reaches a Slam quarterfinal in his third main draw appearance / bagels Stan the Man on clay1.
With that said, I’ll answer your question.
“Who the fuck is Jenson Brooksby?”
Brooksby has been making waves on the Challenger Tour over the last few months. He has won three of the last four Challenger events he’s entered, giving him a 19-2 record at this level in 2021.
The young American may only be ranked #166 in the world but the pandemic has made it difficult for players to shift their rankings. In the race to Turin, which only includes points earned in 2021, Brooksby is ranked inside the top 50 in the world.
I’ve analysed Brooksby’s final matches in Orlando and Tallahassee to introduce you to his style of tennis and to explain why the Californian is worth talking about.
Orlando Challenger Final: Jenson Brooksby defeats Denis Kudla 6-3 6-3
Brooksby hadn’t dropped a set going into the his third Challenger final of the season… And he didn’t drop a set to Denis Kudla in the final, dispatching the Challenger veteran 6-3 6-3.
How was Brooksby so dominant?
It certainly wasn’t with his serve. Though Brooksby towers at 6’4” tall, his serve is nothing particularly special. He only served more aces than his opponent in one match during the tournament. In his opening match against Jason Jung, he actually won more points on his second serve than his first.
No, the young gun grinds his opponents to a pulp.
It’s not often I say this, but the resounding loser of this match won more points in 0-4 shots than the winner. Part of the reason for this is that Kudla hit an ace or forced an error from Brooksby’s racket using his serve 14 times, whilst Brooksby could only do the same to Kudla six times.
When the serve was taken out of the equation, Brooksby dominated Kudla from the baseline, just as he had done with the rest of the field, all week. Both the forehand and the backhand are solid strokes but, for me, his backhand is the most remarkable.
He hit a clean winner or forced an error with the backhand 11 times to only five unforced errors. Even this is slightly underselling it, however, as Brooksby often used his backhand to set up a forehand winner, giving this stroke the plaudits.
The control he gets on the backhand is astounding, frequently finding depth or angles at will.
But it’s not just the control he gets off this wing. Brooksby’s unique backhand slice technique, keeping both hands on the racket, lends itself to a brilliantly disguised drop shot.
Sneaky, sneaky Brooksby.
If his backhand continues to get better, it could become one of the best in the world.
Kudla, who has a decent backhand himself, was completely outplayed in rallies over nine shots in length. He coughed up an unforced error from the baseline ten times at this rally length, six of which were on the backhand. Brooksby, on the other hand, only gave up three unforced errors in total at this rally length.
The pressure mounted on Kudla to break down Brooksby’s defences, but he couldn’t come up with the goods. Backhand cross-court exchanges saw only one man stand victorious. When the rally extended, Kudla was always the first to blink. Even forays to the net left him empty handed (5/12 net points won).
Brooksby was just too solid. That’s how he was so dominant in Orlando.
Tallahassee Challenger Final: Jenson Brooksby defeats Bjorn Fratangelo 6-3 4-6 6-3
In a rematch of their Challenger final in Cleveland only a month prior, Jenson Brooksby and Bjorn Fratangelo squared up once more, this time on the green clay of Tallahassee.
In Cleveland, however, Fratangelo had vanquished Brooksby in straight sets. In Tallahassee, Brooksby was able to change his fortunes, winning a tight three-setter against the 20th-ranked American.
How did Brooksby rewrite the script?
First off, there was more of that sublime backhand. It was a little more loose than in Orlando but there was also a little more magic.
Arguably more important, however: there is a trait of Brooksby’s I’ve failed to mention so far2.
Jenson Brooksby is a fighter. He goes after every single ball, often winning points by stubbornly refusing to give up. He is as nimble a 6’4” tennis player as I’ve ever seen.
This stubbornness goes hand-in-hand with a pretty expressive on-court personality. Brooksby has got a bit of a running commentary going on, exclaiming loudly when he wins big points, often bringing out the fist-pump, and berating himself when he misses.
Look, I know vocal tennis players aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, but, for Jenson Brooksby, it seems to work - he maintains a high level of intensity and on pressure points, the guy excels.
Again, Brooksby doesn’t have a spectacular serve. He hit an ace or forced an error in his match against Fratangelo 13 times in 111 service points. Somehow though, over his last four Challenger events, Brooksby managed to save 69.9% of the break points he faced. In his match against Fratangelo alone, he saved 16 of 19 break points3.
Perhaps even more impressive though… Brooksby converted 50% of his own break point opportunities. For context, Daniil Medvedev has the best break point conversion rate in the top 50 in 2021… at only 48.4%.
It’s not as though he holds back on break points either. Take a look at three of the break points he converted against Fratangelo below.
What Brooksby lacks in serve power4, he makes up for in tenacity and inspiration when facing break point.
When he has his own break point, Brooksby has shown just how clutch a returner he is.
With only four points in it, Brooksby held his nerve against Fratangelo time and time again.
Jenson Brooksby: Up-and-coming Player Analysis
Ignoring his almost comically American namesake, it’s a wonder Jenson Brooksby isn’t a Spaniard.
The guy is unflappable from the baseline and could probably make Roberto Bautista Agut break a sweat. His forehand is sweet as a nut but it’s the backhand that really gives him the potential to poke his head above the parapet. He never looks like he’s losing control of either shot, hitting consistently with depth on each wing and finding angles without any doubt.
What really gives Brooksby the right to adorn red and yellow, however, is his commitment to each and every point. He will fight and scrape his way to every passing shot attempt, every drop shot, every ridiculous angle. His commitment only increases (you can literally hear it increasing) when the points increase in importance.
Yep, there’s the serve, but that will grow with work and time. Once that falls into place, who knows how far the youngster could go.
So, to recap, here’s a reductive TLDR introduction to Jenson Brooksby:
Controlled, effective groundstrokes with a pretty special backhand.
Decent return game.
Serve still to be improved.
Improvements to all of these traits when under pressure.
Keep an eye out for Brooksby as he will likely be gracing your screens with a main draw entry to at least one of the Slams this year. You’ll probably hear him before you see him…
Well done the last couple of months Jenson!
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Carlos Alcaraz Garfia / Jannik Sinner / Lorenzo Musetti.
His fighting spirit and vocality were certainly prevalent in his match against Kudla, they just played more of a part in his match against Fratangelo. After winning the first set against Kudla, Brooksby screamed “Come on!” to which Kudla retorted “cOmE oN!”… Kudla mocking Brooksby gives you an idea of how often he makes his voice heard on-court.
Also, I couldn’t not mention this cause I love tennis drama.
Almost Karatsev levels of genius!
For the full picture, Brooksby saved seven of his break points in four shots or less. The serve did still play a part, it’ll just need to be bigger if he hopes to secure a top 100 spot.