Ahead Of First Wimbledon, American Jenson Brooksby Looks To Make Grass Court Run

Jenson Brooksby has never played at Wimbledon before, but believes his game is suited for grass.

The 21-year-old Sacramento native has a good serve, solid groundstrokes and an affinity for drop shots, all of which should benefit him on the grass. He went 4-1 on grass last year in Newport, R.I.

“I think these next two weeks I can do really good on grass. I think my game’s well suited for grass,” Brooksby, ranked No. 34 in the world, said Saturday by phone from Queen’s Club, where he is set to meet Filip Krajinovic of Serbia in the first round on Monday.

After Queen’s Club, he will play Eastbourne the following week. Wimbledon begins June 27 and he hopes for a big run at the All-England Club.

Brooksby is now the No. 5-ranked American behind Taylor Fritz (14), Reilly Opelka (18), John Isner (25) and Frances Tiafoe (27). Of that group, Brooksby is the youngest.

“I don’t really feel any pressure in regards to that,” he said of being hyped as one of the rising young American stars along with Sebastian Korda, 21, and Brandon Nakashima, 20. “I’d say it’s more just the self-pressure and self-expectations that I deal with, is the most important thing. I don’t pay attention to the outside noise, really.”

At last year’s U.S. Open, Brooksby took the opening set from world No. 1 Novak Djokovic in their fourth-round encounter before bowing out in four sets. Djokovic gave him some high praise after the electric match in Arthur Ashe Stadium.

“Brooksby is a very young, very talented player,” Djokovic told Brad Gilbert on court. “I told him at the net that the future is ahead of him, definitely. He’s a great player.”

Opelka, who beat Brooksby in the Dallas Open final in February, also had high praise for Brooksby and Korda, ranked No. 38.

“I think it’s just — you know, I don’t think we will have a Sampras, Agassi era of just dominance like that again,” Opelka said in an interview last fall. “It’s rare for any country. Russia is kind of the closest thing to it now. But I think Brooksby is our best, Brooksby and Korda are our best top candidates for maybe winning a Slam of the young guys.”

Brooksby enrolled at Baylor to play college tennis, but turned pro after he redshirted his freshman season due to injuries.

He is 15-10 in 2022 but had to miss the Australian Open because he got Covid just before the tournament. After reaching the round of 16 at Indian Wells and Miami, he struggled on the European clay, losing in the first round in Madrid and at Roland Garros. He did reach the round of 16 in Rome, falling to eventual French Open finalist Casper Ruud.

At his first try on the grass, he was upset by world No. 66 Hugo Gaston in the second round at Den Bosch last week in the Netherlands.

“It’s been a tough last month, and last week was another tough one [losing in the] second round,” he said. “I think the good news I could take from last week was I made some good progress in my training and my focus and my mindset from the previous month so I feel confident that I’ll keep improving on that.

“I have a few more opportunites too so I just have to put the past in the past and just learn from it, so I’m looking forward to the next two weeks here.”

Brooksby began a partnership with Danish eyewear manufacturer Christopher Cloos in October 2021 to become just the second athlete brand ambassador for Cloos, joining seven-time Super Bowl Champion Tom Brady.

As part of this partnership, Brooksby is working with Cloos on an exclusive, signature line of eyewear, featuring sunglasses and blue light protection frames, and “The Brooksby” will be the first frame in the collection. This is a first-of-its-kind partnership for Brooksby, although he will only wear the frames away from the tennis court.

As for the tennis court, Djokovic and Rafael Nadal have continued to dominate the majors, winning 14 of the last 16 and 42 overall.

Still, Brooksby is optimistic he and his fellow young Americans will eventually break through and contend for major titles.

“I think it’s definitely possible,” he said. “It’s hard to predict how it’s gonna be, but in terms of any of the Americans I think they’ll be a couple deep runs at some point.

“Of course I hope that can be me, but it’ll be interesting to see what happens.”

He added: “I think next year too I’ll do my best to be able to contend and I’ll have learned a lot more to really believe I can do that.”