My kryptonite

Brooksby is a player I just don’t feel at all, but I deliberately chose to analyze him to try to improve, and luckily I know his opponent well!

I checked my results for this season and I’m slightly in the green only on bets involving Brooksby. I thought I’d be a bit more behind, but I don’t bet on him much because I’m often unsure when it comes to analyzing him. Between his physical issues at the start of the season, his lack of motivation, and his sometimes strange level of play, he’s hard to figure out. Right now, it’s still complicated. He wins a few matches here and there but doesn’t put together any big performances. Maybe I’m wrong, but when I watch Brooksby at the moment, I no longer say to myself like before, “wow, he must be such a pain to play against for his opponents.”

I see a player who holds his own, sometimes with difficulty, and who immediately struggles when his opponents are better than him. Is that the case with Faria?

The Portuguese player once again had to come through qualifying, which is really not where he belongs, given that his average level of play is clearly above the guys you usually find there. He easily got past Basilashvili and then Wu, losing his serve only once and showing great killing power. He seems to have reset things after taking three straight losses, including two fairly mediocre ones against O’Connell and Droguet in Montreal. In those two matches, he mentally folded. He’s a player who can go through rough patches in his matches before pulling himself together. He has a big temperament but above all great talent, especially in fast conditions. Now that he’s out of qualifying with a bit less pressure ahead, he seems ready to do some damage.

Brooksby could be interesting in his role as a very solid baseliner and good counterpuncher, with more tactical intelligence than Faria. The conditions favor the Portuguese, who will be able to get many more free points on serve and make the difference with his power. Physically, I’m not a big fan of Faria, and I’m even less of one when it comes to Brooksby, whose game is ultra-dependent on his energy level. He can’t really compensate when he has a dip, which isn’t necessarily the case for Faria. I’m not comfortable with this match-up because it’s yet another tricky one, but if I had to take a side, I’d lean toward Brooksby.