Brooksby's Opportunity
The American gets to face Baez for the third time in 2026...
They met at the very start of the year in Auckland. Baez had already beaten Munar/Fritz/Wawrinka at the United Cup (dropping just one set to Fritz). Meanwhile, Brooksby had played a very shaky match against James Watt, who is not even a Challenger-level player! As for the match against Baez, I remember that Brooksby did not look match-fit; it was really laboured, and he didn't really stand a chance as a 1.55 favorite. He got another rematch against Baez in Rome, where he put up a bit more of a fight, despite losing in straight sets, which is kind of expected on clay against Baez ;) In English, there's the expression "third time's the charm"; could that be the case here? Playing on a fast hard court is definitely helpful for the American! Brooksby is still struggling a lot this season; let's admit that. His only wins during the American hardcourt season were against Moutet (who's been injured/bad), Winter, Walton, and Mpetshi Perricard... not exactly great! His losses have been to Wong, Shelton, Tsitsipas, and Faria (2x), fairly aggressive players! I'm detecting a bit of a change in Brooksby's playstyle... he is trying to impose himself more offensively, perhaps since players have found more solutions against his original "quirky" defensive playstyle. I like that he is trying to adjust, but it also reminds me a bit of when Medvedev was really trying to force himself to be more aggressive - not always so easy to force this kind of game when it's not "natural".
While Baez was one of the most in-form players at the start of the year, that's no longer the case. He took an absolute 6-2, 6-1, 6-0 beating by Nakashima in the first round of the US Open! Can Brooksby somehow take some lessons from that, even though he is obviously not Brandon Nakashima? Try to get something out of your serve; it should be better when you are this tall, Brooksby! Baez loves to play with fast and with a lot of intensity, which really works when he is in the zone, but when he is bad, it's really bad! This is a great opportunity for Jenson, even though the matchup can normally be tricky for him. We also have to mention motivation here, even if I don't want to rely too much on it. Baez is not someone who tends to show up very strong for the last part of the season: fast Asian outdoor hardcourt and then indoor hardcourt in Europe - not exactly the conditions he thrives in.
