The Dangerous Underdog

Basilashvili keeps blasting through his opponents...

Yet, we found him as an underdog once again! It was another great performance from him against Botic. Just the fact that he has only dropped serve once in four matches and faced a single break point is incredible, since he plays such a low-margin game. Winning 36/38 first-serve points against Botic is also pretty incredible. He's now reached the quarterfinals after coming through qualifying, which is exactly what he did last year before losing to Musetti! Could this year be different, or will Brooksby's game neutralize him?

Brooksby has only played two matches so far, with wins against Baez and Sonego. It was not an easy match by any means against Sonego... The Italian had a medical time-out in the third set and seemed to be affected by it, but Brooksby was also really good at capitalizing. It does feel like Jenson is building up his level, but so far, it has been more solid and improving than someone on fire... like Basil ;)

Having said that, I do think Brooksby could pose a tougher matchup for the Georgian than Cina, Kecmanovic, or Botic did. Brooksby is not someone who will give you a good rhythm; there is a lot of change of pace and direction. However, for this to happen, rallies will need to extend a bit. Brooksby is a good returner, which will be important to neutralize the Basil serve and the brutal +1 that follows. Also, let's not forget that Basil will have chances on return against the American's serve... if he can fire off good returns and put Brooksby behind straight away, it's hard for the American to recover with his lack of athleticism...