Jenson Brooksby, the outlier, returns ... again

NEW YORK—Over the years, tennis has become the domain of sporting gladiators trained almost from the cradle to pursue perfect technique, impeccable form, and elegant strokes that leaves no stylistic or physical weaknesses for an opponent to exploit.

Once the tour had a healthy helping of unorthodox players, but outliers, iconoclasts, merchants of quirk—even flakes—are in even shorter supply than one-handed backhands. A few still survive, though, most notably Jenson Brooksby. He is a 24-year old, broad-shouldered, Californian who stands 6-foot-4, but often hits first serves with less pace than seconds. Many of either variety clock in under 100 mph, in an era when 135-mph deliveries barely warrant a raised eyebrow.

“I guess you could use that word ‘quirky,’” Brooksby said when I broached the subject in an interview at the US Open, shortly after Brooksby was beaten by Flavio Cobolli in a wildly-entertaining second-round rumble on Stadium Court 17. The match lasted just over four-and-a-half hours, and ended with Cobolli, the No. 24 seed, claiming the match tiebreaker, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(3).

“I’m just unorthodox, but I think it’s a strength,” Brooksby said. “I have a lot of different shots and I can use them maybe because I naturally see the court a little better than some other guys.”

Those “different shots” include a topspin forehand that is the closest thing in tennis to a major league knuckleball, a backhand volley and slice groundstroke that Brooksby often hits with both hands remaining on the handle for a longer time than anyone would recommend. Then there are those odd, soft bunts—neither drop shot nor volley. Brooksby’s takeback is extremely short, and it launches a backhand that is bullet fast and flat as a laser beam.

Overall, Brooksby’s game looks like it was assembled from a bin of random spare parts, and that’s partly what makes it so effective.

I’m just unorthodox, but I think it’s a strength. I have a lot of different shots and I can use them maybe because I naturally see the court a little better than some other guys. Jenson Brooksby

The first set of Brooksby’s match with Cobolli was full of fireworks, with both men blasting deep, scorching groundstrokes and pulling each other well outside the sidelines. They redirected rallies to keep things interesting, and played spectacular defense.

In the 11th game, Brooksby converted his fourth break point for a 6-5 lead, then deftly served it out. He also broke immediately to start the second set, then held. He had Cobolli on the ropes but his intensity declined and Cobolli clawed his way back, built a 4-2 lead, and claimed the set. After that, it was a see-saw battle all the way to the fifth set tiebreaker, in which Brooksby made some early errors to fall behind 7-1, and never recovered.

There’s a further, intriguing complication in Brooksby’s CV. He was born with autism spectrum disorder, the condition severe enough to keep him non-verbal until the age of four. Managing it required ABA therapy for about 40 hours a week. Brooksby, who has been open and frank about his medical history, said that he’s much better now, but still has to guard against losing focus and becoming distracted.

Read more: Why Jenson Brooksby's autism “is a superpower”

“I still think, in terms of focus, I'm able to get in a really good zone and get to an elite level, really high focus," he said. "But then it can be easier for your mind to get on other things at times, and maybe get a little off track.”

Of course, there’s nothing particularly exotic about the loss of concentration. It’s as common a failing in tennis as a missed serve. Just go ask Carlos Alcaraz about that. Brooksby has worked hard on learning how to keep his focus, and the results have been positive.

“I think it's pretty good in life, but in practice and on the court in these high-pressure situations, I still work on it," he said.

Watching Brooksby at his labors might leave you wondering here he would be ranked (he’s currently No. 92) had he not been obliged to sit out a 13-month suspension (for missing three out-of-competition doping tests). When it ended last March, he was still recovering from a shoulder injury and two wrist surgeries the kept him off the tour until this year.

Brooksby’s path through the profession has been an extraordinary journey of highs and lows. In his first official ATP tour match, as a qualifier in 2019 in Flushing Meadows, he beat former world No. 4 Tomas Berdych in what would be the final match of the Czech star’s career. Brooksby then missed the entire 2020 season with a toe injury.

A wild-card entry in the 2021 US Open, Brooksby upset compatriot Taylor Fritz and became the youngest American since Andy Roddick in 2002 to reach the fourth round (where he lost to Novak Djokovic). On the rise in the ensuing months, his ranking topped out at No. 33 in June of 2022.

I can't control the past, so all I hope for at this point is that I can finish my career a little later, you know, say like mid-30s or something rather than 30. Jenson Brooksby

Things went sideways not long after that, pretty much until this year. He was ranked No. 507 in March in the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships, where he saved three match points in an early round, then toppled No. 1 seed Tommy Paul and No. 2 Frances Tiafoe in short order to become the third lowest-ranked champion in ATP history.

“I'm still newer to it [the tour] than most 24-year-olds,” he said. “I can't control the past, so all I hope for at this point is that I can finish my career a little later, you know, say like mid-30s or something rather than 30.”

Brooksby’s wrists remain a chief source of anxiety. It isn’t often that a player feels relief after losing an excruciatingly close five-set match, but here’s Brooksby: “The biggest concern for me, really, over anything, has been my own body. How would I react physically to this level? But I think as this year's gone on, I've proved to myself that I’m able to last in long matches like this one.”

We can only hope that Brooksby can stay healthy and continue to build his stamina and form. Tennis needs the outliers, the unorthodox, the iconoclasts. Players who win in spite of their shortcomings rather than because of their strengths just could be the most compelling figures in this sport. But turning those shortcomings into strengths, the way Brooksby does, is magical.