Sacramento’s Jenson Brooksby gets knocked out of the U.S. Open, vows to fight his way up

“I’m feeling very confident going into this one,” Sacramento native Jenson Brooksby said 48 hours before taking on the biggest challenge of his year on the pro tennis tour.

Due to face Carlos Alcaraz, the fourth-ranked player in the world, in a third-round U.S. Open match in Arthur Ashe Stadium, the largest court in the sport, Brooksby brimmed with positive feelings.

Then the match started Saturday and the brilliance of his opponent shone through. In a little more than two hours, Alcaraz put on a tennis clinic for the 23,000 fans in attendance, breaking Brooksby’s serve and his spirit in a 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 rout.

Afterward, as Brooksby slowly walked slump-shouldered into his news conference. Disappointment leaped from his face.

“I thought my execution and a couple part of my games I have been working a lot on, I didn’t do well today, and it feels terrible, you know, that I didn’t do that,” Brooksby said. “I thought I competed pretty well today for most of the match, but even then there was still too many lapses.”

Brooksby entered Saturday’s match after two dominant performances at Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, winning in straight sets in his first two matches.

But Alcaraz, the 19-year-old Spanish phenom who many call the next Rafael Nadal, is a whole ‘nother level of opponent. The electrifying teenager reached the quarterfinals here last year, and Brooksby saw right away how tough the match would be.

Alcaraz broke serve with a running forehand crosscourt winner to go up 4-2 in first set. He held twice more to grab the opener as the enormous Ashe Stadium crowd settled into their seats.

In the second set, the 21-year-old Californian had a brief surge, breaking Alcaraz to even the set at 2. But Alcaraz immediately seized control back with a break the very next game, and rolled to a 6-3 second-set win.

Alcaraz’s power was overwhelming at times, and it was combined with remarkable defense, forcing Brooksby to hit four or five great shots to win a point. In the opening set, Alcaraz smacked 17 winners, while Brooksby had three, and the final numbers were 46-10 in favor of the victor.

Finally, in the third set, Brooksby showed some life, and got the crowd on its feet with some dazzling play. He broke Alcaraz twice early and snared his first lead of the match at 3-0, and the crowd roared for the young American.

But Alcaraz, picked by many to be the next major star in tennis after the “Big 3” retire, snuffed out the comeback hopes by winning the next six games and the match.

“At 3-0, I had a letdown game, which is understandable, but still, I mean, I still don’t believe that should happen,” Brooksby said. But it did, and I don’t think I reacted to that very well.”

Alcaraz had praise for his opponent Saturday.

“I think he’s amazing,” Alcaraz said. “He’s beaten the best players in the world, and he’s very dangerous to play against.”

Brooksby entered this week ranked No. 43 in the ATP rankings, and has a had solid year, especially after how it started.

The Northern Californian had to miss the Australian Open after coming down with COVID-19 just before the event, and struggled in tournaments soon after that. He had a terrific Indian Wells, beating top-five-ranked Stef Tsitsipas; lost in the first round in Paris at the French Open, then won two matches before being toppled by Cristian Garin at Wimbledon.

“I mean, I think I’m doing okay,” Brooksby told The Bee. “It’s been, there has been a lot of streaks. Definitely been some ups and definitely some downs, too.

“I feel like I’ve been on the road way more this year than any other year, so I believe my coach and my team and parts of my process . … We’ve learned so much on how to handle situations. Especially being on the road for us was the biggest challenge.”

Brooksby also endured some controversy in 2022, accidentally striking an adult ballboy with his racket during a match at the Miami Open in March, an incident for which he apologized and promised to learn from. He has a highly useful (for a tennis player) habit of irritating his opponents, who frequently complain about Brooksby’s exhortations during matches.

During Brooksby’s second-round win over No. 25 seed Borna Coric, the Croatian was heard to mutter to the chair umpire “Every point I miss a shot he says ‘come on.’ I respect the effort; I respect the fight. But it’s a bit too much for me.”

“Jenson wears his emotions on his sleeve, and the backlash he got from some of those things was hard for him,” said Brooksby’s longtime coach and mentor, Joseph Gilbert of Joseph Gilbert Academy in Arden Arcade. “He knows he has to learn to handle his emotions better on the court, and that’s part of the maturation process he’s going through.”

At the U.S. Open, Brooksby returned to the scene of his greatest fame: A year ago he stunned Novak Djokovic, then the world No. 1 and going for a calendar year Grand Slam, by crushing the Serb in a 6-1 fourth-round first set that had the fans on Ashe screaming with joy.

Who was this blonde kid with the unconventional game, filled with angles and winners? Never mind that Djokovic settled down and proceeded to win the match in four sets. Suddenly Brooksby was a known name beyond the hard-core tennis world.

“That crowd energy, going on that stage, is indescribable,” Brooksby said, smiling at the memory. “Nothing can replace that. That’s the best feeling I can have out there, in life.

“And after that, yeah, people in New York were coming up to me a lot more, and at home, telling me they watched, and they were happy. So that felt really good.”

Now established on the ATP Tour as a player few want to play against, Brooksby said he’s confident his trajectory is upward.

“I think I’m the only full-time NorCal guy who has reached this level in tennis, so that means a lot to me,” he said. “I just know that if I keep working and listen to my coaches, I’m going to stay on the rise.”