Jenson Brooksby: First-time winner spotlight

Jenson Brooksby went from qualifying wild card to champion this week in Houston, lifting his maiden ATP Tour title on Sunday at the Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men's Clay Court Championship.

The 24-year-old American beat each of the top three seeds in Houson — Alejandro Tabilo, Tommy Paul and Frances Tiafoe — and saved match point in three of his wins, including in the first round of qualifying. Having entered the week at No. 507 in the PIF ATP Rankings, he is the third-lowest-ranked champion in ATP Tour history.

ATPTour.com caught up with Brooksby to discuss the significance of his title run, his recovery from wrist surgery and much more.

Jenson, what does it mean to you to win your first ATP singles title?
Thank you! It means the world. It was one of my biggest goals ever since I've been a professional tennis player. It just means a lot to have my first one. It really does. It's probably the best week of my life.

Who are some of the key figures in your life and career who have helped you reach a milestone?
I think there's multiple people. There's Amrit Narasimhan, my agent, who has been with me as long as my pro journey has been, as well as Paul Kinney, my physio. He's also stuck with me even when I was out for two full years, and was able to be with me and believed in me getting back. And then, of course my parents and other family members, as well as a couple of close friends that have that have seen that whole journey for me through the highs and lows. So I think those people mean the most to me. 

Man of the moment on the mic 🔈🏆🎤 @mensclaycourt | #USClay pic.twitter.com/4GAN10laaz

— ATP Tour (@atptour) April 6, 2025

You saved match point in three matches this week. Where do you think your fighting spirit comes from?
I think first is I've had a lot of different life adversity, whether it's on the court or off the court. So I think it makes these situations... like, I still get nervous about them and somewhat tense for sure, but I think it gives you a different perspective once you've had to face other difficult things in life.

And then also, I'm just someone who hates to lose and loves to win in general — obviously tennis being most important, but even in other games, and I think that's just how I'm wired as a person. I just really love winning, so that transfers over into like when I'm in tough positions and maybe you should lose in those situations, that I'm able to at least find a way out of it sometimes. 

You quickly climbed from having no PIF ATP Ranking into the Top 175. What were your goals to start the year and how does this change those?
Yeah, it changes a little bit. I knew by the end of the year I could potentially at least match where I was before [World No. 33] if I had a fully healthy year, because that was still my first and main goal for this year, even regardless of results, is to have one fully healthy year where I don't have to pull out of any tournaments — because I had that both in my first two years on tour. So that's number one, but yeah, I think it changes it a lot because I didn't expect it to be so fast, which is great news right now.

Hopefully this means I'll get to keep playing a lot of the bigger tournaments and overtake my previous ranking.

You went through plenty of struggles with the wrist injuries. Was there a turning point when you realised you could get through that and continue chasing your dreams?
Yeah, I think first there was kind of a period where I had some shoulder problems as well that overtook before I really believed from the wrist standpoint. But yeah, I would say not really until last fall, probably September or October was I really closer to believing like, 'Man, I'm able to not just play tournaments again, but sustain myself to last longer to give myself chances physically to get through the whole week to take a title', which was for me more important than even the tennis, because I knew I had the game that I could do it, but that was the part I'd been lacking. So probably not until probably a year-and-nine-month period there after the surgeries once I started to believe. But I'm glad I got to that stage. 

For those who haven't dealt with wrist injuries, how did they affect your everyday life? Can you share any examples?
No one that's had to go through that can really envision what it's like. The first example is I was in a different cast and brace for two months. Especially for me when I was able to do so many physical things, and then you're sitting there and you can't do more than walk or else it hurts, or even lift a small pan, for example. It's very nerve-wracking for sure, and sometimes it feels like it's never going to end or you're never going to be able to be stronger than what you used to be, but you just have to find ways to stay patient.

Obviously tennis players, we hold the racquet all the time and swing it. So it's a pretty violent motion repeatedly. So it takes extra time even after they're just stable enough as a whole.

What do you consider to be your biggest passion outside of tennis? Can you tell us a little bit about that interest? 
That's an interesting one. I'd probably say playing piano, but I don't have much time to do that because it's hard to find places with pianos and I also don't have one at my apartment; it's still back home. And then otherwise I love listening to music as well, and watching movies sometimes. But yeah, I'm listening to music a lot. 

What is your dream day without tennis? 
Dream day without tennis? Wow, that's interesting. Man, I think I would stay away from tennis and not even think about it for the day. Relax a little bit.

And then I would say... This might be an interesting one, but gather a few close friends of mine, if we could all get in one place. I've been wanting to do this for a while. We would go to Tahoe, because I've always loved Tahoe. Just be around the water and walk around and play some board games or something like that, listen to music, just have a good time, maybe even have a drink.

Finally, how will you celebrate your victory?
I don't know this for sure yet, but I think I'll get to go to Dallas for a couple days and see a few close friends and get to hang out. I think we'll go out tonight a little bit as well, at least get a good dinner or something. I'll need to finalise those plans soon, but hopefully get to Dallas, get some time with friends, because it's hard to come by.