MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Two eventful years after his most recent official tennis match — a stretch that included a pair of wrist operations, a bum shoulder, a coaching change and a suspension related to missed drug tests — Jenson Brooksby returned to action Tuesday at the Australian Open.
It was not exactly a chance for Brooksby to ease his way into things. The 24-year-old Californian, who spoke to The Associated Press last month about being diagnosed as autistic as a child, was in a best-of-five-set contest at a Grand Slam tournament and drawn to face the No. 4 seed, U.S. Open runner-up Taylor Fritz. Brooksby lost 6-2, 6-0, 6-3 at John Cain Arena.
"A little disappointed with the loss, but there's just been so much going on in the last couple years ... and I didn't know if I could get back out here," said Brooksby, who's been as high as No. 33 but is currently without a ranking because of his lack of activity. “So I'm just grateful to be back and just glad to have gotten a match.”
Brooksby had not played anywhere at all since January 2023, at Melbourne Park, where he upset three-time major finalist Casper Ruud in the second round before losing in the third. Shortly after that, Brooksby was sidelined by his first wrist operation, and then came the series of events that sidelined him.
The reception from other players has been good, Brooksby said.
“Every experience I've had is positive. (People) saying, ‘Hey. Welcome back. Good to see you out here.' It's been a lot of positive energy,” he said. “I myself have really just been missing being on the road and in these atmospheres.”
He originally planned to enter a lower-level Challenger Tour event in Canberra ahead of the Australian Open to get his legs under him. But both he and one of his new coaches, former tour player Rhyne Williams, got the flu, so Brooksby withdrew from that tournament.
“It was great to be under that crowd energy again. It was very uplifting,” Brooksby said. "Clearly a lot to work on, but can't be disappointed after this long."
Especially given who the opponent was. Fritz is currently at a career-best spot in the rankings and coming off a career-best run at a major, making it to the final in New York in September before losing to No. 1 Jannik Sinner.
That made Fritz the first American man to play for a Grand Slam championship since Andy Roddick lost to Roger Federer at Wimbledon in 2009. Fritz then also reached the title match at the ATP Finals in November before losing to — yes, that's right — Sinner.
“The general goal right now is to have just big results at the big tournaments. I would like to win a big title this year,” Fritz said. “I would really want to be in another Slam final and just give myself — obviously the goal is to win, but — another opportunity at winning a Slam.”
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Howard Fendrich has been the AP’s tennis writer since 2002. Find his stories here: https://apnews.com/author/howard-fendrich. More AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
