Jenson Brooksby vs Roberto Bautista Agut: A tough game of revenge on the cards

American Jenson Brooksby will tango with Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut in the first round of the ATP 1000 Madrid Open. In their head to head, Brooksby leads by 1-0 after his win at Miami last March.

Young Jenson is currently ranked No.43 in the world rankings even though he reached a career-high of No.25 at the beginning of April. Last year, Brooksby won 3 titles on the Challenger circuit. At the beginning of last June, he was still ranked outside the top 150. A solid second half of 2021 saw him defeating Evgeny Donskey, Denis Kudla, Félix Auger-Aliassime, John Millman and Jordan Thompson. At the US Open, he beat Aslan Karatsev, Taylor Fritz and others to become the youngest American to reach the court round since Andy Roddick. Fast-forward this year and Brooksby continued his hot streak on the hard courts of North America to reach the final of the Dallas Open where he lost to Reilly Opelka, Brooksby’s game has been described as unorthodox mainly because of his guile and disguise in shot-making. He is a patient in the rally but his serving still needs development.

In 2021, Andy Murray said this about him:

Jenson Brooksby is the sort of player I love to watch, lots of variety…high tennis IQ…great in defence.

Andy Murray

34-year-old Roberto Bautista Agut has reached a career-high of No. 9 and has won 10 titles with the last being in February 2022 at the Qatar Open in Doha, a Masters 250 event. This same February, Bautista Agut led Spain to the final of the ATP Cup by winning his 3 singles matches. He lost to Canadian Félix Auger-Aliassime in the final. Struggling with form in 2021, Bautista Agut came back to winning ways in 2021 - a form he has carried into 2022. The Spaniard plays a consistent, precision game with an offensive built around his forehand. His defensive skills are enhanced by his speed and mobility around the court.

Brooksby by has a 1-0 edge over Bautista Agut in the head to head between the two. That win came in March 2022 at the hard courts of the Miami Open when Brooksby won by 2 sets to 1. Intriguingly, both players have not won a match since then as that match was Bautista Agut’s last and Brooksby lost his next two matches after that win. Over the past 12 months, Brooksby has won 3 and lost 2 matches on clay while his opponent has won 4 and lost 5 on the red dirt. All the same, as this match will be on clay in the Spanish homeland of Bautista Agut, we suggest that the veteran player will find a way to squeeze past the unarguably talented young American if nothing else to avenge his Miami loss.

• Bautista Agut to win for 1.62
• Total Games over 21.5 for 1.77
• First set total games over 9.5 for 1.72

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