Qualifier Jenson Brooksby stuns Tiafoe claim US Clay Title
Houston: The qualifying wildcard entrant Jenson Brooksby, ranked No. 507 at the beginning of the week, won seven consecutive matches to claim his first ATP Tour title at the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championships.
Beginning as a qualifying wild card, the 24-year-old American completed his dramatic run with a 6-4, 6-2 final victory against second seed and 2023 Houston champ Frances Tiafoe.
With his first ATP trophy on his resume, Brooksby became the first American male to win an ATP title of 2025.
Throughout the week, he fought off five match points in three of his seven matches: one in his opening round qualifying match, three in his second-round match against No. 3 seed Alejandro Tabilo, and one in his semifinal match against top seed Tommy Paul. In doing so, Brooksby became only the eighth player since 2015 to match points in multiple matches en route to winning the title.
“It means a lot to come away with a title here. I think it’s been the best week of my life, to be honest. You know, I hadn’t won any of my three previous ATP Finals, and those were all three years ago. One of my biggest goals in my comeback was to win my first title. So I wasn’t trying to think about it too much as I was getting closer and closer to the finish line, but I’m really happy that I’m walking away with the trophy,” said Brooksby.
Brooksby shattered several US Clay and ATP records throughout his championship journey this week. He is only the second US Clay champion in Open Era history, dating back to 1972, to defeat each of the top three seeds on his way to the championship: No. 1 Paul, No. 2 Tiafoe, and No. 3 Tabilo.
Brooksby is also the first qualifier to become US Clay champion since Chilean Fernando Gonzalez in 2000 and the lowest-ranked champion in the tournament’s Open era history. He is projected to reach No. 172 in next week’s ATP rankings with the title under his belt, climbing over 300 spots from start to finish this week.
Tiafoe, the 2023 US Clay champion and a two-time US Clay finalist (2025, 2024), was the fourth player to reach three consecutive US Clay finals, and the first since Andy Roddick (2001-2005). He has also won 10 of his last 12 matches in Houston.
