Houston – Qualifiers Jenson Brooksby won his first ATP Tour title Sunday, beating Frances Tiafoe 6-4, 6-2 in the U.S. Men’s Clay Stadium Championship Final.
Brooksby, a 24-year-old from California, saved five games in the game, including his semi-final defeat of top-seeded Tommy Paul. Brooksby eliminated the three highest seeds in the field, including 2nd place Tiafoe and Alejandro Tabilo.
Brooksby, who ranked in the top 500, entered Houston and is expected to climb to the top 175 in Monday’s ATP rankings. He is the first American to win the ATP singles trophy this season and the first qualifier to win the competition since Chile’s Fernando Gonzalez in 2000.
Brooksby returned to the tour at the Australian Open in January after two years of absence, which included a pair of wrist surgeries, shoulder injuries, coach changes and suspensions related to missing doping tests.
He talked to the Associated Press in December that he was diagnosed with autism when he first discussed the topic publicly.
