WASHINGTON – Top seed Tommy Paul was upset by qualifier Jenson Brooksby in the semi-final of the US Men’s Clay Court Championship in Houston.
The 24-year-old staved off match point as he produced a 7-6 (7/5), 3-6, 7-6 (8/6) win over fellow American Paul, ranked 13th in the world.
Brooksby has made a habit of saving match point in this tournament, he did so in the first round of qualifying and then fought off three match points in the second round of the main draw.
The match was blighted by several lengthy rain delays and concluded seven and a half hours after it began when Brooksby’s backhand return winner secured the tie-break win in the third.
“I’ve been able to recall a lot of those (match point) moments this tournament and I think I’ve gotten stronger as each of those have gone on,” said Brooksby who is ranked 50th in the world.
“I’m just really pleased with how I’ve kept my mental composure here the whole week so far,” he said according to AFP.
World No 2 Alexander Zverev, who has struggled for any kind of form since losing the Australian Open final at the end of January, admitted that the defeat in Melbourne had affected him a lot mentally.
The German, who has lost all three Grand Slam finals he has contested in his career, went down in straight sets to Jannik Sinner and has battled to pick himself up since.
“I didn’t take a rest after Australia and mentally it affected me a lot,” said Zverev at a press conference ahead of the Monte-Carlo Masters 1000.
“I was very upset; I was very tired also.”
Zverev’s response was to start training again “straight away” and heading to South America to take part in the ATP 250 in Buenos Aires and the ATP 500 in Rio de Janeiro, where he was beaten on each occasion in the quarterfinals.
“I didn’t really have time to process what happened,” said Zverev who is top seed in Monte Carlo in the absence of Sinner, who is suspended.
“In a way, I just kept going, which was perhaps not the smartest thing to do.
“But tennis is also a business. You have contracts with tournaments that you have to obligate. These contracts are signed six or seven months in advance.”
The seven-time Masters 1000 winner also agreed that he was in favour of players receiving a greater proportion of the revenue from tournaments.
Several top 20 players have sent a letter to Grand Slam organisers, requesting a more favourable revenue distribution with Casper Ruud calling for a 50-50 split between tournaments and players.
Zverev said that it would “never be shared 50-50” but called for a delegation of top male and female players to “sit around a table” with the Grand Slam organisers and try to find a solution.
“It’s no secret, we have the lowest revenue share in professional sport from the Grand Slam side,” he said.
