World No 48 Brooksby didn’t want to talk about his gameplan against Schwartzman – “I don’t really want to give it away” – but whatever the recipe, it’s working for him in Auckland.
He is enjoying the atmosphere – “this is one of my favourite crowds” – and also the positive results, after three consecutive first-round exits to finish the 2022 season.
“I had a tough end of last year for sure so I just really wanted to get better in the training and offseason and multiple different areas,” said Brooksby. “I didn’t set any expectations results-wise [coming here] but I just wanted to put some of the past things in the past and get back to competing at my best.”
The 22-year-old, who beat world No 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas at Indian Wells last year, is one of 12 Americans in the ATP top 100, with eight compatriots ranked above him.
“We’re all pushing each other to get better and we can see that in everyone’s results right now,” said Brooksby. “I’ve definitely got a few friends out there on tour from the Americans. They’re great guys and it’s a good culture now.”
French veteran Richard Gasquet impressed again to eliminate Portugal’s Joao Sousa, winning 7-6(2), 6-2 in 97 minutes. Sousa is a previous Auckland finalist (2017) but was no match for the subtlety and timing of the world No 67, especially once he got going in the second set.
The New Zealand doubles combination of Ajeet Rai and Finn Reynolds were shaded 5-7, 7-6(5), 10-5 by the top-seeded Croatian pairing of Mate Pavic and Nikola Mektic.
It was an impressive effort from the scratch local duo, especially given the pedigree of Pavic, who has won five grand slam doubles titles and is a previous world No 1 in the team game.
It was a match of fine margins, with the serving of the Europeans making the difference in the super tiebreaker.
