“At times it felt like it was never going to happen”: Jenson Brooksby opens up on wrist surgeries and his long road back

World No. 53 Jenson Brooksby opened up about his comeback season to the top level, following a notable rise from outside the top-1000 at the start of the season, to nearly returning to the top-50, also achieving his first professional title at the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championships in Houston, where he defeated former champion Frances Tiafoe in the final.

The 25-year-old American spent a couple of years away from the tennis courts, following an 18-month suspension from the ITIA – for missing three anti-doping tests in a 12-month period. During the suspension time, his wrists collapsed and the tendons of both dislocated severely – the left at 100% and the right at 70-80%, forcing him to undergo surgery on both wrists during 2023.

20 months passed since the surgery before Brooksby could finish a practice match. “I think having the wrist just getting used to the shock factor of tennis, just with having k-wires [Kirschner wires] in my wrist, [the pain] was really, really high,” Brooksby said in a recent interview with the ATP Tour. “It took so many months. At times it felt like it was never going to happen, but then you just stay patient with it like you would with anything else and eventually like the rest of the body, it gets used to a certain tolerance or physicality.”

"I was in different types of casts for eight weeks on each. For those eight weeks on each wrist, so 16 total weeks, I wasn’t able to do really anything at all. Not even holding the phone or anything. I had to have some serious patience mentally. You couldn’t even use yourself physically, much less a simple thing. I was going a bit crazy."

The American tennis player was touted as one of the Tour's great talents before facing the suspension, and had reached world No. 33 as his best ranking, as well as up to three ATP-level finals—although being defeated in all of them.

The suspension cut his career short and caused him to lose the ranking he had achieved by 22 years of age. Then injuries came to make his work toward returning to the courts even more difficult, but in 2025, positive results did not take long to arrive.

He arrived in Houston ranked just world No. 507, and a wildcard allowed him to enter the qualifying draw. It was barely his first tournament on clay courts in three years, and he overcame Federico Agustin Gomez (1st seed) and Patrick Maloney in the preliminary rounds, guaranteeing his entry to the main draw.

It was there that a campaign to remember took place. On the way, he defeated Taro Daniel, Alejandro Tabilo (3rd) [saving three match points against him], Alexander Kovacevic, Tommy Paul (1st) [saving two match points], and Frances Tiafoe (2nd). It signified his first ATP title at the age of 25 and a rapid rise into the top-200.

“I think the biggest reason why I wanted to not just come back, but believed I could be better is because I knew I still had a couple weaker areas where I knew I could get better,” Brooksby said. “I think I was very good from the baseline, but I knew if I could get my serve better than it used to be, play more consistent offensive tennis and add more variety, that I think I could crack the highest levels of tennis.”

The American looks forward to a 2026 in which he continues taking steps forward on the Tour and re-establishing himself as a player to watch in the big tournaments. His first tournament will be the ASB Classic in Auckland, to then play the Australian Open, a tournament where his best result was in 2023 reaching the third round – weeks before the suspension and being eliminated by Tommy Paul.

“I think the biggest thing is I’m looking for more efficient ways to get in the offensive areas of the court and finish off points rather than just staying from the baseline,” he commented regarding his challenges for next year.