Brooksby wants to hug the baseline more, so he doesn’t have be constantly retrieving. But he struggled to handle the length and weight of Fritz’s ground strokes, which consistently forced errors and drew short balls he mashed with his forehand. Brooskby was chronicling on his heels, and when he did try to come out of his comfort zone and take the initiative, he was often off-target.
From 2-2, Fritz ran off 11 straight games. The first two sets took under an hour. Brooksby held to tie it at 1-1 in the third, and the crowd gave it a halfhearted cheer. John Cain Arena never really had a chance to erupt all day; the loudest applause occurred when a fan successfully guessed the changeover trivia.
Brooksby did had a few vintage moments in the third set. With Fritz serving for the match at 5-3, Brooksby hit an all-or-nothing down the line forehand winner from well off the court that left Fritz shaking his head. Then Brooksby saved a first match point with a stab backhand crosscourt half-volley winner from the baseline. But it was too little, too late—Fritz still held and win the set and match 6-3.
“It felt great,” said Brooksby of being back on the court. “It really did. The last couple of years taught me to be extra grateful for every time I’m out there and to get to compete in environments like that.”
