WASHINGTON (AP) — Jenson Brooksby grabbed the last six points of the opening set and went on to beat Kevin Anderson 7-6 (4), 6-3 in the first round of the Citi Open on Monday, two weeks after losing to the two-time Grand Slam runner-up in an ATP final.
Brooksby, a 20-year-old from Sacramento, California, was oh-so-close to dropping the first set at the hard-court tuneup for the U.S. Open. He faced a set point while serving down 6-5, but Anderson put a backhand into the net.
Then Anderson's 113 mph ace — one of his 11 aces on the 80-degree afternoon — provided him with a 4-1 edge in the tiebreaker. But the 35-year-old South African wouldn't take another point in that set.
Brooksby used drop shots to collect a couple of points and was helped by some misses by Anderson, including an unforced error on a backhand that closed a 14-stroke exchange to end the set.
On July 18, Anderson topped Brooksby in straight sets to win a grass-court title at Newport, Rhode Island.