Americans Jenson Brooksby and Mackenzie McDonald are set to clash in the first round of the 2022 Firenze Open on Tuesday.
2022 ATP Tour
ATP 250 Series
Firenze Open
Palazzo Wanny, Florence, Italy (Indoor Hardcourt)
Selected Round of 32 and Round of 16 Matches- 12th October
Round of 32
Jenson Brooksby (6) (49/100) vs Mackenzie Macdonald (16/10)
This hasn’t exactly been the breakthrough campaign that 21-year-old Jenson Brooksby would have been hoping for. Still, the unconventional American has still managed to compile a relatively decent 28-20 win-loss record for the year. He has reached two finals this year (in Dallas and Atlanta).
He also reached the 4th round of two big Masters 1000 events. But the defensive baseliner still lacks the first-serve power to consistently challenge in upper echelon events.
But he has shown a predilection for indoor hardcourts of late. He had an 11-2 record on these surfaces last year and comes into this match with a 6-2 indoor hardcourt record for 2022. That’s a 17-4 record for the past two years. He is also coming into this event in reasonable form, reaching the semi-finals last time out in Seoul.
These latter season events could represent a great chance for Brooksby to sneak his way up the rankings.
This hasn’t been a particularly strong singles season for 27-year-old American Mackenzie Macdonald. He has shown flashes of quality in big events (he reached the 3rd round of the French and Miami Open).
He also reached the quarterfinal stage in Dubai and Korea. But he just simply hasn’t been consistent enough since an exceptional run to Washington final last year.
He simply hits too many errors. But he may come into this event somewhat emboldened by his brilliant double’s performance in Japan. He won his first title- in singles or doubles- playing alongside Marcelo Melo in last week’s Tokyo Open.
That could allow some confidence to bleed into his singles tennis. But he will need to be ultra-aggressive against Brooksby’s somewhat powderpuff serve.
Verdict: Brooksby to win in straight-sets at 12/10- They have played twice this year and Brooksby has emerged victorious on both occasions. Having said that, they did need three tight sets last time out in San Diego.
Brooksby should walk this match. He arrives in good form and with a week’s rest under his belt. I think Macdonald could feel somewhat jetlagged after the quick turnaround from Tokyo.
I think Brooksby has the courtcraft to work around his limited serve and win quite comfortably.
Maxime Cressey (4) (8/15) vs J.J. Wolff (11/8)
This should prove to be another fascinating all-American clash. 25-year-old American Maxime Cressey is certainly something of a throwback to the days of Sampras and Courier. He has a big serve and loves to get to the net for the serve-and-volley.
That makes him something of a dinosaur in this day and age. Overall, this has been a positive season for Cressey. He is 32-26 for the year, winning his maiden ATP Tour title at the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships.
He has broken into the top 35 in the world for the first time and picked up his maiden top 10 victory against Felix Auger Aliassime. But he has struggled with the switch from grass to hardcourts. He is 5-7 since Newport, with a quarterfinal at Winston-Salem his best showing.
He had to withdraw from the 1st round of the US Open through injury and he hasn’t played much tennis since then. It will be interesting to see how he physically copes with this test.
J.J. Wolff is yet another old-school American hardcourt player. 23-year-old American is known for his big-serving and somewhat erratic tennis. He may no longer be sporting that epic mullet but he’s still pretty unpredictable on court. This is evidenced in his results this year.
He has been fairly pedestrian on the Challenger circuit. But he still has the capacity to pull off big wins. He beat Denis Shapovalov en route to his maiden ATP quarterfinal at the Citi Open. He also thrashed Roberto Bautista Agut in the opening round of the US Open.
He will break into the top 70 in the world for the first time if he reaches the quarterfinals here. But can he find consistency this week? He showed encouraging grit to come from a set down against Italian wildcard Francesco Maestrelli.
Verdict: Wolff to win in three sets at 4/1- This will be their first career meeting. I think Wolff could pull off the slight upset here.
He is serving brilliantly and just needs to cut down slightly on his error count. Cressy comes into this match somewhat undercooked and might take some time to settle in against Wolff’s excellent delivery.
