Cincinnati Masters 2022: Tommy Paul vs. Jenson Brooksby Tennis Pick and Prediction

TennisSection previews the 2022 Cincinnati Masters as Tommy Paul takes on Jenson Brooksby in the first round on Tuesday, August 16th, 2022.

Will Tommy Paul build on his quarterfinal run at the Montreal Masters? Or will Jenson Brooksby address his recent slide in the last couple of weeks? This should be a fun battle between two countrymen who should get the crowd on their feet with their frenetic shotmaking.

Tommy Paul reached his first ATP Masters 1000 quarterfinal in style at the Montreal Masters. The 25-year-old from New Jersey registered the finest win of his career by shocking Carlos Alcaraz in the second round, recovering from a set and a breakdown to reach the third round. And the upset did not stop there. Paul authored another one in his next round, besting Marin Cilicfor the first time in three meetings. His reward was place in the last eight where he came within a set of continuing his electricrun, but fell short to an inspired Dan Evans. Still, Paul will be delighted with his progress. He is now set to break the world’s top 30 for the first time and effectively clinch a seeding spot at the US Open.

Jenson Brooksby, meanwhile, arrives at the Cincinnati Masters with just one win from his last four matches. Defeat in the Atlanta Open final has shaken his confidence a little bit it seems. Brooksby was in top form at that tournament, where he posted wins over six-time champion John Isner and Frances Tiafoe in back-to-back matches. But he has actually faced some stiff competition since. In Washington he played Yoshihito Nishiokawho was quite simply untouchable in that event. And in Montreal he fell to a second-round defeat to Bautista Agut-hardly a pushover on a hard court.

Tommy Paul and Jenson Brooksby have not played each other on the ATP Tour. It is always tough to replicate good performances with just small window of rest time between tournaments and Brooksby can attest to that. So Paul will have a battle in his hands at the Cincinnati Masters as he looks to build on his tremendous run from Canada. I think Brooksby is due to get his hard court season back on track, and while Paul is no slouch, he should come out on top in this baseline battle.