Carlos Alcaraz has won the last two events and will be nicely placed to win the title for a third year in succession with Jannik Sinner – the world’s best player – currently serving a three-month suspension.

In 2022, Taylor Fritz claimed glory at Indian Wells. It was the tournament that really put the American on the map and gave him the confidence to really believe he could become a Grand Slam winner some day.

After the match, beaten finalist Nadal paid homage to American tennis on the whole and although he praised Fritz, there was another player from the United States who he was very complimentary about.

What Rafael Nadal said about Jenson Brooksby in 2022

Nadal was quizzed on several American players after Fritz enjoyed a day in the sun by beating the Spanish great to claim the Indian Wells crown for the very first time in his career.

In 2021, Jenson Brooksby had reached the fourth round of Indian Wells. He defeated Jack Sock and Stefanos Tsitsipas before being ousted by the 2021 winner Cameron Norrie.

Brooksby earned some praise from Nadal during his press conference after being beaten by Fritz with the 23-time Grand Slam winner predicting big things for the talented player.

He said: “Brooksby is another kind of player. I saw him play a couple of times. He does a lot of things very well, with a special style, but doing things very difficult, doing very difficult things easy. Probably he’s going to have a great future, too.”

Jenson Brooksby hasn’t yet kicked on after Nadal praise in 2022

American tennis is definitely on the up. However, Brooksby has been forced to watch on as Fritz, Ben Shelton, Frances Tiafoe, Tommy Paul, Seb Korda and even Learner Tien overtake him in the quest for tennis glory.

Brooksby turned professional in 2021 and that run to the fourth round of Indian Wells is actually the best he’s ever done at either an ATP Masters event or a Grand Slam, with the 24-year-old reaching the same stage of the US Open in 2021.

From 2023, things took a turn for the worse for Brooksby. After making his debut at the Australian Open and knocking out Casper Ruud, he injured his wrist in March of that year and missed 14 weeks of action.

In July of that year, it was announced that Brooksby would receive a provisional suspension from the International Tennis Integrity Agency after missing three doping tests.

Although the American accepted the suspension, he strongly denied doping and an agreement was reached for him to reduce his suspension to 13 months, allowing him to return in March 2024.

Brooksby is now keen to make up for lost time and made his comeback at the Australian Open in January. Ironically, he was beaten by Fritz in the first round in straight sets.

Seeing his compatriots kick on should give him the determination he needs to rediscover himself, and it’s quite remarkable that despite Nadal’s prediction, his highest ranking so far is number 33 in the world.

Brooksby is still at an age where he can revive his career. Now, it remains to be seen whether he can compete on the tour in the future and prove Nadal right after all.