The final of the Lexus Eastbourne Open takes place at Devonshire Park on Saturday when two American players battle it out for the ideal Wimbledon preparation when Taylor Fritz takes on Jenson Brooksby for the ATP 250 title.
Both these men have been made to battle their way through the draw at times and now they get the reward of playing off for the title, which for Fritz would be a fourth Eastbourne win and a second in succession. Brooksby is looking to win the tournament for the first time.
Taylor Fritz
He might be American but Eastbourne must feel like home for Taylor Fritz. He has won this title three times and there is clearly something about the Sussex venue that floats his boat, not just because he keeps on winning here but also because despite his lofty ranking rise and the fact he had already won a tournament on the grass this season, he chose to prepare for Wimbledon by looking to make a successful title defence, something he is now one win from achieving.
It hasn’t been as easy as you would have thought it might be for Fritz though. He might be a top five player in the world rankings but he has had to come through a deciding set in all three matches so far with Joao Fonseca, Marcos Giron and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina all taking Fritz the distance. If he does become the first player since Feliciano Lopez in 2014 to make a successful defence of the title then he would certainly have earned the rewards that come with it.
Jenson Brooksby
It has been a bumpy ride for Jenson Brooksby this week but his entire career has been like that so this is nothing new for the American. His week began with him losing in qualifying but he has made full use of his second chance in the competition and has come through and made the final. The only time he was really tested in the main draw up to this point was in the semi-final when Ugo Humbert gave as good as he got against him.
The longer that match went the better Brooksby got but you do wonder what a 2hr49 semi-final less than a day before the final will do to him physically. Brooksby has already been battling injury issues and issues with his serve over the course of the week so you would have to say that he is up against it here. Brooksby has won a title this season though, coming out on top Houston on the clay and a second title would be the perfect preparation for Wimbledon next week.
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Head-to-head
These two American counterparts have met twice in their career with both meetings incredibly coming in Grand Slam tournaments. Jenson Brooksby was a winner when they first met at the US Open in 2021 and then Fritz finally got the chance to gain revenge for that loss at the Australian Open at the beginning of the year. This will be their first meeting on grass though and the first time that they will have battled it out with silverware on the line so just how much we can take from their previous meetings remains to be seen.
Betting
Taylor Fritz has twice won the final of this tournament in straight sets with the other time going to a final set tiebreak but that was just a serve fest against Maxime Cressy and there is nothing in the opposition serve like that so I expect the US Open finalist of last term to go back to winning the title in straight sets here. I said we can’t use history as too much of a guide but it was only five months ago that these two met in Melbourne and Brooksby won five games in three sets.
That doesn’t bode well for him and neither does the fact that he battled on court for nearly three hours on Friday. That was a hot day so that has to have taken something out of his legs so I’m on the side of Fritz here. I wouldn’t say I trust Fritz too much overall but there is something about this place which gets his juices flowing. Fritz has already seen off Alexander Zverev in straight sets on the grass in Stuttgart this season and I think Brooksby goes the same way here.
Tips
Back T.Fritz to win 2-0 for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with William Hill
Back him here:
