Casper Ruud vs Jenson Brooksby Pick – Tennis Predictions & Odds 1/19/23

Casper Ruud will meet Jenson Brooksby in the Second Round of the 2023 Australian Open. The match will be played on Thursday January 19th, 2023.

Casper Ruud is ranked 2nd on the ATP Tour and is the second seed here at the 2023 Australian Open. The Norwegian has had a rocky start to the year, splitting his two matches at the United Cup and then losing his First Round match to Laslo Djere in Auckland. Ruud is too good to let this cold streak linger and he was able to overcome Thomas Machac in the First Round, although it was a shaky performance. The match was unusually close, and he will have to vastly improve if he is to make a deep run here.

Jenson Brooksby is unseeded at the Australian Open, and the American is ranked 39th in the world. He started the year in much better form than his opponent Casper Ruud, reaching the Semi-Finals in Auckland, losing to Cameron Norrie in straight sets. He then came from a set down to beat Christopher O’Connell in four sets to book his spot in the Second Round. Brooksby is as solid as they come, with no glaring weaknesses, but tends to lack the firepower to defeat the very top players, of which Ruud is one. He is the underdog here for sure, but finds his opponent at his most vulnerable that he has been for a while, leaving the window open for an upset.

This is likely to be a very close match, despite how it looks on paper. Casper Ruud is the number three player in the world, coming off a very solid year, but has not looked like himself so far this year. However, we are still going to show him some confidence and back him to overcome Jenson Brooksby here. If it was a best of three match our pick might be different, but over five sets he has enough mental strength and quality to be able to figure it out. Brooksby is a high quality player and will make it a huge battle, but expect Ruud to win here. For a little extra, we like the American to win at least one set.