James Watt takes confidence from loss to world No 49 Jenson Brooksby

James Watt may have exited the ASB Classic in straight sets, but the New Zealand wildcard left Centre Court encouraged by how closely he was able to compete with world No 49 Jenson Brooksby.

Watt was beaten 6-4 6-3 on Monday, but the scoreline masked how tight the contest was for long stretches, with the 25-year-old repeatedly pushing Brooksby in key moments.

“It was awesome,” Watt said. “It was cool to play at that level. 

“I felt like I was there neck and neck. But obviously there are things to focus on and a couple points that could have gone here or there, so it’s fun.”

Watt was broken in the seventh game of the opening set, while in the second he was broken at 2-2 before producing one of his best patches of the match to hold from 0-40 down at 2-4. 

Serving at 3-5, he saved five match points before Brooksby sealed the win on the sixth with the help of a net cord.

Reflecting on his performance, Watt felt there were chances he could have taken.

“I thought I played well in patches,” he said. 

“I think just the consistency was a little bit lacking. I had a lot of opportunities to break him, really get on top in that first set, even in the second set as well. 

“But credit to him, he hung tough and came up with some big serves on key points.”

Watt said his intent was clear from the outset.

“Stay aggressive. Serve plus one, get in as much as I can,” he said. 

“He did a good job of sort of neutralising that and keeping the ball deep, getting to my backhand and making things awkward.”

While he was disappointed not to have served more consistently, Watt acknowledged the pressure Brooksby applied.

“Obviously I would have liked to have served better, but he returned really well,” he said. “I think I served well in patches as well.”

Despite the ranking gap, Watt is ranked 705 in the world, he felt the margins were slim.

“There was a couple shots that missed by a few inches,” he said. 

“If those had landed in, then it could have easily been the other way. That’s tennis, I’ll learn from this experience, take that with me and keep improving.”

The match has given Watt confidence heading into the rest of the season.

“The fact that I can hang in there with a guy who’s top 50 in the world, it builds on the Davis Cup success (winning both of his rubbers against Georgia in September) and I’m hoping to take that through to the next Davis Cup (Bosnia & Herzegovina next month).”

Brooksby was impressed with what he saw from the New Zealander.

“He’s got a good game,” Brooksby said. “Anyone with that height, it’s a little harder to move. 

“But he’s got not just a big serve, but a pretty well placed serve too, and mixed it up well. So he’s really got that down, and then he plays good first strike tennis. So I think he’s raw, but he can get a lot better.”

Meanwhile, Ajeet Rai and Jean Julien Roger lost 6-3 6-2 to the top seeds in the doubles Yuki Bhambri and Andre Goransson.