Tennis: Third seed Diego Schwartzman forced to withdraw hurt from ASB Classic match against Jenson Brooksby

Third seed Diego Schwartzman retired hurt in his second-round match at the ASB Classic. Photo / Photosport

Third seed Diego Schwartzman was an early casualty from the ASB Classic on Wednesday, exiting the tournament in the worst way.

The world No 25, who was a French Open semifinalist in 2020, withdrew at the end of the opening set of his second-round match with American Jenson Brooksby with a thigh injury.

After going down 6-1, Schwartzman called for the trainer and had medical attention, before walking off with a rueful expression.

Brooksby, who toppled Italian Fabio Fognini in the first round, had genuine sympathy for the 30-year-old but was also delighted to be in the quarter-finals.

“That was a really strong performance for my end,” said Brooksby. “It sucks to see anyone get hurt like that and have pain but I thought that was a really strong level for me. In the first set, I was really locked in, really intense from the start.”

World No 48 Brooksby didn’t want to talk about his gameplan against Schwartzman – “I don’t really want to give it away” – but whatever the recipe, it’s working for him in Auckland.

He is enjoying the atmosphere – “this is one of my favourite crowds” – and also the positive results, after three consecutive first-round exits to finish the 2022 season.

“I had a tough end of last year for sure so I just really wanted to get better in the training and offseason and multiple different areas,” said Brooksby. “I didn’t set any expectations results-wise [coming here] but I just wanted to put some of the past things in the past and get back to competing at my best.”

The 22-year-old, who beat world No 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas at Indian Wells last year, is one of 12 Americans in the ATP top 100, with eight compatriots ranked above him.

“We’re all pushing each other to get better and we can see that in everyone’s results right now,” said Brooksby. “I’ve definitely got a few friends out there on tour from the Americans. They’re great guys and it’s a good culture now.”

French veteran Richard Gasquet impressed again to eliminate Portugal’s Joao Sousa, winning 7-6(2), 6-2 in 97 minutes. Sousa is a previous Auckland finalist (2017) but was no match for the subtlety and timing of the world No 67, especially once he got going in the second set.

The New Zealand doubles combination of Ajeet Rai and Finn Reynolds were shaded 5-7, 7-6(5), 10-5 by the top-seeded Croatian pairing of Mate Pavic and Nikola Mektic.

It was an impressive effort from the scratch local duo, especially given the pedigree of Pavic, who has won five grand slam doubles titles and is a previous world No 1 in the team game.

It was a match of fine margins, with the serving of the Europeans making the difference in the super tiebreaker.