Jenson Brooksby reveals what it was like to grow up with autism

"It's obviously a personal topic that, even with people that you might feel very comfortable with in my mind, at least for a long time, it wasn't something you could just blurt out as part of a conversation. I always thought about it, ultimately I just wanted to talk about it," he said.

Jenson, who had to live with an autism spectrum disorder, explained that he wasn't able to speak until he was 4. The 24-year-old had to spend most of his days with therapists to even start speaking and then to improve in communication and social situations. The contribution of Michelle Wagner, who treated Brooksby's delicate case, was fundamental.

The behavioral analyst specializing in autism spectrum disorders has followed the tennis player since he was 2 years and 9 months old, and has witnessed progress that she calls unusual and unique. Jenson in fact presented himself as a very severe case, but now he is in the very mild end of the spectrum. Brooksny has defined autism as a great strength in moments of pressure because it allows him to focus on only two or three specific details very well for a long period of time.

Brooksby played his last official match against Tommy Paul at the Australian Open 2023. The young American tennis player was in fact subsequently stopped by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) for missing three anti-doping tests in less than 12 months. The independent Sports Resolutions tribunal, the agency that the ITIA relies on in these cases, suspended Brooksby for 18 months,