WHAT HAPPENED: The American upstart Jennifer Brady, playing the kind of lights-out tennis she has demonstrated since the resumption of the WTA tour, shellacked the former No. 1 Angelique Kerber of Germany, a three-time major winner, 6-1, 6-4, to storm into the quarterfinals at the 2020 US Open.
At 25, and recently into the Top 40 for the first time, the American could hardly be called an ingenue. But Brady, who played for the national championship team at UCLA in 2014, is definitely coming into her own as a pro.
The big-hitting Bruin, seeded for the first time at a major, after winning her first WTA title this summer at Lexington, has yet to drop a set in four matches in Flushing Meadows.
The 5-foot-10 American played with the confidence not of a newcomer to the big stage, but of a seasoned pro, soundly outplaying Kerber, the 32-year-old who won the US Open in 2016. Confidently striking her huge forehand—which she hits with heavy topspin and a big-but-controlled windup, and imposing serve—Brady never allowed her high-ranked opponent into the match. The American stuck to her game plan and prevented Kerber from throwing her off with the kind of heady spins and angles the lefty is known for.
In the first set, Brady broke early for a 3-1 advantage, pouncing on Kerber’s weak serves. The No. 28 seed was the one imposing her game and dictating play, making the German veteran press as she begged for answers. Brady captured the opening set in just 22 minutes, converting on both of her break-point opportunities and committing just three unforced errors.
In set number two, Brady continued her confident level through five games, until she suddenly called for the trainer and a medical timeout. After receiving treatment and getting her upper left thigh strapped, Brady quickly began to make the kind of unforced errors that were not coming off her racquet prior to the interruption in play.
Though Kerber sensed an opportunity, the tall American dug in and held for a 4-2 advantage.
Brady continued to receive treatment on changeovers, but she demonstrated poise and resolve in preserving her one-break advantage, then calmly served out the match to march into her first major quarterfinal.
Swaying side-to-side for her on-court interview, Brady said “I played a spectacular first set. I don’t think I made very many errors, if any, to be honest.”
But in the second, “I was getting a little frustrated; I felt a little pain in my leg, but I really just wanted to close it out in two sets.”
As for what she plans to do on her day off, before the quarterfinal, the casual Brady—who again, played college ball in Southern California, said: “Not much, really. Just the uszh.”
WHAT IT MEANS: Jennifer Brady’s climb up the ranks is beginning to look unstoppable. After languishing outside the Top 100 for most of her career, in 2020 Brady entered the Top 40 for the first time. This year she has defeated a slew of high-profile players, including top-ranked Ashleigh Barty, Garbiñe Muguruza, Elina Svitolina, Maria Sharapova and Coco Gauff.
Entering the fourth round, Brady has dismantled her opponents: The American dropped the fewest games of any player in the top half of the draw (just 14). Brady also surrendered the fewest games of a WTA title winner in Lexington, losing just 24 en route to the trophy. Prior to her upset of Kerber, the American decisively defeated Caroline Garcia, who had vanquished the top seed, Karolina Pliskova. Brady is now 21-6 for the year. Through four rounds in Flushing, Brady has surrendered just 19 games and not a single set.
Angelique Kerber, who has won each of the Grand Slams, save the French Open, once, was playing in her 22nd fourth-round match at a major. After a couple of seasons that didn’t reach the heights of her peak years, from 2016 to 2018, the German has dropped to No. 21 in the world. Kerber suffered a leg injury during the Australian Open earlier this year, and had not played on tour since.
MATCH POINT: Brady—who is the first former collegian to reach the US Open quarters since 1994—may have had a secret advantage facing off against Kerber: a German connection. Last year, Brady decided to decamp to Regensburg, Germany, to train with her German coach Michael Geserer. Brady told the Los Angeles Times that she knew no one, didn’t speak the language, and didn’t even have a winter coat.
But that audacious career move may have presaged Brady’s bold assault on the tennis tour in 2020.
