Going into the money rounds, the hottest women at the 2020 US Open are Naomi Osaka, Serena Williams and…Jennifer Brady.
Jennifer Brady?
Yes. Jen Brady. The American, seeded for the first time at a major (No. 28), has exploded onto the pro tennis scene this year. But she is hardly some overnight teen sensation.
Brady, 25, has been at it for more than six years. The Pennsylvanian played on the national championship team at UCLA in 2014 and turned pro after her sophomore year.
On Tuesday, Brady rocketed serves at 110mph and faster and served six aces to defeat Yulia Putintseva and claim a spot in the US Open semifinal, the deepest by far that the American has even been in a major.
Brady has yet to surrender a set or lose more than four games in one. She has won 10 of her last 11 matches.
On court, Brady looks preternaturally calm, like she’s been here before.
In fact, the American told the press corps after her quarterfinal, “Coming into the match today, honestly I was feeling like I was going to poop my pants, but I was very nervous. I just tried to really stay calm and, like, keep it cool as a cucumber out there.”
The big-hitting Bruin has slowly and steadily climbed the ranks, first lingering outside the Top 200, then gradually pushing into the Top 100, and finally puncturing the Top 40 this summer.
After winning her first WTA title in August at the Top Seed Open in Lexington, KY, and storming through four rounds of the US Open, Brady’s march to the top of the women’s game now seems inexorable.
In Lexington, Brady didn’t give up a set, and she lost the fewest games (24) of any titlist this year on the women’s tour. So far, the American has sprinted through her matches in Flushing, losing just 24 games in ten sets.
Plainly, Jen Brady is on a roll.
To book her place in the semis, Brady soundly beat the 23rd seed, Yulia Putintseva, 6-3, 6-2.
The previous round, in what looked to be her stiffest test yet, Brady thoroughly outplayed Angelique Kerber, the three-time major winner from Germany. Kerber is known to make players uncomfortable with her tricky lefty angles and changeups, moving players from side to side to exhaustion. But Brady remained steadfast in her aggressive game plan and was never derailed—not even by a thigh injury midway through the second set that required treatment on every changeover.
The 5-foot-10 American blasted away at her forehand, which she strikes with a wicked, but utterly controlled, windup and plentiful topspin and pace. Brady smacked repeated service winners to keep Kerber from seriously making a dent in the match. In short, the No. 28 seed calmly and confidently dismantled the former World No. 1.
Success on the big stage is not completely foreign to the budding American star, however. In 2017, she reached the fourth round at both the US Open and the Australian Open.
“I don't think I was really ready, physically or mentally, to make the fourth round of two Slams in one year,” said Brady, reflecting on that big year early in her career. “Definitely came as a huge surprise to me. Honestly, I didn't really believe that I belonged at that level or that it was achievable for me.
“To be honest, I wasn't ready, mentally or physically, before it.”
Now, Brady’s development on the tour has given her a whole new perspective. “Starting the beginning of the year, I felt like a different player. I'm not putting expectations on myself but I’m also not surprised when I'm doing well at a tournament.”
Brady has had a breakout year in 2020. Before the tour’s interruption, she defeated a distinguished coterie of players, including top-ranked Ashleigh Barty, Garbiñe Muguruza, Elina Svitolina, Maria Sharapova, and Coco Gauff.
Prior to her defeat of Putintseva and upset of Kerber at the US Open, the American decisively defeated the Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia, who had vanquished the top seed, Karolina Pliskova. Brady is now 22-6 on the year.
Brady’s recent, swift ascent is tied to a bold career move. 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.
Brady, who didn’t experience immediate success or fame on tour, feels like she has gone through the required, if arduous, process and is now better prepared.
“In the beginning it was a grind,” she said. “I was playing a lot of challenger events, 25Ks, 50Ks, traveling, sharing a room with two other girls. It's not all, you know, pretty on tour. Traveling isn't really that great, and, you know, just trying to save a buck here or two, you know, trying to share a room with other girls.
“And then, eventually, once you start to do better in those tournaments, then you get an opportunity to play in the qualifying of the WTAs, and then from there you go into the main draw of the WTAs, and you kind of just work your way up,” she continued.
“It's very challenging. A lot of people don't make it because they see how hard it is at the lower levels, but honestly, I loved it. I didn't really mind it. I guess, growth mindset really got me to where I am today.”
And where she is today is a good and calm place. On court, Brady strikes a pose of complete confidence.
“I'm a very relaxed, chill person,” she said after advancing to the quarterfinals. “Recently I have just been going on court with not putting expectations on myself to perform well but instead to just focus on what I can control.
“Right now, the women's game is so deep,” said Brady. “Anybody can win a major. It's just a matter of, you know, how the draw really pans out.”
Thus far, Brady’s draw has lined up quite nicely. But now it gets tricky.
In her first Slam semi, Jen Brady will face Naomi Osaka, the 2018 US Open champion.
Welcome to the big show, Jen!
