By Erik Gudris | @atntennis | Tuesday, August 1, 2023
Jennifer Brady is back.
After a long and often difficult injury layoff for the last two years, the former 2021 Australian Open finalist played her first WTA main draw match in two years at this week’s WTA 500 Mubadala Citi DC Open event.
Brady, who was once ranked as high as World No. 13, enjoyed a straightforward 6-2, 6-1 opening round win over current World No. 28 Anhelina Kalinina.
Brady, who admitted she was not entirely sure how her first match would go, was very pleased overall with her performance.
“I had the game plan. I was able to execute everything that I wanted to," Brady told the media afterward. "Maybe I played a little bit better, a lot more solid than I was expecting but I was really happy with my performance from the beginning of the match all the way to the end.”
To say the road back has been tough for Brady over the last two years would be an understatement.
The 28-year-old Harrisburg, PA native reached the 2020 US Open semifinals and then the 2021 Australian Open finals. From there, Brady looked poised to become the next big thing in tennis.
Then everything changed a few months later.
In her last WTA match back at Cincinnati in 2021, she retired against Jelena Ostapenko with a foot injury that was later diagnosed as a torn plantar fascia also combined with a stress fracture in her right knee.
While Brady hoped for a speedy recovery, that was not meant to be.
Instead, Brady endured pain for two years, multiple doctors' visits, and then eventual surgery to alleviate another separate knee issue. Yet even after that surgery, she continued to struggle with knee and foot pain. Throughout the ordeal, Brady often wondered if she would ever play again.
After finally getting on the path to 100% health, Brady thought she would be able to compete at this year’s Roland Garros.
Yet, a few days before she was set to go to Paris, Brady suffered a bone bruise on her foot. Doctors advised her not to play so it could heal properly. That ultimately delayed her comeback until this summer where she played in Granby, Canada at an ITF event.
During her layoff, Brady reached out to several players on tour with similar injuries for support and advice.
"I talked to a bit with Dasha Gavrilova. Because she's come back from so many injuries and she's been able to get herself back to the top and she's she just came back from an ACL just now and she started playing again. She was a really good person to get some good advice from.”
Having not played actual matches in so long, Brady had to get used to being nervous, embracing that feeling, and even relying on match memories from her previous time on tour.
"You know, it's tough. In the beginning of the match, I'm extremely nervous," Brady said. "It's just a different feeling that I haven't felt for so long.
"And you know, it's something that I enjoy feeling just nerves. My legs feeling a little bit out of sorts. And just kind of working my way into a match and finding a way I would say just, embracing those emotions and embracing the moment and really just enjoying it.”
While Brady may have wanted to come back sooner, perhaps it's fitting that she does so during the summer swing in the United States where fans have been eager to see her return.
"I couldn't have asked for anything better," Brady said. "I love playing at home. I love playing in the States and all of the support that I’ve gotten in the past couple of days it's been amazing and everybody is really, really supporting me.”
Photo credit: Mark Peterson/Corleve