By Richard Pagliaro | Sunday, September 6, 2020
Jennifer Brady dismantled 2016 US Open champion Angelique Kerber 6-1, 6-4 powering into the US Open quarterfinals for the first time.
Photo credit: Mike Lawrence/USTA
An off-season plyometrics program helped Jennifer Brady strengthen her body and streamline her game.
An explosive Brady took a major leap into her first Grand Slam quarterfinal today.
Tweener Alert: Auger-Aliassime's Flashy Strike
Unleashing her twisting topspin forehand, Brady played dynamic combinations dismantling 2016 US Open champion Angelique Kerber 6-1, 6-4 powering into the US Open quarterfinals.
Cracking a forehand to convert her second match point, Brady flung her bumble-colored Babolat racquet aside, thrust her arms in triumph and exhaled deeply capping a performance of poise and power soaking up a career breakthrough of genuine joy.
“Wow. Wow, it feels great—I’m so happy,” Brady told ESPN’s Bethanie Mattek-Sands afterward. “I think I played a spectacular first set. I don’t think I made very many errors if any to be honest.
“I was getting a little frustrated I felt a little pain in my leg I just wanted to close it out in two sets. Angie’s a great player she makes you fight for every single point. I definitely feel it a little bit.”
It’s been a break-out summer for Brady, who captured her first career title in Lexington last month. If you’ve seen Brady topple world No. 1 Ashleigh Barty or former top-ranked players Maria Sharapova and Garbine Muguruza this season, then you know she owns one of the most versatile and dangerous serves on Tour and her twisting topspin forehand is menacing weapon on all surfaces.
Playing near flawless tennis for much of the match today, Brady showed much more than the imposing serve-forehand combination. She displayed fine variety, using her one-handed slice to dig out of the corners, and some excellent defensive skills when stretched—an element previously lacking in her power-based baseline game.
Brady has dropped just 19 games through four tournament victories, including knocking off a pair of former Top 5-ranked players—former No. 4 Caroline Garcia and former No. 1 Kerber—and lost serve only four times solidifying her status as a true US Open contender.
Though Brady twice took treatment for an upper left leg injury today, Olympic gold medal champion and ESPN analyst Mary Joe Fernandez flat-out declared the 25-year-old American capable of going the distance.
“She’s the best player now in the draw that I’ve seen,” Fernandez said. “The way she's playing, I think she can beat anyone in the draw, including Osaka. If she can stay physically healthy she can go very far and win this tournament.”
The former all-American at UCLA made history as the first former college player to reach the US Open women’s quarterfinals since Hall of Famer Gigi Fernandez, Mary Joe’s former gold-medal winning partner, achieved the feat in 1994.
Slashing an ace to start, Brady dominated the opening set blowing Kerber off the baseline in a head-snapping six-game surge.
One of six thirtysomething women in the round of 16, the 32-year-old German looked stuck at the wrong end of the shooting gallery. Brady’s booming forehand is a heavier shot than Kerber’s flat shots.
The 2016 US Open champion showed some jitters early decelerating on a second serve she pushed into net then compounding it with an error as Brady broke for 3-1.
Commanding the center of the court, Brady’s punishing forehand forced Kerber out of her comfort zone to try to hit bigger and go for more. The three-time Grand Slam champion flagged a forehand down the line into the top of the tape as Brady broke for the second straight time for 5-1 just 20 minutes into the match.
Serving for the set, Brady dipped a low slice approach that danced near Kerber’s shoelaces coaxing the break to close the set in 22 minutes.
The weight and depth of Brady’s drives were too much for the No. 17 seed. Brady won 16 of 20 points played on serve, while Kerber did not manage to win a point on second serve.
An unrelenting Brady scorched sideline-to-sideline shots breaking again to start the second set.
Suffering a six-game slide and down love-40 on Brady’s serve, Kerber knew she needed to do something special and she produced it. A drop shot set up a wristed backhand. Kerber cranked a clean forehand down the line breaking for the first time.
It was a quick reprieve. Carving out a clever drop shot winner, Brady rampaged through a love break to go back on top, 2-1.
The former No. 1 never backs down from a baseline battle. Kerber grinded through a tricky hold for 2-3 then Brady left the court for treatment of an upper left leg injury.
Returning to court with taping wrapping her left leg, Brady immediately confronted a double-break point hole. Shaking it off, Brady belted a backhand crosscourt winner navigating the test for 4-2.
Still, the former champion had more fight earning a couple of break points in the seventh game. In a physical game that spanned more than 10 minutes, Brady both break points repelling everything Kerber threw at her.
Two areas Brady excelled under pressure today: she refused to give up the baseline and used her forehand finishing power to slam shut any shot Kerber had of pushing this the distane. Blasting a diagonal forehand winner, Brady held for 5-3.
Though Kerber, one of the few women in the fourth round who skipped last month’s Western & Southern Open, took the court with less match play, her trademark grit is undiminished. The German saved a match point with an inside-out forehand holding in the ninth game.
Ratcheting up the suspense a bit, Brady took treatment for that cranky left leg during the changeover. Would the leg strain force a stumble near the finish line?
No way.
On her second match point, Brady closed with that flaming forehand and heart-felt emotion.
"I knew what I wanted to do; I’m pretty proud of myself I stuck to the game plan," Brady said. "I just tried to be aggressive when possible. I knew she was gonna make me play a lot of balls. I just try and stay ahead in the point and not really let her making me run side to side."
Though she isn't one given to over-analysis of her style, action speaks louder than words. Brady knows she is playing offense as well as any woman in the field and is playing with more explosive spin than fellow power players Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka, Victoria Azarenka and Petra Kvitova.
The questions are: can Brady's left leg withstand the physicality of what awaits and can she mentally withstand the pressure of her first trip to the last eight of a major?
One of four Americans into the round of 16, Brady is the first into the quarterfinals and has a solid shot to reach her first major semifinal—if her leg issue doesn't hobble her. Brady, who said an ultrasound showed no damage to the leg, will play 23rd-seeded Yulia Putintseva, who edged eighth-seeded Petra Martic 6-3, 2-6, 6-4.
Eight of the last 12 women’s Grand Slam champions were first-time winners, including 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin, 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu, 2019 Roland Garros Champ Ashleigh Barty and 2018 US Open winner Naomi Osaka. Brady, who practices with Kenin, says seeing her friend win her maiden major in Melbourne has inspired her to believe she too can breakthrough.
"I think right now the women's game is so deep. Anybody can win a major," Brady said. "It's just a matter of, you know, how the draw really pans out.
"I think, you know, you had Sonya Kenin this year, won Australian Open, and I know her very well. You know, I think seeing the younger players or other players, you know, winning majors and not just the same person, I think it brings a different fire or fuel for other players, as well. You know, they see that and they're like, Okay, if they win, I can also win."