By: Grace Liu

This year, after recovering from a knee injury and a chronic foot condition, tennis player Jennifer Brady, 28, is trying to get back into the sport.

Brady made her breakthrough at the 2020 U.S. Open, near the peak of the coronavirus pandemic. Four months later, she reached the Australian Open final. But, as the world started to return back to normal, Brady was not seen.

She did not compete for almost two years because of a chronic foot condition and a knee injury combined. Brady said that the series of injuries left her “in a very dark place.”

After she lost to Naomi Osaka in the 2021 Australian Open final, Brady was physically and mentally drained. “I love competing, but I just didn’t want to compete. Mentally, I was absolutely fried,” she said. Her mental state along with her injuries caused Brady to take a break from playing.

After the 2021 Australian Open, Brady didn’t compete until this July for an International Tennis Federation satellite tournament in Granby, Quebec. She won one round before losing straight sets to Himeno Sakasume, a Japanese player ranked 223rd.

She was initially aiming to return for the French Open in May. She had her hotel room and plane ticket booked but then suffered a new injury, a bone bruise in her right foot, during her last practice session before she planned to leave.

“It was unbelievable, just being out there,” Brady said in a telephone interview from Granby. “Just engaging and just having a crowd there, and people enjoying good tennis. I definitely missed this. I didn’t think I would be as comfortable as I was. I’m happy I was able to show people that I’m still here.”

Although Brady no longer has a WTA ranking after her long break, she is planning on entering the U.S. Open this August. Brady was long considered one of the most promising American players.

The challenge for Brady has been learning to hold back. “It’s almost like I don’t trust myself,” she said. “I realized it’s more about staying healthy and training smarter instead of harder.”

After her long journey of recovering from her injuries, Brady is back in the sport.

Link to article: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/29/sports/tennis/jennifer-brady-citi-open.html