By: Eric Liu

During Jennifer Brady’s career, she was a highly ranked tennis player, but everything changed when she had a leg injury. The fracture in her knee was severe enough to put her out of commission for years.

2020 was when Jennifer Brady suffered a chronic foot condition that put her out of commission for 2 years. Despite this, Jennifer went to Washington persevering throughout all the pain to make an unexpected comeback.

In 2020, at the peak of her popularity, she was what many regarded to be a top player. Her passion for the sport was at an all time high as she would nonstop practice all the time. Christopher Clary, a New York Times Writer wrote, “She smacked tennis balls against a mattress that she had propped against a wall.”(New York Times)

Brady was very passionate about her sport, as she would make trinkets around her hotel, and she would practice in her free time to hone her skill. These trinkets could vary from helping her in games or just practicing tennis in general. Brady practiced a lot of tennis which allowed her to hone her skills and become one of the best female tennis players.

Despite her successful career, something happened that would change her life entirely, the fracture in her knee. Jennifer Brady, the tennis player who suffered this injury said, ”There was a period where I just lost a lot of motivation and discipline and all that. Because it was like, ‘When am I going to play? When am I going to feel good?’ That’s fine if I don’t, but how much pain do I need to push through?” (Washington Post)

With the leg injury, Brady’s tennis career was essentially gone. Even if she wanted to play, she would strain her leg, tearing muscle fibers and causing more damage. But even though Brady could’ve been out of commission for good, she was so passionate about tennis. Day after day she would nonstop be thinking of tennis, and it would make her motivated to come back and get better at tennis. The reason why Brady was able to persevere throughout the pain was due to her passion for tennis.

Brady’s drive and passion for tennis has been as strong as ever, since her injury.

When Brady practices she doesn’t practice as much as she used to, due to her leg injury. Ola Malmqvist, the head of women’s tennis at the U.S.T.A. talked about Brady and said, “She’s not going to go four hours a day anymore because of her body, but she can still do enough to get the physicality she needs.”(New York Times)

Health is a very important factor that Brady prioritizes now. Brady hasn’t fully recovered from her injury, so she has been learning to hold back with extensive amounts of practice to mainly improve her health. With Brady limiting her amount of practice, and using the other time to possibly relax she has been healthier than before. Brady now works smarter, instead of working harder by practicing for a long period of time.

Brady has since healed from her injury and she decided to come back to tennis. During the opening match at D.C., Brady ultimately destroyed Anhelina Kalinina, the 28th ranked player in a tennis round 6-2, and 6-1, her first match ever in 2 years.

During the darkest time of her life, her passion for tennis was as strong as ever. She was able to recover from the leg injury and it has ultimately led her to improve herself, by striving to become healthier, and stronger.