Jennifer Elizabeth Brady was born on April 12, 1995, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, United States, to Elizabeth and Patrick Brady, and has a twin sister named Jessica. She began to play tennis at the age of eight.
Brady had success playing for the University of California before her WTA career began. This included helping her team win the 2014 Division 1 Women’s Tennis National Championships in Athens, Georgia, United States.
After getting her first WTA Tour wins in 2016, she became known to the tennis world after two impressive Grand Slam runs in 2017. The first was at the Australian Open, where she reached the fourth round as a qualifier.
The second was a fourth-round appearance at her home Grand Slam at the US Open. She knocked out the seeded Barbora Strycova along the way but lost heavily 1-6, 0-6 in the fourth round to the No. 1 seed Karolina Pliskova.
Brady was unable to match those achievements in 2018 and 2019. Her most notable achievement during that time was making the third round at four WTA 1000 events in Dubai, Indian Wells, Beijing, and Madrid.
The American won her maiden WTA title at the Lexington Open in August 2020. She defeated the fifth seed, Yulia Putinsteva, on her way to the finals before claiming the title with a 6-3, 6-4 victory against Jil Teichmann.
A few weeks later, Brady progressed unexpectedly to the semifinal at the US Open. Her terrific run in New York included triumphs against the former champion at Flushing Meadows, Angelique Kerber, and the 2016 runner-up Karolina Pliskova.
The American lost a tight semifinal 6-7, 6-3, 3-6 to Naomi Osaka. Brady went even further at her next Grand Slam at the 2021 Australian Open. She won her first four matches in Melbourne without dropping a set to reach the quarterfinal. A second consecutive Grand Slam semifinal was secured with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 victory against Jessica Pegula.
The American secured a maiden Grand Slam final by beating Karolina Muchova 6-4 3-6 6-4. However, Brady was bested by Naomi Osaka once again. She lost the final 4-6, 3-6 to the Japanese star.
Unfortunately, Brady suffered a serious knee injury in her second-round contest at the 2021 Cincinnati Open. This kept her sidelined for over two years. She made a comeback at the 2023 Citi Open in Washington and the US Open, but she then endured another setback.
