Jennifer Brady postpones return to tennis with Australian Open withdrawal

Fans of Jennifer Brady have been left devastated after the WTA player canceled her plan to compete at the 2026 Australian Open.

It has been almost five years since Brady reached the 2021 Australian Open women's singles final. Her incredible run to that stage included a quarterfinal victory over Ashleigh Barty, who won her home tournament the following year.

Naomi Osaka defeated Brady in the final to win her fourth Grand Slam title. Although a disappointing conclusion, many felt the big-hitting American had a great chance of reaching more Major finals.

Sadly, Brady's career has been severely hampered by injuries since. At the 2021 Cincinnati Open, she sustained a serious knee injury against Jelena Ostapenko. That issue kept her away from tennis for two years.

After much work, Brady returned in 2023 and showed really auspicious signs with a run to the US Open third round. Playing that well so soon after her absence raised hopes that she would swiftly climb the rankings.

Brady's terrible luck came back with a bang at the 2023 China Open. She retired after four games against Magda Linette with another knee injury, and has not played on the WTA Tour since that unfortunate moment.

In the past few months, Brady has co-hosted The Player's Box, a very popular podcast with Jessica Pegula, Madison Keys, and Desirae Krawczyk. A highlight from it was Pegula describing how customer service seemed to be trolling her in China.

There had been few updates about Brady's playing career until Brady appeared on the 2026 Australian Open women's singles qualifying list, generating excitement about her return to tennis.

Those hopes have been dashed for now after Brady had removed herself from the Australian Open entry list, postponing her return until an unnamed future date.

No official announcement about the development has been made by Brady. However, it is fair to assume that the American's injury problems have not cleared as quickly as expected, creating another delay. Hopefully, she will return successfully soon.

Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek's testing positive for banned substances in 2024 were shocking moments. Many sympathized with Swiatek, in particular, since melatonin tablets, a product used by several players, were contaminated without her knowledge.

Speaking on a 2025 episode of The Player's Box, Jessica Pegula described how stressful the doping system can be for players, especially because no one tells them they tested negative and can relax.

That means any message from the doping authorities causes Pegula anxiety. Although they have just been general updates about the system or reminders of test dates, she still fears receiving news of a positive result from a freak occurrence.

Pegula is not the only one who was left panicked by how the doping authorities act. During the off-season, Marketa Vondrousova detailed how a testing official failed to respect her personal life and was intrusive, making her feel uncomfortable.