The 2023 WTA Tour is slowly coming to an end for the year with us now finding ourselves in August, and United States player Jennifer Brady has somewhat become a forgotten woman given the injury issues she began suffering a few years ago.
There does seem to be light at the end of the tunnel for her now though, as after a two year battle with knee and foot injuries that left her out of the game with a lengthy absence, she returned to the DC Open court this week and took a two set emphatic victory over 28th ranked Ukranian, Anhelina Kalinina, 6-2 6-1. Following this victory, she will next be in action against seventh seed, Madison Keys, who is also Brady's preferred doubles partner, so for watchers on, that could be a very interesting and tasty encounter.
She came into the competition originally with odds to win at Rock Creek Park Tennis Center of +2200 with New Jersey’s online betting apps as per NJ.bet and they will no doubt change dramatically if she is capable of putting herself through to the third round of the tournament. In fact, she currently has odds of +210 to take the win again in this tie up over her friend, and future tournaments from an odds perspective could be interesting for punters if she really builds some momentum again now.
The former US Open semi finalist and Australian Open finalist who was once ranked No 16 in the world, has now fallen to a once unimaginable ranking of 1,056, so she will undoubtedly be absolutely delighted with the manner of her return to truly competitive tennis.
Following this victory, she will next be in action against seventh seed, Madison Keyes, who is also Brady's preferred doubles partner, so for watchers on, that could be a very interesting and tasty encounter.
Speaking to the media after her win, she explained.
"I'm pretty happy with the way I came out, handled my emotions, stayed true to my game plan and I was able to come out with a win. Tennis is a part of who I am and I hope I never lose that. I'm happy to just be out here competing with the best."
Her return to the court has certainly been a long time coming, as it was way back in the second round of the Western and Southern Open on August 18, 2021, that Brady was forced to retire during her match with Jelena Ostapenko with a foot injury - that was later determined to be a torn plantar fascia, a far more serious issue.
In preparation for this tournament, two weeks ago in Canada she took part in an ITF World Tennis Tour $100,000 event in anticipation of a return to the WTA Tour, and her tie up against Kalinina took only one hour and eight minutes - she broke her opponent's serve six times, and ultimately won ten of the final eleven games on her route to victory.
The straight two set win marks her best win by ranking following the previous Grand Slam final run out in Australia.
Former US Open finalist, Madison Keys, by example, now meets her in the next round courtesy of a 7-5 6-1 victory over China's Zheng Qinwen.
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