Former Australian Open finalist Jennifer Brady gave a detailed interview on her recovery journey from multiple long-standing injuries which kept her out of the game for two years.
Brady admits she is happy to be back playing and competing after two turbulent years on the treatment table. The 28-year-old outlined her desire to return to tennis as the key driver in the whole ordeal, otherwise, she could've given up.
Brady was at the peak of her powers when injury cruelly took away her momentum. What initially felt like a pop in her left heel in a second-round match at the WTA 1000 event in Cincinnati two years ago, was later diagnosed as torn plantar fascia. But before conclusive results of the foot injury came to bear, Brady proceeded to prepare for the US Open.
The medical staff in Cincinnati initially confirmed that it might be acute inflammation. On their advice, Brady hit the practice courts in New York where she suffered a stress fracture in her knee, completely unrelated to the first injury. She was forced to pull out on the eve of the tournament.
"It was a lot of time wasted. It had become chronic at that point because it was injured and didn't really heal properly. There was a lot of scar tissue."
Sadly for Brady, she did not pick up a racket for the next 12 months since injuring her knee. She remained at home at the start of the 2022 season when most of her fellow pros left for Australia - the scene of Brady's biggest Grand Slam moment in 2021.
Almost a year after succumbing to knee and foot injuries, Brady realized she was making sporadic progress with little success. At the time, Brady had not played any matches during the 2022 season and her optimism was put to the test. Brady admits to having anxiety attacks and doubts about the recovery process.
"I wasn't getting anywhere. I was like, 'I'm still in the same boat. I've made zero progress. If anything, I've regressed.' I started just having anxiety and thinking, 'Oh my gosh, am I ever going to be able to recover or play again?' Just bad thoughts. I started freaking out and I was just not in a great place mentally.
In fortuitous circumstances, Brady traveled to New York to watch last year's US Open as a spectator and met an expert who reassessed her injuries. Her knee and foot started to feel better, and soon after, Brady began on-court training and upped the intensity of her practice sessions at the start of 2023.
"There's finally light at the end of the tunnel. Let me tell you, I'm getting out of this damn cave. I can't wait."
Brady made her comeback to tennis at last week's ITF W100 tournament in Granby, Canada. She played two matches, winning one and losing the other. Not a single tournament part of the US Open series has offered her a wild card, and she will instead utilize her protected ranking status to play in Washington, Montreal, and Cincinnati in August.
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