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Regardless of how you look at it, on paper, reputation or current form, three-time Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka can wear the favorite tag with some degree of security when she enters the Rod Laver Arena on Saturday to play the maiden role. Jennifer Brady, Slam finalist. However, lately women’s tennis has taken a deeper taste for the poignant story of the underdog.
Four of the last six individual Grand Slam female champions have been finalists for the first time: Iga Swiatek (defeating Sofia Kenin) most recently at the 2020 French Open, Kenin herself, beating Garbine Muguruza at the Australian Open the year past, Bianca Andreescu (Serena Williams) at the 2019 US Open final and Ashleigh Barty (Marketa Vondrousova) at the French Open the same year.
The top three on this list became champions by beating more sophisticated and seasoned opponents, something world No. 24 Brady has been used to doing since early 2020.
Entering the WTA Brisbane International quarterfinals as a qualifier in January, the 25-year-old American defeated former world number one Maria Sharapova and current No. 1 Barty to set the tone at the start of the season. Brady took that to the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship, where, again as qualifier, she surprised third-seeded Elina Svitolina, Vondrousova and two-time Slam champion Muguruza to reach the semi-finals.
The pandemic applied the brakes on his career, albeit temporarily. In her first tournament after the restart, Brady won the WTA Lexington title in August (her first at the WTA level), reached the US Open semifinals, beating three-time Slam winner Angelique Kerber in the Round of 16 final, and the quarter-final stage at the Ostrava Open that saw her break into the top 25 of the world rankings.
That semifinal match at Flushing Meadows would be fresh on Brady’s mind, and also Osaka’s. It was the last time they met and it turned out to be a real war. In a display of powerful serves and groundstrokes, Osaka had to muster all his experience on the big stage for a 7-6 (1), 3-6, 6-3 victory. Osaka calculated that it was “probably (in) the two best games that I have played in my life”. Brady remembers those words, repeating them after his semi-final victory at this Australian Open.
She pushed Osaka hard in New York. He worked hard in Melbourne.
Brady was one of 72 players in strict quarantine, forced to stay in her room for two weeks before the start of the Slam, as passengers on her chartered flight tested positive for Covid-19. While most of that group expressed frustration at the situation and mentioned it as a factor in their physical deficiencies coming out of the tournament, Brady did not see it as an obstacle. Instead, he worked to provide plenty of rest for the body and positivity for the mind.
“At first I was a little bummed, and then I thought, okay, I’m okay,” she was quoted in the New York Times. “There are worse things in the world than being stuck in a room for 14 days.”
There were better things for her after that. Brady entered the semi-final of the WTA warm-up event in the week leading up to the Australian Open, in which she enjoyed straight-set victories in the first four rounds. With Svitolina and Barty upset by Jessica Pegula and Karolina Muchova, respectively, Brady’s task became less challenging in the quarterfinals and semi-finals.
Brady is armed with a strong base game and serve; ranks third in the list of most aces among women in this tournament with 32. The first? His last obstacle, Osaka (44).
The Japanese third-seeded will be a big step forward for Brady, as he has faced only two seeds during the tournament and none above the 25th seed Muchova. Osaka possesses the same weapons as Brady, even more polished and dangerous as she demonstrated in her semifinal beating of Serena Williams. The 23-year-old has only made it past the fourth round of a Grand Slam three times, but when she does, she makes sure to go the full distance.
Osaka does not know the feeling of losing a Slam final; Brady doesn’t know the feeling of being in a Slam final.
