Three of the four women in the semifinals of the 2020 US Open count Grand Slam titles on their resumes. The outlier is Jennifer Brady, a 25-year-old American who has claimed a surprising but eminently deserved place in the semis.
Brady, who played college ball at UCLA and has kicked around the tour for more than six years, making a slow but steady ascent, takes on the 2018 US Open champion Naomi Osaka, the fourth seed, in the biggest match of her life.
Though that might appear to have the makings of a mismatch, the 5-foot-10 Brady has been playing some of the hottest tennis on tour this summer. Through five rounds in Flushing, she has yet to lose a set. Brady has really come into her own, playing confident, aggressive tennis, employing her big serve and massive topspin forehand to dictate points. The former Bruin has smacked 109 winners and is fitter than she has ever been in her career.
Osaka, of course, has been here before (in addition to the 2018 US Open, the Japanese megastar won the 2019 Australian Open). Though younger at 22, she is also more experienced than Brady. Osaka looks to have overcome a hamstring injury that hampered her in early rounds, and she is again playing the kind of dominating, quick-strike tennis she is known for.
In other years, one might suspect that the newcomer Brady, the 28th seed, would succumb to nerves under the pressure of a semifinal and a roaring crowd. But the American has played in a calm, quiet zone with no spectators to unsettle her-potentially nullifying that crucial variable. Her game is clicking and potentially matches up well with Osaka. You’d have to give the two-time major champ a significant edge, but if Jen Brady continues to play the kind of smothering, focused tennis she has so far, she has an actual shot at the final.
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