A maiden Grand Slam final wasn't far away from Jennifer Brady last season, yet the huge-hitting American didn’t expect to land in the finale of Australian Open 2021.
Playing in her second home, maybe she shouldn’t be too surprised.
Brady endured hard quarantine in the tournament build-up before a stunning run that has seen the world No. 24 drop only two sets on the way to a clash with familiar foe Naomi Osaka.
MORE: Brady fights past Muchova for debut finals berth
Osaka edged Brady in a high-quality thriller in last September’s US Open semifinals but the numbers game — a field of 128 whittling down to two — still left Brady in doubt.
“Even before quarantine, yeah, I didn’t think I would be where I am right now, sitting in this podium answering your question,” Brady told reporters following her dramatic three-set semifinal win over comeback kid Karolina Muchova. “No, probably not.
MORE: Brady finds belief to break barrier
“I have put in a lot of work. I just think it’s crazy to believe … like you just look at even watching a Grand Slam final, at two players and you’re like, ‘Wow, that’s awesome that they’re in the final’.”
Brady’s performance at Australian Open 2017 suggested that even better things were on the way at Melbourne Park. In her Grand Slam debut, Brady reached the fourth round.
The good results have indeed continued in Australia, including a quarterfinal showing at the Brisbane International last year as a qualifier where Brady downed Maria Sharapova in a third-set tiebreak.
“I love playing in Australia,” said the Florida resident. “It feels like home to me.
“Brisbane is one of my top-five favourite tournaments. It just feels like home. I think it’s the conditions. A little bit more humid there, similar to Florida. I play good tennis in Australia. I think I feel really comfortable here.”
The 25-year-old is an anomaly among US players in that she works with a non-American coach.
In this case, it is German Michael Geserer, who guided Julia Goerges into the top 10 and also coached Philipp Kohlschreiber. He hit a staggering 100 winners in an upset win over Andy Roddick at Australian Open 2008.
Brady reiterated Thursday how much, before then, playing college tennis at California’s UCLA turned her fortunes around. Pete Sampras’ sister, Stella coached her.
Highly regarded as a junior, Brady — who spent a chunk of time at Chris Evert’s academy in Florida — wasn’t enjoying the tennis life.
“I don't think I really just appreciated the opportunities that I had with the sport,” said Brady. “I was just going about doing the same thing every day, not really taking a step back and enjoying what I was doing.
“I was just doing it because I had to, because I had nothing else to do because I didn't know what else to do except for going and practicing five hours a day and just waking up, doing it all over again, for my whole junior career.
“So I think in that aspect I didn't really enjoy the sport. And also, I didn't really have great success in the juniors.
“That was really hard for me, just all my confidence and my game. I took a hit there and thought, ‘Okay, maybe I'm not meant for this sport. Maybe I'm not good enough. I'll go to college for four years and then I'll find a real job.’”
Now her job is firmly tennis and will be for years to come, while twin sister Jessica is currently in medical school.
“She played when we were younger, but she gave up. She's a nerd. So she has the brains and I have the athletic genes,” a smiling Brady said.
Brady admitted to struggling with the occasion on Thursday. The clean, precise yet powerful tennis witnessed for much of the fortnight gave way to a patchy performance.
And trying to close the semifinal out, Brady’s potent first serve deserted her. It took five match points and saving three break points to finally see off the gutsy Czech who had toppled Ipswich native Ash Barty, the world No.1.
“I felt good in the warmup, felt good physically,” she said. “I still feel good physically after the match. I think it was just maybe just nerves and also just maybe a little bit mentally, not 100 per cent there.”
Brady fully expects the nerves to remain for the final against Osaka, who she used to see on the junior circuit along with the three-time Grand Slam winner’s sister, Mari.
“I remember playing (Naomi Osaka) in this tournament, it may have been like a lower-level challenger event,” said Brady. “I think she was just coming up maybe inside the top 200. I was, like, ‘Wow, she hits the ball huge. She's gonna be good. Okay, she's got something special.’”
But so does Brady.
After all, how many players can say they have made a Grand Slam final?