Rennae Stubbs, an ex-coach of
Serena Williams, has expressed her joy at seeing
Jennifer Brady back on the
WTA Tour after a near 2-year absence.
Former world No. 13 Brady appeared to be on the rise a few years ago. The American made the 2020 US Open semi-final before reaching the final of the 2021 Australian Open, where she was defeated by Naomi Osaka both times.
After such a breakthrough into the top matches of the sport, Brady had climbed to No. 13 in the world by February of that year.
A difficult time for Brady
Unfortunately, Brady's success was cut short by injuries. She last played at the Cincinnati Open in August 2021, where a foot injury forced her to retire from her second round match against Jelena Ostapenko.
It was then revealed that she would need surgery, but following her recovery, Brady suffered another foot injury earlier this year that set back her return even further.
Nevertheless, Brady was finally able to make her comeback at an ITF W100 event in Granby, Canada. She succeeded with a win in her opening round where she defeated Kyoka Okamura in straight sets, before losing to sixth seed Himeno Sakatsume in the second round.
The 28-year-old has since gone on to play at the
DC Open, this being her first match on the WTA Tour in two years. She faced Anhelina Kalinina in the opening round, and ended with a commanding victory of 6-2, 6-1.
Stubbs delighted to see her return
Following Brady's win at the WTA 500 event, former doubles world No. 1 Stubbs took to social media the praise the player and share her delight at seeing her back.
The 52-year-old Australian was part of Serena Williams' coaching team at the 2022 US Open, the tennis legend's final Grand Slam tournament before retiring.
Posting on X, formerly known as Twitter, Stubbs wrote,
"So happy to see Jennifer Brady get her first win WTA level today in over 2 years! Let’s hear it tennis fans for one of the truly great people!!! She’s back and tennis is better for it!"