“I have a lot of confidence in my legs, in my strength,” Brady said that week. “I think that I’m stepping on the court with a different mentality, a different sort of belief in myself and, just kind of changed. I feel like a different person, a better person; fresh, mentally, physically.”

When the tour resumed after a five-month stoppage prompted by the coronavirus pandemic, Brady had not missed a beat.

“She had the discipline and she had the goals,” said Geserer, who was giving her instructions from Germany while she was training in Orlando, Fla. “She wanted to get stronger, and she was working a lot. That paid off, but we are still at the beginning.”

She won the first WTA tournament that returned in North America, taking the title at the Top Seed Open in Lexington, Ky., out of a field that had included stars like Serena Williams, Venus Williams and Victoria Azarenka.

Brady did not drop a set in her five matches in Kentucky, and she didn’t lose more than four games in any set.

Through four matches at the U.S. Open, Brady, seeded 28th here, has the same streak intact, including a dominant win Sunday over the 2016 United States Open champion, the 17th-seeded Angelique Kerber, 6-1, 6-4, to reach the quarterfinals at Flushing Meadows.

“She’s serving very well, and the next shot after her serve is really fast,” Kerber said. “She’s dominating with her game, especially on her forehand side. I tried everything, but in the end, in the important moments, she played better.”

Source: New York Times

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