LEXINGTON, Ky. _ As a freshman at UCLA in 2014, Jennifer Brady led the Bruins to the NCAA team tennis championship. Six years later, the 25-year-old from Pennsylvania has a championship all to herself.
Utilizing the same power game that helped her dominate rising star Coco Gauff in the semifinals, Brady knocked off Switzerland's Jil Teichmann 6-3, 6-4, in the finals of the Top Seed Open at Top Seed Tennis Club in Nicholasville on Sunday to earn her first career Women's Tennis Association title.
"It feels great. You know, there's only one winner each week and to walk away with that trophy ... for my first title in America, I'm really, really happy," Brady told the media during a post-match Zoom teleconference. "I've always wanted to start off by winning a WTA title. Everything I've imagined is definitely a reality (now)."
Last December in the Limoges WTA Challenger in France, Teichmann defeated Brady in a tight contest, pulling out a second-set tiebreaker to win 7-5, 7-6 (14-12). Things were similarly nip-and-tuck early in Sunday's rematch, with the duo trading games to make it 3-3 in the first set.
The match turned in the seventh game, where Brady got the best of a nine-minute battle to pull ahead 4-3. She never trailed from that point, jumping ahead 2-0 in the second set to seize control.
"Before I walked onto the court I was like, 'I have to believe in myself that I can win this,' otherwise it doesn't really make sense for me to walk out there," Brady said. "I think that 4-3 game where I held serve was definitely something that really helped me throughout the rest of the match."
Brady, who entered the tournament No. 49 in the WTA rankings, did not lose a single set during her five matches in Nicholasville. None of her competitors got closer than 6-4 in a set all week long. Teichmann, who came in ranked No. 63, was similarly dominant on her road to the finals. The 23-year-old left-hander won every set in her first four matches before running into Brady.
Brady will likely jump into the top 40 when the new WTA rankings are released Monday and she'll carry a ton of momentum into the Western and Southern Open and U.S. Open, both in New York City, later this month.
Brady said she'd celebrate her Top Seed Open title by ordering "something delicious" from Uber Eats _ she even offered to buy dinner for anyone else from the tournament sticking around Kentucky on Sunday night _ then head to the Big Apple on Monday to begin preparing for her next competition.
"I'm just happy to win the title in America," Brady said. "Everybody remembers their first title, I'm sure. But for me to win here at home in America is awesome.
"I'm really looking forward to seeing how everything turns out (at the U.S. Open). Everybody is pretty excited to go and play and I'm pretty excited to head off tomorrow to get there."
