Brady’s heart racing in her semi
AMERICAN Jennifer Brady edged Karolina Muchova 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 in a tense Australian Open semi-final on Thursday to set up a title match with Naomi Osaka.
The big-serving 22nd seed secured her first Grand Slam final appearance on her fifth match point against the Czech 25th seed in front of thousands of fans allowed back on Rod Laver Arena after a snap fiveday lockdown in Melbourne was lifted.
She will play Osaka in tomorrow’s final after the world
No.3 Japanese had ended Serena Williams’ bid for a recordequalling 24th major title.
Brady, 25, is the last player standing among those forced into a hard 14-day quarantine after arriving in Australia.
“My legs are shaking, my heart is racing,” said Brady, who had 20 winners and eight aces.
“My legs felt fresh but they weren’t moving. They felt stuck in mud.
“I didn’t really pick up my intensity until the beginning of the third set.”
Brady set up a rematch of last year’s epic US Open semifinal, where Osaka prevailed in three sets.
“We had a tough match in the US Open, where she said it was one of her top-two matches,” said Brady, who sports a 1-2 win-loss record against Osaka.
“I’ll be nervous but going to be super-excited.”
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WAS it the moment when reality struck?
Serena Williams had seemingly been in control of her emotions as she fended off the opening few questions about her semi-final loss to Naomi Osaka.
She’d already been quizzed about the pausing on Rod Laver Arena before she exited, the wave to the crowd and grabbing of her heart.
Asked what was going through her head at that moment, she said: “I don’t know. The Aussie crowd is so amazing, so it was nice to see.”
The follow-up question suggested how the action might be perceived by some as “almost saying farewell”.
As the next journalist asked why she’d made so many errors in the semi-final, Williams started getting emotional.
She quickly put her hand to her face and said: “I don’t know. I’m done.”
And with that she grabbed her pass off the desk and bolted from the room in tears.
Those two final words could end up being very prophetic.
It’s possible a number of realisations struck the game’s greatest female player in the fallout from her first Australian Open semi-final loss.
The chase for the magical No.24 has almost become a poisoned chalice. Williams has been stuck on 23 major titles for four years – one shy of Margaret Court’s record.
The last time she won a grand slam was at the 2017 Australian Open – when she was pregnant – and she’s been in four finals since and lost them all.
Williams saw a version of herself yesterday in the way Osaka, who is 16 years younger, dismantled her.
It was brutal at times as the GOAT, now aged 39, had no answer to what was coming back from the other side of the net.
Maybe the gulf between her and the new breed, led by Osaka, is now too great.