Upbeat Brady would rather be winner than whinger

KAZAKHSTAN’S Yulia Putintseva said she would have thought twice about competing at the Australian Open had she known she would be forced into a hard 14-day quarantine beforehand.

Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic hit out at the “unequal” practice conditions between those in hard quarantine and those in soft quarantine, the latter of whom were allowed out of their rooms for five hours a day to practice. But American Jennifer Brady was as quiet as the mouse Putintseva found in her hotel room.

The 22nd seed decided not to “complain” and instead make the best of a far-fromideal situation.

As a result, Brady is the only player left standing in the Australian Open who went through hard quarantine.

What started as a pool of 72 players was whittled down to just one by the quarter-finals.

“A lot of people were com14 plaining and I told myself I wasn’t going to complain,” Brady said. “I mean, there’s way worse things going on in the world than me being stuck in a hotel room for 14 days.

“Tennis Australia provided us with a bike. The last few days I had a treadmill. I had weights. I was able to train to work out. I was able to do everything that I needed to do to stay as fit as possible.

“If I started feeling bad for myself or started complaining, I think it would have made the days a lot harder than it was. There were a couple of us that were pretty positive and tried to each day just be like, ‘Okay, only five more days and we’re out’. Every Australian that comes home has to do the hard lockdown.”

The glass half-full attitude is paying dividends – literally.

Brady will meet fellow American Jessica Pegula on Wednesday with a semi-final berth on the line, which would net the 25-year-old at least $850,000. It would also match her career-best Grand Slam result - a semi-final appearance at the US Open last year.

“The more matches you play, the further you go in tournaments, especially big tournaments, the more experience you gain and then the more confidence you gain,” Brady said. “It helps you in those moments to believe in yourself and to close out matches. I think everyone ... in America will be watching ... and there’s guaranteed an American in the semi-final.”