"She’s back and tennis is better for it" - Serena Williams' ex-coach shares delight at Jennifer Brady's WTA Tour comeback after almost 2 years

Former doubles World No. 1 Rennae Stubbs has expressed her delight at seeing Jennifer Brady make her comeback to the WTA Tour after almost two years on the sidelines.

Brady last competed on the tour at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati in August 2021. She retired from her second-round match against Jelena Ostapenko due to a foot injury that later required surgery. Just as the American recovered from the setback, she suffered another foot injury earlier this year, further delaying her comeback.

Two weeks ago, Brady returned to action at an ITF World Tennis Tour $100,000 event, where she reached the second round. This week, she made her tour-level comeback at the WTA 500 Citi Open in Washington.

Brady locked horns with Anhelina Kalinina in the opening round and looked in complete command throughout the contest, registering a 6-2, 6-1 win in a little more than an hour.

Like many in the tennis world, Serena Williams' former coach Rennae Stubbs also expressed her joy at seeing Brady making a successful comeback to the tour.

"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!" Stubbs tweeted.

This prompted one fan to ask Stubbs if she was working with Brady as a coach. Stubbs replied that she was just supporting the American.

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"The unknown was so scary" - Jennifer Brady sheds light on her mental state during her time on the sidelines

Jennifer Brady in action at the Tokyo Olympics.

Spending 731 days away from the WTA Tour was a mentally-taxing experience for Jennifer Brady. She stated that the most difficult aspect of it was neither the lengthy competitive absence nor the absence of paycheques, but the uncertainty about her future.

"I would wake up in the middle of the night in a panic, because I was thinking, 'I don't know when I'm going to play again.' Or, 'I don't know if I'm ever going to play again'. The unknown was so scary," she said in an interview with The Associated Press.

The former World No. 13 further stated that she lost motivation and discipline as she was not sure if she would ever return to the tour in the future.

"There was a period where I just lost a lot of motivation and discipline and all that. Because it was like, 'When am I going to play? When am I going to feel good? Am I ever going to feel good?' That's fine if I don't, but how much pain do I need to push through? There was a lot of that back and forth and dealing with that," she added.

Brady fought through the uncertainty to make her comeback at the Citi Open in Washington, where she will face good friend and doubles partner Madison Keys in the second round.