Brady Advances to Australian Open Semifinals

MELBOURNE, Australia – Jennifer Brady advanced to the second Grand Slam semifinal of her career Wednesday, defeating fellow American Jessica Pegula, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1, to earn a spot in the Australian Open singles final four.

The three-set triumph was new for the 22nd-seeded Brady, who came out on top of her first four matches at Melbourne Park in straight sets. She will next face No. 25 Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic, who upset top-seeded Ashleigh Barty of Australia in three sets Wednesday.

Brady had to dig herself out of a hole against Pegula, who earned a big break of serve at 4-4 of the first set and closed for the early advantage. Brady answered, though, using a break of her own to jump out to a 3-0 advantage in the second set. Pegula rebounded to collect back-to-back games, but would sandwich those with the final three to split sets. Pegula broke to start the third set, but the rest belonged to Brady.

Brady previously advanced to the singles semifinals of the 2020 US Open to become the furthest-advancing Bruin in a women's Grand Slam. She currently sits at a career-best No. 24 in the Women's Tennis Association rankings.

Naomi Osaka of Japan and Serena Williams of the United States will square off in Thursday's first semifinal. First serve is set for 7 p.m., PT on Tuesday in the States, with Brady-Muchova to follow in Rod Laver Arena.

U 👏👏👏
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U-C-L-A Fight Fight Fight!

Semifinals x @jennifurbrady95 x @uclawtennis #AusOpen | #AO2021 pic.twitter.com/YpKUuLuJjD

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) February 17, 2021