Number 22 seed Jennifer Brady from the USA beat Donna Vekic 6-1 7-5 after 1 hour and 34 minutes in the second match at Rod Laver Arena at the Australian Open.
Vekic entered the match with bandaging on her right knee and took a medical time-out after holding serve in the opening game of the second set.
Brady broke twice in a row to race out to a 5-0 lead and served out the first set 6-1 on the fifth deuce after saving a break point.
Vekic saved a break point and held serve to take a 3-2 lead in the second set. Both players traded breaks in the seventh and eighth games to draw level to 4-4. Brady earned the crucial break in the 11th game to close the second set 7-5.
“It was a really tough match. I really had to stay focused in the second set. I was getting a little ahead of myself, but I was able to break and then serve probably my best game there at the end. I think in the first set I came out strong. I wasn’t really making many errors. She was giving me a few free points here and there, and I was taking advantage of that. In the second set, she stepped up and started playing better. When she took the medical time-out, I went out, hit some serves, and I was actually starting to feel my serve a lot better”, said Jennifer Brady.
Brady set up a quarter final against her compatriot Jessica Pegula, who upset Elina Svitolina 6-4 3-6 6-3 to win her first win against a top 10 player.
Pegula won her only previous head-to-head match against Brady 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 at last summer’s Western and Southern Open in New York.
“I am super excited that Jessica made her first Grand Slam quarter final. I knwo the emotions that she is feeling. You feel like you are on cloud nine. She is playing great tennis. We have played before. I think we both know each other so well and I am really looking forward to it. It will be a lot of fun. I think everyone back home in America will be watching, definitely, and there is guaranteed American in the semifinal”, said Brady.
