After nearly two years away, Jennifer Brady makes winning return to WTA level

WATCH: In her first WTA tournament since the 2021 Western & Southern Open, Jennifer Brady was a first-round winner in D.C.

It looked like she never left. In her first WTA-level tournament in nearly two full years, Jennifer Brady was an emphatic winner on Tuesday at the Mubadala Citi DC Open. The 2021 Australian Open finalist hit 20 winners and broke serve six times in a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Ukraine's Anhelina Kalinina, the world No. 28, in the first round of the WTA 500 event.

After nearly two years on the sidelines due to knee and foot injuries, the one-time world No. 13 returned to the sport two weeks ago, without a computer ranking, at an ITF World Tennis Tour $100,000 event; there, she reached the second round.

But in 68-minutes against Kalinina, who reached the final at the WTA 1000 event in Rome this spring, Brady's heavy forehand was firing, and her serve was flying. She looked every bit of the player who peaked at a career-high ranking of No. 13, looked on course for a Top 10 debut, and also reached the semifinals of the 2020 US Open.

"I'm pretty happy with the way I came out, handled my emotions, stayed true to my game plan, and was able to come out with a win," Brady, entered in a D.C. on a protected ranking, said afterwards. "Tennis is a part of who I am, and I hope I never lose that. I'm happy to just be out here competing with the best."

Brady's last WTA-level event was the 2021 Western & Southern Open, where she retired in the second round against Jelena Ostapenko with a left foot injury, which was eventually diagnosed as a torn plantar fascia. Later, she discovered a stress fracture in her right knee, and she underwent knee surgery last March which repaired cartilage damage.

But all the stops and starts of the last 24 months took her to 68 minutes on the John A. Harris Grandstand at Rock Creek Park in the nation's capital, where she sprinted—both literally and figuratively—for the first time at a WTA event in 731 days. She won the last four games of the first set, and six straight games in the second set, against Kalinina.

"There were a lot of times where I was at a complete stop, not doing much. I really didn't look like a professional athlete, a professional tennis player," Brady said of her time away. "I lost a lot of my muscle mass, which I don't have a whole lot of, and it took a lot of patience, just staying disciplined, and trusting the process."

Brady will next face the winner of Tuesday night's match between No. 7 seed Madison Keys, also her doubles partner this week, and 2022 WTA Newcomer of the Year Zheng Qinwen.