Jennifer Brady wins first WTA title in Lexington

Jennifer Brady will always remember Lexington.

The 25-year-old American captured the inaugural Top Seed Open presented by Bluegrass Orthoaepedics in Nicholasville, Ky. on Sunday with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Switzerland's Jil Teichmann, capping her first tournament appearance since February with her first-ever WTA title.

"There's nothing better than playing at home in America," Brady said on-court in the trophy presentation. "Every American loves to play at home, I think every person in their country loves to play at home, and especially to win a title on home soil is a great achievement for me and something I'm really happy about." 

The highest-ranked player among the four unseeded semifinalists, the world No. 49 did not drop a set over the course of five matches, beating Great Britain's Heather Watson, No. 6 seed Magda Linette of Poland, Czech Marie Bouzkova and compatriot Coco Gauff in the first four rounds. She had previously been 0-3 in WTA semifinals prior to beating Gauff.

In Sunday's final against Teichmann, Brady showcased the serving prowess she'd displayed all through the week. The American saved all four break points she faced and won over 80 percent of the points played behind her first serve, despite only landing 44 percent of them for the match. 

In addition, Brady's showcased her improved movement and footspeed, which she's worked on extensively with coach Michael Geserer in recent months, across all corners of the court, and routinely countered Teichmann's left-handed spins and slices with heavy topspin forehand winners of her own. Those strengths were fully encapsulated on match point, as Brady fired down a big first serve, and ultimately punctuated her victory by capping an extended 11-shot rally with an inside-out forehand winner into Teichmann's forehand corner. 

Over the course of her five matches, Brady was broken just three times and surrendered just 25 games in 10 sets in all. 

In the post-match presentation, Brady also thanked Geserer for traveling to the U.S. from Germany to accompany her in her competitive return.

"We just started working together less than a year ago," she added, "and the sky's the limit."

The victory vaults Brady into seeding contention for the 2020 US Open, and she is projected to reach a new career-best ranking as a result. 

An American was also victorious in the doubles final, as Hayley Carter partnered Brazil's Luisa Stefani to a 6-1, 7-5 win over Bouzkova and Teichmann. 

The Top Seed Open, held at the Top Seed Tennis Club in the Lexington suburb of Nicholasville, was the first WTA tour-level event on U.S. soil in over a year in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.