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Former Australian Open finalist Jennifer Brady marked her return to the WTA Tour after a two-year absence with a straight-set victory at the DC Open.<\/span><\/p>\n The 28-year-old American was sidelined by knee and foot injuries, falling from world number 16 to 1,056th during her recovery time.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Back in action in Washington, Brady emphatically beat the 28th-ranked Anhelina Kalinina of Ukraine 6-2 6-1.<\/span><\/p>\n She will next face seventh seed Madison Keys, who is also her doubles partner.<\/span><\/p>\n “I’m pretty happy with the way I came out, handled my emotions, stayed true to my game plan and I was able to come out with a win,” Brady said.<\/span><\/p>\n “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.”<\/span><\/p>\n Brady retired against Jelena Ostapenko with a foot injury, later diagnosed as a torn plantar fascia, in the second round of the Western and Southern Open on 18 August 2021.<\/span><\/p>\n A US Open semi-finalist in 2020, Brady reached the title match in Australia in 2021, losing to Naomi Osaka on both of those big occasions.<\/span><\/p>\n She played at an ITF World Tennis Tour $100,000 event in Canada two weeks ago to prepare for her WTA Tour return.<\/span><\/p>\n On Tuesday, it took her just one hour and eight minutes to clinch an opening victory over Kalinina, breaking her opponent’s serve six times and winning 10 of the last 11 games.<\/span><\/p>\n That secured her best win by ranking since her Grand Slam final run in Australia.<\/span><\/p>\n