Brady Reaches First WTA Final in Kentucky; ATP Returns with Czech, Italian Challengers; Bencic Withdraws from US Open

Jennifer Brady reached her first WTA final today, defeating Coco Gauff 6-2, 6-4 at the Top Seed Open in Lexington Kentucky.  Brady, who played at UCLA for two seasons (2013-2015) before turning pro, has played some dominating tennis in her four matches this week, with Gauff's four games in the second set the most she has surrendered in any set. Brady hit eight aces, and the depth on her ground strokes was too much for Gauff, who showed signs of having come through a much more difficult quarterfinal match Friday evening. For more on Brady's win today, see this article from the WTA website.

Brady, who was putting together a good season early this year, reached three WTA semifinals before today, but had lost all of them, including one earlier this year, to Simona Halep in Dubai.

Brady will play Jil Teichmann of Switzerland in Sunday's final, after Teichmann defeated Shelby Rogers 6-3, 6-2. The 23-year-old left-hander has won both the WTA titles she has contested, both in 2019.

Teichmann has also advanced to Sunday's doubles final, with Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic. They defeated top seeds Alexa Guarachi(Alabama) of Chile and Desirae Krawczyk(Arizona State) 6-2, 3-6, 10-4 and will play No. 4 seeds Luisa Stefani(Pepperdine) of Brazil and Hayley Carter(North Carolina) in the final.

Reem Abulleil has written a feature for The National on the owner of the Top Seed Tennis Club in Nicholasville Kentucky and how and why she became one of the most significants names in tennis in that part of the country.

The ATP returns this week with a 125 Challenger in Prague, with the main draw beginning today. The ATP reported that a player at the tournament had tested positive for Covid-19, but the statement said it was a locally based player who would undergo mandatory quarantine at home. 

Switzerland's Stan Wawrinka, who is not playing the Western & Southern Open or the US Open, is the top seed in the Prague Challenger after accepting a wild card. There are no Americans in the draw, which is following the 2020 standard of 48 players, with first round byes going to the 16 seeds. In addition to Wawrinka, three other ATP Top 100 players are in the field: Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic, Pierre-Hugues Herbert of France and Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany. 2019 US Open boys champion Jonas Forejtek of the Czech Republic, who received a wild card, won his first round match today. 

Another ATP Challenger, also on clay but a 100 level tournament, is scheduled to begin Monday in Todi Italy. It is a 32-player draw, with a 16-player qualifying field, which began today. 2018 NCAA singles finalist Borna Gojo(Wake Forest) of Croatia is the No. 4 seed in qualifying and will play young Spanish star Carlos Alcaraz for one of four spots in the main draw.

A new provisional calendar is out for the ATP Tour, which has the Italian Open moving a week earlier than previously scheduled, taking the position of the canceled Madrid tournament.  Hamburg, a 500 level tournament, will be played the week before the French Open. The European indoor circuit will feature six tournaments, concluding with the ATP Finals set for London beginning November 15th.  The annual NextGen competition has been canceled for 2020.

A fifth WTA Top 10 player has withdrawn from the US Open, with No. 8 Belinda Bencic of Switzerland announcing she would not be competing in New York this year. With Bencic's withdrawal, Barbara Haas of Austria moves into the main draw, after the next player in, Monica Niculescu of Romania, withdrew the previous day. That leaves Usue Arconada, who received a wild card, just two spots out of getting in on her own, so it is looking increasingly likely that another wild card will be available for an American woman.

The latest women's entry list for the US Open is available here.