Jen Brady faced off againstNaomi Osaka in Saturday's 2021Australian Open final.- Though Osaka took the first set, Brady's resilience was on full display in one magnificent series.
- The American made an inconceivable cross-court recovery to stick around against the heavy frontrunner.
Naomi Osaka may have won the Australian Open final in dominant fashion on Saturday, but it was her opponent who earned the nod for point of the match.
In her first-ever
And one point in particular - a first-set recovery - stunned viewers across the globe.
With the opening set tied at four games apiece and the game split at 30-30, Osaka nearly had Brady beat on a speedy serve to the outer corner of the box.
But the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, native managed to get a racket on the ball, hitting a meek return just over the net.
Osaka charged in and strategically placed her backhanded shot just shy of the doubles alley on the opposite side of the court.
But Brady refused to be beat, completing a stunning run across the hardcourt to reach the ball in the nick of time. She dropped a backhanded lob of her own over Osaka's head and inside of the baseline to snag the point and go up in the decisive game.
Ultimately, Osaka fought back to win that game and the next to take the set.
The second set was far more lopsided, with Brady climbing back from down 4-0 to make the final match score 6-4, 6-3. With the win, Osaka earned her fourth Grand Slam championship and her second Australian Open title.
Check out Brady's shining moment from the final below:
—Tennis GIFs (@tennis_gifs) February 20, 2021