Team Peace nears victory with Jennifer Brady's third win in Charleston

Madison Keys’ rollercoaster win over Sofia Kenin on Saturday afternoon ensured that Team Kindness would still have a chance to win the Credit One Bank Invitational on Sunday. Two Team Peace wins later, and visions of Lloyd Christmas and Mary Swanson—Dumb and Dumber, of course—were dancing in my head.

So you’re telling me there’s a chance…

Bethanie Mattek-Sands’ selection of Jennifer Brady to Team Peace has been a masterstroke. The world No. 48 is 3-0 this week in Charleston, with her second singles victory extending her side’s lead to 20-13. That’s what the player-operated scoreboard displayed overnight at Volvo Car Stadium, as rain washed out Mattek-Sands’ singles match—which will be the final singles match of the competition—against Shelby Rogers.

If Mattek-Sands, who is 2-0 in Charleston, defeats Rogers, Team Kindness must to win all four doubles matches to prevail. (If Rogers wins, Team Kindness must win three of the four doubles matches.)

Jennifer Brady has helped contribute six points to Team Peace's impressive haul. (Credit One Bank Invitational)

Brady’s 6-2, 7-6 (4) win over Sloane Stephens followed a 7-6, 7-6 (2) doubles victory from Caroline Dolehide and Ajla Tomljanovic, which defeated Leylah Fernandez and Monica Puig. All of this weekend’s matches are worth three points.

Keys defeated Kenin 6-3, 5-7, [10-2] in a match she led by a set and 4-0, before a 180-degree turn in fortune. It was a rare bright spot for Team Kindness, which went 3-5 in two-point matches and is 1-2 in three-pointers.

“It’s not so much pressure,” Brady said when asked about the feeling of playing for a team, “I kind of embrace it. I played two years of college tennis. I know what it’s like to play for somebody other than yourself.”

The words were to the point, much like the task that Keys’ side faces tomorrow.