Double Dive Volley Kicks Off Challenger Grass Season

May312016

Liam Broady and Sergiy Stakhovsky took their leaps of faith at the ATP Challenger Tour event in Manchester

Wild card Liam Broady of Great Britain and No. 6 seed Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine got the 2016 grass court season off to a memorable start with a pair of dive volleys during their matches at the ATP Challenger Tour event in Manchester, England.

With Broady serving down 3-4 in the final set of his match against No. 7 seed and defending champion Sam Groth of Australia, a well-placed forehand forced the Brit to desperately try and stay in the point with a dive backhand volley. As he tumbled to the ground, the ball comfortably made its way well inside the court for a winner. Despite Broady’s efforts, Groth prevailed in the match, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.

Stakhovsky’s dive volley didn’t reap the same benefits as Broady’s. Up 6-5 in the first set and with three set points against qualifier Marinko Matosevic of Australia, his leaping effort in response to a backhand passing shot sat up for Matosevic to comfortably hit a winner into the open court. However, the Ukranian went on to take the set and eventually the match, 7-5, 7-6(6).