Broady Builds On First ATP Match Win In St. Pete
Broady Builds On First ATP Match Win In St. Pete
On Tuesday, Liam Broady registered his first win in the main draw of an ATP World Tour tournament by defeating former world No. 10 Ernests Gulbis 6-3, 6-0, in the opening round of the St. Petersburg Open in Russia.
Satisfied? Hardly. On the heels of achieving his inaugural win, the 23-year-old British qualifier followed with a three-set, come-from-behind victory over the tournament’s No. 4 seed Adrian Mannarino one day later. A set and a break down, Broady gathered his wits, outdueled the fellow southpaw and overcame the 31st-ranked Frenchman to advance to his first ATP World Tour quarter-final.
“After the first set, my legs were bad,” Broady said. “It was my fourth match in four days, so I was pretty emotional. I was a little bit more aggressive in the second set. Two lefties, it’s quite tricky and that adds an extra dimension. Week in and week out, you don’t see that.”
Currently at No. 242 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, there isn’t a lot that Broady hasn’t seen during his time on the Tour.
When Broady reached the final of the 2011 Wimbledon Boys’ Singles Championship and the the 2012 US Open Boys’ Singles Championship, it seemed that a British star had been born. But the pressure of living up to those expectations initially took its toll on the pride of Stockport, even if he was afforded the full backing of English fans.
“Support is always crazy (at Wimbledon),” Broady said. “Playing in England does bring some added pressure, just having grown up there, but it’s still a thrill.”
Fully focused on the current task at hand in St. Petersburg, Broady has prepared himself for a final-eight showdown against 25-year-old Bosnian Damir Dzumhur, a 6-4, 7-6 (4) winner over Marcos Baghdatis on Tuesday.
“I played Damir in the juniors six or seven years ago, so it’s been a while,” Broady said. “I’m friends with Kyle Edmund and he played against Damir at Winston-Salem. I already contacted Kyle’s coach, Mark Hilton, my former coach, for tips about [Dzumhur’s] game.”
With momentum fully on his side, the Brit is eager to close out the 2017 season on a high note. “I’m targeting a place in the Top 150 this year,” Broady said. “I want to be in the Top 100 next year.”