Liam Broady: British player wins first ATP Challenger title at eighth attempt
Britain’s Liam Broady win his first ATP Challenger title at the eighth attempt with victory over Marc-Andrea Huesler.
Britain’s Liam Broady win his first ATP Challenger title at the eighth attempt with victory over Marc-Andrea Huesler.
No. 8 Hubert Hurkacz +1
The Pole has risen one spot to No. 8 in the FedEx ATP Race To Turin after he captured his third tour-level title of the season at the Moselle Open in Metz. The 24-year-old, who lifted his maiden ATP Masters 1000 trophy in Miami in April, is aiming to make his debut at the season finale, which will be held at the Pala Alpitour in Turin from 14-21 November. Read Metz Final Report & Watch Highlights
View Latest FedEx ATP Race To Turin Rankings
No. 13 Pablo Carreno Busta +1
The 30-year-old has climbed one place after the Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist enjoyed a run to his third ATP Tour final of the season in Metz. The Spaniard defeated Gael Monfils in the semi-finals to earn his 35th win of the year.
No. 20 Alexander Bublik, +3
After reaching the semi-finals on home soil at the Astana Open in Nur-Sultan, the Kazakhstani has jumped three spots to return to the Top 20 in the FedEx ATP Race To Turin.
Other Notable Top 100 Movers
No. 22 Nikoloz Basilashvili, +2
No. 26T Karen Khachanov, +4
No. 35 Ilya Ivashka, +5
No. 49 Soonwoo Kwon, +26
For Liam Broady, this was personal. After appearing in eight finals over seven years, the Brit is an ATP Challenger champion for the first time.
“It’s been my personal vendetta for so long now,” Broady told ATPTour.com.
Broady finally broke through to claim his maiden title on Sunday, prevailing on the indoor hard courts of Biel, Switzerland. He did not drop a set all week at the inaugural FlowBank Challenger, culminating in a 7-5, 6-3 victory over home favourite Marc-Andrea Huesler.
Players competing on the ATP Challenger Tour will agree that lifting a trophy is the first big goal in their professional journeys. Experiencing the glory of that maiden moment and clutching a piece of silverware for the first time is what everyone dreams of.
While Broady has certainly experienced his share of success since turning pro in 2014, winning matches at the Grand Slam and ATP Masters 1000 levels and becoming a mainstay inside the Top 200 of the FedEx ATP Rankings, that maiden Challenger title has eluded him ever since. The Stockport native would reach his first final in Charlottesville towards the end of the 2014 season. Over the course of the next seven years, he would have seven opportunities to lift his first trophy, but that moment never arrived. Until now.
On his eighth time of asking, Broady discovered the winning formula. He dominated from start to finish in Biel, refusing to drop a set all week. At the age of 27, he is the second-oldest first-time winner on the ATP Challenger Tour this year and the first British champion since 2019.
What does Broady attribute his Biel breakthrough to? He spoke to ATPTour.com after capturing his maiden crown on Sunday…
Liam, many congrats. How special is this moment?
It didn’t look it, but in the last game of the match I was really nervous. As the last shot went by Marc, it was strange in my head because I was thinking ‘wow, it actually happened’. I’ve been getting in my own way mentally for so many finals, that I was thinking that I just needed to allow myself to play. That’s what I did today and it feels really good.
You said during the trophy ceremony that you weren’t going to cry, but what are your emotions? Can you put them into words?
It’s an immense feeling of pride and I feel like I’ve been justified over the last seven years of fighting for this. There were many times where I could have quit and stopped playing. I fell quite heavily through the rankings a few times and was playing ITF 15k tournaments and not really winning many matches. But I kept going and even when I didn’t really believe so much that I’d get back to making finals of Challengers. I’ve stuck with it and finally I’ve done it. It’s been my personal vendetta for so long now.
Seven years is a long time. Eight finals is a lot of finals. What gave you confidence to finish the job today?
I saw a stat that I was the lower-ranked player in every final I played up until today’s final. I always said to myself that once I’m a good enough player, I’d win a Challenger. You have to have that level on the court to do it and while I managed to scrap my way to finals, I never had enough game to turn those into titles. This year, I played Benjamin Bonzi in South Africa and he was great and then I got blown away by Andreas Seppi in Biella, Italy. But both times I felt different in the finals, whereas in the past I would have gotten in my own way. Today, I was nervous but I felt much more comfortable.
No one likes to lose seven finals. But with that experience, you learn a lot about yourself. What did you take from those moments?
I’m quite a stubborn person by nature, so it became a thing to myself to prove that I won’t let those moments beat me. Like I said, a little vendetta. But the biggest thing I’ve learned playing on the Challenger Tour for seven years is that you can take the things you learn here to any walk of life. If you do the right things and behave the correct way and put 100 per cent in, you can only get the best out of the situation. You just don’t know how long it will take.
Most Challenger Finals Before First Title
| Player | Finals Before First Title |
Maiden Title |
| Jan-Lennard Struff | 8 | 2014 Heilbronn |
| Martin Rodriguez | 8 | 2001 San Luis Potosi |
| Liam Broady |
7 | 2021 Biel |
How much pressure did you feel over the years? Was it more internal or external?
I’d see people on social media saying there’s no chance I’d win after so many finals, but those moments would actually motivate me more. To be honest, the person who gets in my head the most is me. Everyone can relate to that. When you’re telling yourself that you’re trash at something, your rubbish and you’re no good, it’s pretty difficult to believe that you can succeed. That’s the thing about today. It takes a good tennis player to win a Challenger, but it wasn’t the act of winning for me. It became a momentous challenge over the course of my career. That’s what makes me feel so good about it.
You’ve been with the same coach – Dave Sammel – for so long. How important has his guidance been over the years? What did he tell you before the match today?
I’ve had some instability off the court over the years, which contributed to my career not progressing how I wanted. That first Challenger final in 2014 was when I first started working with Dave. He was a big reason why I’d done so well from the start. He’s been a great source of stability in my life and he’s a fantastic coach. The way I played this week comes down to him. After seven years you have to take on the philosophies of the coach [laughs]. You don’t have much of a choice there.
We just had the most casual and light chat before the match today. In the past it might have been bigger chats, because he could see that I’m panicking. I remember a few times before finals I was in a bad place and didn’t even want to go out there, whereas today we just had a chat. I told him I was nervous, he said it’s normal and that if my level is good enough I will win. It was as simple as that today.
What has been the difference for you in 2021? You’re playing the best tennis of your career and are Top 10 in win percentage on the Challenger Tour.
I made a commitment to my career at the start of 2020. It was at Australian Open qualies when I lost to Ilya Ivashka. I was trounced and it was a terrible match. My initial reaction was to go mess about in the city and get up to no good. The thing was, I had a fantastic preseason leading up to that. I was feeling awful and thinking that it just wasn’t fair. I had done the best preseason of my life and then I won three games in my first match of the year.
But I was sitting there thinking that going out won’t make me feel better. I’ve done it enough times in my life to realize that. I remember telling Dave at the time that I don’t want to talk about the match, but I want to make a commitment to myself and to you that I’ll make the right decisions over the next 12 months. I said that at the end of 2020 we’ll see. I made the final of the Challenger in Parma and qualified for Roland Garros, which was the first time I qualified at a slam. I got a few rewards for it. That made me think that I wanted to do it the same way this year.
People have asked me the same question and I really believe it was that change in mindset I made at the start of 2020. In all walks of life, sometimes things take longer than you want them to. It tests your resilience and some people don’t succeed because they fall off at the first hurdle or second hurdle, but these past two years I’ve tried to stay on the track as much as I can. Now I’m getting the rewards.
You didn’t drop a set all week. What clicked in Biel?
I’ve been playing more aggressive this summer, but I came up against a red-hot Marco Trungelliti at US Open qualies, which was a shame because I felt I could have done really well there. Then I went to Mallorca and was completely done in by Matteo Viola. He made me forget my own name. After that, Dave told me that if I’m going to lose a match that I don’t think I should lose, I might as well go out there and play to the game style that has brought me this success.
Then I went to Cassis and lost to Lucas Pouille, who has been a thorn in my side for my career. We’ve played a few times since we were 14. He played brilliantly and I don’t think I necessarily played a bad match. Then I went to Rennes and again I was playing aggressive and felt well, but Bonzi was a match. I wanted revenge [after he beat me in the Potchefstroom final earlier in the year]. He was just too good for me on the day. I came into Biel and Dave just reiterated that if I’m going to play, to play the right way. Don’t give up ground on the court. I started the week off well and kept going from strength to strength after that.
If you could go back in time to a 20-year-old Liam in 2014 – after that first final in Charlottesville – what would you tell him?
There’s so much I’d like to tell a 20-year-old Liam. A lot. I’d say to try not to let the lows be so low and try not to let the highs be so high. It’s tough because people said that to me at that age, if I commit now and invest in myself then I’ll see it in the future. But it’s one thing for someone to tell you and another to believe it yourself. I would say to myself that the stuff off the court is really important and if you put in the work there you’ll do better on the court. So do it. But you know what, I probably wouldn’t have listened to myself back then.
When you get home tomorrow, how will you celebrate?
I get in to Manchester tomorrow at 10 in the morning. My mom is going to pick me up and we’ll go for a coffee. I need to take her out for her birthday dinner, so we might do that on Tuesday. I might go out for a glass of wine or a beer or something. That would be quite nice.
Team Europe’s talent was clear leading into the 2021 Laver Cup. There were six of the Top 10 players in the FedEx ATP Rankings on the roster, including the past three Nitto ATP Finals champions: Daniil Medvedev (2020), Stefanos Tsitsipas (2019) and Alexander Zverev (2018).
But what was even more special than their on-court abilities was how well they came together as a group, according to Tsitsipas.
“I’d like to thank all of my teammates. They have all been kind of my rivals, and it is nice to see that now we get to be part of one team and aim for the same goals and for the same things,” Tsitsipas said. “It has been more than a pleasure to be fighting for this trophy, and I think what is the most important and what stands out this week [are] the memories that we have built and formed together.”
Photo Credit: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images for Laver Cup
The likes of Tsitsipas, US Open champion Medvedev and Tokyo Olympics winner Zverev are used to battling each other for trophies. But this weekend, they combined to become a dominant force at TD Garden.
“That’s what I have been most grateful for. Each single one of them had something to offer. And this experience is so extraordinary with two incredible captains and players that are willing to give everything for this event,” Tsitsipas said. “I feel privileged to be standing where I’m at right now and to be learning from the best, and that happens to be my teammates.”
Medvedev, Andrey Rublev, Matteo Berrettini and Casper Ruud all made their Laver Cup debuts this year. They quickly got used to the team environment and are leaving with great memories. Rublev said lifting the trophy was one of his two most emotional moments of his year.
“It’s something that is going to stay forever with me and be a special moment. For sure, I’m going to miss this week a lot,” Rublev said. “Of course on the tennis court [it] was [an] amazing atmosphere, amazing stadium with [an] amazing crowd full of people, which all of us were missing a lot, especially after such a tough time.”
The Boston crowd was firmly behind Team World, but Team Europe never took it personally and often thanked the fans after matches for their support. Importantly, they won five of the six Match Tie-breaks contested over the weekend.
“An amazing week for us, I think I have an amazing team. I’m so grateful, I don’t know what to say,” Medvedev said, cracking a smile. “Amazing, amazing, amazing, amazing.”
Team Europe was again led by Captain Bjorn Borg and Vice Captain Thomas Enqvist. Borg was often calm on the bench, but he enjoyed every moment.
“For me personally as captain, [this] is the most important week in the year,” Borg said. “I think we all are very happy to defend our title. These are six guys who, like I said, [are the] future of tennis. They play unbelievable tennis.
“Just to put together what we did as a team, it’s unbelievable. These guys played great tennis, even if [a] few matches were very close. But it went our way. I’m very happy.”
Team Europe won its fourth Laver Cup in as many editions this weekend. Team World Captain John McEnroe hopes that this will be his squad’s last defeat, and that his group is able to channel his late friend, Vitas Gerulaitis, who once said, “Nobody beats Vitas Gerulaitis 17 times in a row!”
“I feel like it will be like, “No one wins the Laver Cup, beats us, John McEnroe, five times in a row’,” McEnroe said.
Team Europe triumphed 14-1 in a lopsided result on paper. But that was in large part because the Europeans won five of the six Match Tie-breaks, including in the doubles clincher on Sunday, when Andrey Rublev and Alexander Zverev defeated Reilly Opelka and Denis Shapovalov 6-2, 6-7(4), 10-3.
“We battled our best. These guys are a great team, no question, incredible team. They had good team spirit. We did as well,” McEnroe said. “Obviously if you get a couple different results, [we] could have put more pressure on them, but we just came up short in I think [five] tie-breaks. You win half those, totally different story.”
“No one…beats @JohnMcEnroe five times in a row in Laver Cup.”
The Team World Captain takes some inspiration from the late Vitas Gerulaitis. #LaverCup pic.twitter.com/hqqN9P7KlB
— Laver Cup (@LaverCup) September 26, 2021
Team World showed great camaraderie throughout the weekend, from their bench celebrations to coaching each other and getting the fans into the matches.
“These guys have given it their all. I just hope I can make a slight bit of positive difference each time. That’s what I try to do,” McEnroe said. “It would be nice to be part of a team that won, to at least somehow figure out a way.”
One of the team’s players, Nick Kyrgios, has long expressed how much he loves the Laver Cup. Although the Australian was disappointed to not lift the trophy this year, he still had a blast competing with his teammates in Boston.
“Obviously not the result we wanted, but I thought we all had fun. For the new guys, Reilly [Opelka] and Felix [Auger-Aliassime], I think they had great debuts, put in great performances,” Kyrgios said. “As John said, [a] couple points here or there could have changed the swing of things early on. That’s the way it goes, and the memories I will take away [are of] another great week. I had a lot of fun.”
Team Europe was favoured heading into the competition, with six of the Top 10 players in the FedEx ATP Rankings on its roster this year, and they showed why. But according to Team World veteran John Isner, the defeat will not stop his team from pushing for victory next year.
“Team World is going to keep coming out here and battling the underdog role, actually something that is pretty special, and we have made this event close a bunch of times,” Isner said. “I think I speak for everyone up here — whether I play again or not, who knows — but for the future newcomers, there is no one any of us would rather play for than Captain McEnroe. As Reilly said, [he is] one of the biggest legends our sport has ever seen, one of the biggest personalities in a very, very good way our sport has ever seen.
“So this event has it all. I do think the World will get one of these eventually.”
Europe win the Laver Cup for the fourth consecutive time as Andrey Rublev and Alexander Zverev beat Reilly Opelka and Denis Shapovalov in the doubles to complete a dominant 14-1 victory.
There will be ATP 250 events on two different continents this week, as Andrey Rublev leads the way at the San Diego Open in California, and Jannik Sinner attempts to retain his title at the Sofia Open in Bulgaria.
ATPTour.com looks at five things you should watch at each event.
View Draws: San Diego | Sofia
FIVE THINGS TO WATCH IN SAN DIEGO
1) Rublev Top Seed: Rublev is playing some of the best tennis of his career, climbing to a career-high No. 5 in the FedEx ATP Rankings after the US Open. The Russian star has claimed six of his eight ATP Tour titles on hard courts, and he will try to add another in San Diego.
Earlier this season, Rublev lifted the Rotterdam trophy and reached his first two ATP Masters 1000 finals in Monte-Carlo and Cincinnati. He will begin his run in California against Italian Fabio Fognini or #NextGenATP American Brandon Nakashima.
2) Ruud Rolling: Casper Ruud recently cracked the world’s Top 10 for the first time. Will he be able to capture his fifth ATP Tour title of the season in California? The Norwegian has never claimed hard-court glory, but he will try to change that in San Diego, where he will play former World No. 1 Andy Murray or former World No. 4 Kei Nishikori in the second round.
3) Murray-Nishikori Blockbuster: This will be the 12th ATP Head2Head clash between Murray and Nishikori, with the Scot leading their rivalry 9-2. This will be their first meeting in the first round of a knockout tournament. Both of Nishikori’s wins have come on hard courts, at the 2014 Nitto ATP Finals and the 2016 US Open.
4) Canadian Stars: Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov are the third and fourth seeds, respectively. Auger-Aliassime is fresh off his first major semi-final at the US Open, and he is pursuing his first tour-level crown. The 21-year-old will face 2017 Nitto ATP Finals champion Grigor Dimitrov or Hungarian Marton Fucsovics in the second round.
Shapovalov, who also reached his first major semi-final earlier this year (at Wimbledon), will attempt to lift his second ATP Tour trophy this week. The lefty will open against American Taylor Fritz or a qualifier.
5) #NextGenATP Americans: Two #NextGenATP Americans are in the draw: 21-year-old Sebastian Korda and 20-year-old Nakashima. Korda has already earned his spot at the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals, and Nakashima is trying to join him.
Korda, who earned his maiden ATP Tour crown earlier this year in Parma, will begin his tournament against countryman Tommy Paul. Korda leads the pair’s ATP Head2Head series 2-0. Nakashima will try to defeat former World No. 9 Fognini.
FIVE THINGS TO WATCH IN SOFIA
1) Sinner Defending Champ: Sinner has happy memories in Bulgaria, as he won his first ATP Tour trophy at last year’s Sofia Open, and he is back to defend his title. The 20-year-old could play Vasek Pospisil in the second round. That would be a rematch of last year’s final at this event.
Hard courts have been Sinner’s best surface, having won more than 66 per cent of his tour-level matches on it. The Italian won the biggest title of his young career at the Citi Open, an ATP 500 event in Washington, less than two months ago.
Watch Sinner’s Mic’d Up Practice:
2) Monfils Gaining Steam: Gael Monfils made his first semi-final of the season last week in Metz. Will he advance even further in Sofia? Two years ago, the Frenchman advanced to the last four at this ATP 250 event, including a victory against Stefanos Tsitsipas. Monfils is the second seed this week and will begin his run against Winston-Salem titlist Ilya Ivashka or Spaniard Pablo Andujar.
3) Aussies Going For The Title: There are three Australians in the draw, led by third seed Alex de Minaur, who made the Sofia quarter-finals last year. De Minaur has won titles in Antalya and Eastbourne this year, and he can claim three tour-level trophies in a season for the second time if he triumphs this week in Bulgaria. He opens against American Marcos Giron or Spaniard Jaume Munar.
The other Aussies in the field are eighth seed John Millman and James Duckworth. Duckworth made the best run of his career last week in Nur-Sultan, where he advanced to the final before losing against Soonwoo Kwon of South Korea.
4) Musetti On The Move: Lorenzo Musetti is trying to qualify for the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan, and he can make progress towards that goal with a big run in Sofia. The 19-year-old was No. 126 in the FedEx ATP Rankings when this event was played last November, and now he is closing on the Top 50. Musetti will play Bulgarian wild card Dimitar Kuzmanov, an ATP Cup veteran, in the first round.
5) Kontinen/McLachlan Top Seeds: The top seeds in the doubles draw are Henri Kontinen and Ben McLachlan, who are pursuing their first ATP Tour trophy as a team. The second seeds are Buenos Aires champions Tomislav Brkic and Nikola Cacic, and the third seeds are Austrians Oliver Marach and Philipp Oswald.
Andrey Rublev and Alexander Zverev clinched a comprehensive Laver Cup win for Team Europe on Sunday afternoon when they defeated Team World’s Reilly Opelka and Denis Shapovalov 6-2, 6-7(4), 10-3 to give their team a 14-1 victory.
“I was thinking I’m one of the worst ones in doubles, that I can only shoot forehands and that’s it. But it looks like I can play doubles really well,” Rublev said in the on-court interview. “It’s been amazing. It’s been a pleasure to be with these guys, with Bjorn and Thomas behind our back. It was a pleasure.”
Team Europe has now won the first four editions of the three-day event. The only match they dropped this weekend came in Friday evening’s doubles match, when John Isner and Shapovalov were victorious.
“I’m a proud captain. I’m proud of my team, what you guys did. To spend a week with you together, it’s amazing,” Team Europe Captain Bjorn Borg said during the trophy ceremony. “It’s an honour and it’s a great feeling.”
Another chapter in the dynasty is written.@AndreyRublev97 and @AlexZverev defeat Opelka and Shapovalov, 6-2 6-7(4) 10-3 to claim Team Europe’s fourth #LaverCup title. pic.twitter.com/FRG2fIkBgi
— Laver Cup (@LaverCup) September 26, 2021
Team World faced a daunting task when they arrived at TD Garden in Boston for the third day of action, knowing they had to win all four matches to claim the trophy. Opelka and Shapovalov battled hard to win the second set and put pressure on their opponents, but they were unable to finish the job.
Shapovalov made two unforced errors early in the Match Tie-break and Rublev and Zverev took full advantage. Team Europe have won five of the six Match Tie-breaks in this year’s Laver Cup.
“A lot of matches could have gone both ways and we won most of those matches,” Zverev said in the on-court interview. “At the end of the day, the score says that it was 14-1, but it could have gone both ways a lot of the time.
“I think we’re all extremely happy. We [did] a lot of hard work for this victory throughout the whole week. The guys have been amazing. The group of this team has been absolutely amazing. I think a lot of us came a lot closer together and to be honest I can’t wait for London next year.”
Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz completed a Moselle Open double on Sunday as he lifted the doubles trophy with countryman Jan Zielinski, just hours after winning the singles title in Metz.
The unseeded pair produced a strong performance, winning 84 per cent (38/45) of their first-serve points as they overcame Hugo Nys and Arthur Rinderknech 7-5, 6-3 in 70 minutes.
“I am feeling pretty good,” Hurkacz said. “I am very happy that I was able to win the singles and of course, doubles. That is super great. You always come to the tournament and believe you can win it, but most of the time you lose. So when you eventually win, it is great.”
Hurkacz and Zielinski were teaming at a tour-level event for the first time, having competed together at ATP Challenger Tour tournaments in 2015 and 2016. They did not drop a set en route to the title as Hurkacz became the first player to sweep both titles in the tournament’s 19-year history.
[FOLLOW ACTION]Zielinski was competing in his second tour-level doubles final, after reaching the championship match in Gstaad (w/Walkow) in July, while Hurkacz lifted his only other doubles title with Felix Auger-Aliassime in Paris last year.
“We text every day after every win Hubert achieves this year,” Zielinski added. “He texted me a couple of weeks ago and we talked about the tournament and he agreed to play with me. I didn’t expect to win the title as this is my second ATP Tour event ever, but we enjoyed our company on the court. It was a great atmosphere and we played with a smile on our faces.”
Nys and Rinderknech upset second seeds Tomislav Brkic and Nikola Cacic in the semi-finals and were competing in their second tour-level event as a team after reaching the second round at the US Open.
Poland’s world number 13 Hubert Hurkacz wins his third ATP title of the year with victory over Pablo Carreno Busta in the Moselle Open final.
