Home
Glenys Furness

Liam Broady best performing Brit on challenger tour

Glenys Furness
Tennis

Embed from Getty Images

By Glenys Furness

  • Liam Broady reached second round in Gwanju
  • Best of the Brits on the Challenger tour

GWANJU, SOUTH KOREA – Liam Broady headed up a poor week for the Brits on the challenger tour, with his second round loss the best result

In Gwanju, Broady had progressed through qualifying and into the main draw. The first round saw the Brit face Cheong-Eui Kim.

Broady was higher ranked than the Kim, although the Korean did not have to play qualifiers, and the Brit showed this in the first set. Although broken once, Broady established his grip on the first set by breaking three times to take the set 6-2.

The second set again saw the Brit showing his experience, as once again the Korean broke serve. Broady was not going to give this up however, and broke successfully four times in the set to take it 6-4

In the second round the Brit found himself playing Di Wu the fourth seed. Here the disparity in rankings raised its head once again, this time not in favour of the Brit. Wu totally outclassed Broady in straight sets, the match was over in under and hour, with the Brit losing both sets 6-1.

Broady teamed up with Matt Reid for the doubles. The first round saw them playing Duckhee Lee & Gavin Van Peperzeel.

The Brit/Aussie managed a break of serve on Lee & Van Peperzeel, however the Korean/Aussie broke twice to take the first set 6-4. The second set was much the same with Lee & Van Peperzeel again breaking twice and they sealed the set 6-3 to move into the next round.

In Sarasota James Ward started the clay campaign. Ward drew Gonzalo Lama in the first round. When the Chilean player decides to play he is a dangerous opponent.

Unfortunately for the Brit, Lama decided to play. No matter what Ward tried Lama had an answer for and was soon down a set 6-1. The second set was much the same as Lama continued in the frame of mind from the first, with the result the same.

The Brit was out of the event in the first round, however Ward did gain a place in the rankings starting the week at 174 and moving to 173.

In the doubles, Ward teamed up with Gerald Melzer for more clay action. The first round saw them face a wildcard pairing of Sekou Bangoura & Connor Smith.

The Americans were playing well and broke the Brit/Austrian to seal the first set 6-4. The second set saw Ward & Melzer playing much better together, as they served up a 6-0 bagel to pull the match level.

A match tiebreak was needed to settle it. The tiebreak was a tight affair with the Americans just edging it 11-9.

Also playing in the doubles was Neal Skupski. Splitting from his brother temporarily, Skupski teamed up with Scott Lipsky and were the top seeds. The first round saw the Brit/American partnership take on Facundo Arguello & Nicolas Kicker.

The Argentines managed to create two break point chances in the first set, but Skupsi & Lipsky snuffed them out, before breaking once to take the set 6-4. The second set was much closer as each team broke once and a tiebreak ensued.

This was extremely close as the Brit/American pair were staying with the Argentines. Eventually the non seeds secured the tiebreak 9-7 to force the deciding match tie break. In this Arguello & Kicker were able to edge it and took the win 10-6.

In Barletta Jonny Marray paired up with Igor Zelenay and were third seeds. The Brit/Slovak had drawn Flavio Cipolla & Rogerio Dutra Silva in the first round.

The seeds did not get the start they wanted and were broken twice in the first set, as Italian/Brazilian team took the set 6-2. The second set was a little better for Marray & Zelenay, creating two break points on the non seeds serves.

Unfortunately both were saved, and the third seeds found themselves broken instead. Cipolla & Dutra Silva sealed the set 6-4 to progress to the next round.

On the WTA side and in Bogota Tara Moore was playing doubles with Conny Perrin. The first round saw them against Nadia Echeverria Alam & Yuliana Lizarazo.

The first set did not go well for the Brit/Swiss team, as the Colombian/Venezuelan dominated to take the lead 6-1. The second saw Moore & Perrin get into the match as the kept the set close. Unfortunately it wasn’t the ending they would have liked as they were broken and the set lost 7-5.

Next week Brits are in action in Barcelona, Bucharest, Stuttgart, Nanjing, Turin & Savannah