By Tony Fairbairn at Wimbledon
- Liam Broady [WC] v Casper Ruud [4] | H2H: First Meeting
- Jodie Burrage [WC] v Daria Kasatkina [11] | H2H: First Meeting
- Jan Choinski [WC] v Hubert Hurkacz [17] | H2H: First Meeting
LONDON, ENGLAND – Liam Broady, Jodie Burrage and Jan Choinski face former Grand Slam semi-finalists in a bid to reach the third round at Wimbledon.
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Liam Broady [WC] v Casper Ruud [4] | H2H & Match Fundamentals
| Liam Broady [WC] v Casper Ruud [4] | H2H: First Meeting |
| Wimbledon 2023 | London, England |
| Grass (O) | Prize Money: £85,000 |
| TBC | BBC Sport |
A fourth first round win for Liam Broady at Wimbledon as the Brit moved into the second round with a straight sets win over Constant Lestienne. Broady played some aggressive tennis throughout the win despite a mini slip-up in the third set where Lestienne served for the set. After the match Broady was asked about the benefit of playing on the challenger tour and how it’s helped develop his game.
“I think a lot of these guys that play in these slams, they kind of tend to just crush through challengers,” Broady said in his press conference.
“I can remember Shapovalov and Felix kind of did that from a very young age. There are a lot of players, you even see Andy now, that kind of have to drop down to the challengers and go back up to the ATPs. I think the challenger tour is obviously 52 weeks a year for guys like myself, but then there are other guys that have to use that to kind of supplement the ATP Tour.
“Without the challenger tour, the quality of the tennis on show at these events would be nowhere near as good as it is. It enables the better players to get that match practice and the lower-level players to gain that confidence and the match practice to be able to push the better players in the big events. I think over the last sort of five to ten years, I think not only in the men’s game, but the women’s game, that sort of mid-tier of men’s tennis and women’s tennis has developed massively. That’s why I think we probably see a few more upsets nowadays.”
Broady will look to use that development on the challenger circuit wisely when he takes on Roland Garros finalist Casper Ruud. Despite playing more golf than tennis on grass in the build-up to Wimbledon, Ruud edged through in four sets over Laurent Lokoli. That was only Ruud’s second win at Wimbledon and now the Norwegian looks to make the third round at SW19 for the first time in his career.
Broady will look to be aggressive and proactive as he looks to test Ruud’s defensive skills on grass. The Norwegian will look to use angles from the forehand side to open up the court up. An upset here is very likely given Broady’s effective and aggressive style of play on grass with the Brit looking to rush Ruud into unforced errors.
Prediction: Broady in four sets.
Jodie Burrage [WC] v Daria Kasatkina [11] | H2H & Match Fundamentals
| Jodie Burrage [WC] v Daria Kasatkina [11] | H2H: First Meeting |
| Wimbledon 2023 | London, England |
| Grass (O) | Prize Money: £85,000 |
| TBC | BBC Sport |
It was an emotional moment for Jodie Burrage on No.3 Court as she defeated Caty McNally for her first ever Wimbledon victory. The Brit produced a dominant performance as she backed up her recent results with confident and reassured tennis. Speaking after her win Burrage reflected on her past injuries and admitted she nearly quit tennis.
“I’ve dealt with a lot of injuries throughout my career, and a lot of people telling me that I couldn’t get to the top, wouldn’t be a player when I was younger,” Burrage explained in her press conference.
“Yeah, after my third ankle operation, my mind had decided that that was it. I was going to go to an American university, get a degree there, have a great life. Would have really enjoyed it and loved it. But that was my tennis career done. Yeah, you know, somehow got back on the horse with help from family and friends, and my boyfriend as well, like, really helped push through that not-so-nice time.
“Yeah, to sit here saying I’ve won my first round at Wimbledon, hopefully going to be in the top hundred in two weeks, yeah, not expecting that, but very happy that it’s happened.”
Next up for Burrage is Eastbourne finalist Daria Kasatkina who is in good form herself. The eleventh seed has a recent habit of raising her game when it really matters having reached the second week at Roland Garros which was followed by a run to the Eastbourne final, beating some powerful players. Now Kasatkina has her eyes set on bigger things at Wimbledon with form on her side.
Burrage will look to be aggressive and proactive, applying the pressure on Kasatkina while the eleventh seed looks to use slices and depth to force errors from the Brit. This should be a very good match between two in-form players but Kasatkina’s experience gives her the slight edge here.
Prediction: Kasatkina in three sets.
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Jan Choinski [WC] v Hubert Hurkacz [17] | H2H & Match Fundamentals
| Jan Choinski [WC] v Hubert Hurkacz [17] | H2H: First Meeting |
| Wimbledon 2023 | London, England |
| Grass (O) | Prize Money: £85,000 |
| TBC | BBC Sport |
It was a day to remember for Jan Choinski as the Brit won on his Wimbledon debut with a four set win over Dusan Lajovic. The Brit survived a tough first two sets that were split between the two players before cruising into the second round. After his win over Lajovic, Choinski explained the problems that he suffered during COVID that forced him to rebuild his ranking.
“I was struggling with mononucleosis and COVID on top of that. My ranking was dropping to a point where I nearly didn’t have any points,” Choinski said in his press conference.
“I think end of August I started the whole journey from 650 on the rankings to where I am right now. So winning a 15K, one of the lowest international tournaments you can win, to then going to challenger level, playing through so many qualifyings, being in South America for 10 weeks in a row playing tournaments, having to switch countries.
“Playing well. I won one challenger there. Because of those quallies, I hadn’t got nearly any breaks between tournaments. We were really pushing hard, maybe to a limit where we actually were pushing a little bit too hard. But it was all controlled to a point where we knew we don’t have any status.
“I was 26 at that time. Had almost dropped all my ranking points. Came back from two years of being out, two years of being injured, two surgeries. I just never wanted to leave tennis, put tennis by the side. I just thought I’ve got more in myself and I want to show it.”
A familiar opponent awaits in the second round in former doubles partner Hubert Hurkacz. The Pole is a former semi-finalist at Wimbledon and has the perfect game for grass as he serves accurately and loves to come into the net. Hurkacz’s game will be an awkward test for Choinski as the Pole looks to regain the momentum in an underwhelming season.
Choinski will look to maintain a high first serve percentage while Hurkacz will look to be aggressive and use the angles from the backhand to create space on the court. The Brit should give Hurkacz a good test but the 17th seed should have too much quality.
Prediction: Hurkacz in four sets.
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