By Tony Fairbairn At Wimbledon
- Denis Shapovalov [26] def Liam Broady [WC] 4-6 6-2 7-5 7-5
- Liam Broady takes the positives from his Wimbledon run to the third round and defends the current the state of British tennis.
LONDON, ENGLAND – Liam Broady is taking the positives from his run to the third round of Wimbledon after a four set defeat to Denis Shapovalov.
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A successful Wimbledon comes to an end for Liam Broady after a four set defeat to Denis Shapovalov in the third round. The Brit had chances throughout the contest especially in the third set where the wildcard had a 5-2 lead.
Ultimately Shapovalov’s quality proved too much as Broady felt the effects of playing two best of five set matches in two consecutive days. After the match Broady said he can take the positives from a great first week at SW19 which included the biggest win of his career after he defeated Casper Ruud 24 hours earlier.
“I mean, good week, positive week,” Broady said in his press conference.
“Obviously to make third round, being ranked 140 in the world, be in constant first round, that’s an upset in itself. Doing it in straight sets was amazing as well. Then obviously to beat Casper on Centre yesterday, it feels like it was a week ago already.
“Then really difficult going on court less than 24 hours after you finish a five-set match on Centre in that way. Such an emotional and stressful match. Then straight back out there against a top, top grass court player.
“Felt really good. Denis was just the better player, better man out there today. But, again, I think I can take the positives from it.”
A very good week from Broady who reached the third round of Wimbledon for a second consecutive year and is expected to climb up the rankings. However the Brit did admit to being tired during his match with Shapovalov as an intense match with Ruud had caught up with him emotionally and physically.
“To be honest, it’s tough at this level because I think for me to compete with someone like Denis, I probably need to be at the tip-top of my game,” Broady stated.
“Probably an hour into the match, your legs feel pretty heavy. So I was pretty glad that I won the first set because otherwise it might have been a straight-sets victory for him. But I understand how it works. This is Wimbledon. The players work around the schedule.
“I can’t really blame Mother Nature for raining on a day that took away my day off. I maybe could have on a better day beaten Casper in three or four sets, as well. I only have myself to blame in that sense, as well.”
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Broady aims for top 100 and defends state of British tennis.
After an incredible effort at Wimbledon, Broady will now look to elevate his game as he aims to break the world’s top 100. Ahead of the rest of the season Broady said that he feels a desire to continue to perform on the big stages as he now looks to break the world’s top 100.
“I think I go back to like 125 or 126 in the rankings. I’m not sure how many points that is off top hundred,” Broady contemplated when talking about his future.
“I don’t really have any big scores to defend up until Tel Aviv, which was more towards the end of the year. The hard court season now is an amazing opportunity for me. Even if I could win one of the challengers or have a deep run at one of the ATPs, I could be top hundred before U.S. That’s the goal at the end of the day.
“I had the opportunity over the clay court season. Picked up an injury. Now I’m feeling good. I feel like, especially the last three matches, okay, I can compete with some of these guys.
“I think it’s next week or the week after is Newport, ATP, the 250 on the grass. It’s a really good tournament. Good opportunity. Just straight back on it, to be honest. I’ll go straight to Newport. I think that starts the finals weekend of Wimbledon. Then I’m straight into the hard court season, go until U.S. really.”
It’s an important next couple of months for Broady who will look to make the most of the momentum and opportunity as he looks to achieve his goal of qualifying for the US Open main draw. Finally Broady spoke about the state of British tennis and said although it was gutting for there to be no men’s singles players left at Wimbledon, the state of British tennis is in a good place.
“Kind of makes it worse that we’ve all lost on the same day, as well,” Broady reflected.
“Obviously I’d have preferred for us all to have won. Probably would have felt a bit better if we’d staggered what days we lost on, whereas now it’s a bit of a Debbie Downer, isn’t it?
“I think the men’s is obviously in a fantastic state at the moment. Obviously with Jack not playing, I think that’s such a shame because I think he could have done really well this year. He’s improving all the time. I think he’s going to have a breakout Wimbledon at some point. It’s just a matter of time.
“I think Cam could have easily gone deep. Andy could have easily gone deep. Dan Evans, he’s a bit low on confidence at the moment, but he could have easily gone deep in the tournament. A couple wild cards, Fery, Loffhagen. Jan Choinski picking up his first win here. I think it’s in a pretty good state on the men’s side.
“The women’s side, maybe some of the girls didn’t have the Wimbledon they’d hoped to after some of the performances they’ve put in over the course of the grass court season. That’s tennis at the end of the day.
“Wimbledon is one tournament in a year. If they can keep up the form that they’ve had prior to Wimbledon, I think the women’s side is going to be looking good. Why could we not have four or five girls in the top hundred by the end of the year, as well?”
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