Liam Broady

All posts tagged Liam Broady

Quick Qualifying Concludes Today @NewYorkOpen

Posted by Admin on February 12, 2018
Posted in: ATP, ATP Qualifying, New York, New York Open. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Under the retired Number 32 banner, the number belonging to pro basketball legend Julius Erving at NYCB Live, Liam Broady won the first set and the first match of the Inaugural New York Open, an ATP 250 tour event in Uniondale, NY on Sunday on Stadium Court. He played a familiar foe in countryman Cameron Norrie. For his part, Broady will face Adrian Menendez-Maceiras and be relegated to the Grandstand Court today. Stadium Court, like the sports history memories made within the former Nassau County Veterans Coliseum hosting this tournament is an American showcase today.

Chris Eubanks takes on compatriot Ernesto Escobedo, Bjorn Fratangelo faces Alex Bulbik from Kazakhstan and Jared Donaldson meets big Croatian Ivo Karlovic. And that’s just the day session. Tonight’s line up on the same court features Ryan Harrison against Donald Young and Frances Tiafoe looking to spoil Sebastian Korda’s tour level main draw debut.

Eubanks effectively breezed through his match yesterday against top qualifying seed Taro Daniel in 71 minutes and seemed to draw a lot of inspiration from the section full of American players there to cheer on their man. He can expect more of that today, and I expect that he will overcome Escobedo, a player with more experience at the pro level.

The last time Stefano Travaglia came to New York, he qualified for the U.S. Open. Today, he faces Tim Smyczek on grandstand court in an attempt to qualify for the New York Open. In a two round qualifier, anything can happen. And I believe Travaglia will head into a New York main draw for the second consecutive time.

–S. Fogleman

RESULTS – MONDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2018
Qualifying – [WC] C. Eubanks (USA) d [1] T. Daniel (JPN) 7-5 6-3
Qualifying – [2] B. Fratangelo (USA) d [WC] G. Kushnirovich (USA) 6-4 6-2
Qualifying – [Alt] L. Broady (GBR) d [3] C. Norrie (GBR) 6-4 7-6(7)
Qualifying – [4] T. Smyczek (USA) d M. Mmoh (USA) 6-2 6-3
Qualifying – [5] A. Menendez-Maceiras (ESP) d [Alt] D. King (BAR) 7-6(6) 7-5
Qualifying – [6] A. Bublik (KAZ) d S. Ofner (AUT) 7-5 6-1
Qualifying – [7] E. Escobedo (USA) d R. Ramanathan (IND) 7-5 6-3
Qualifying – [8] S. Travaglia (ITA) d P. Polansky (CAN) 5-7 6-4 6-4

ORDER OF PLAY – MONDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2018

STADIUM COURT start 1:00 pm
Qualifying – [WC] C. Eubanks (USA) vs [7] E. Escobedo (USA)
Qualifying – [2] B. Fratangelo (USA) vs [6] A. Bublik (KAZ)
J. Donaldson (USA) vs I. Karlovic (CRO)

Not Before 7:30 pm
[6] R. Harrison (USA) vs D. Young (USA)
F. Tiafoe (USA) vs [WC] S. Korda (USA)

GRANDSTAND start 1:00 pm
Qualifying – [Alt] L. Broady (GBR) vs [5] A. Menendez-Maceiras (ESP)
Qualifying – [4] T. Smyczek (USA) vs [8] S. Travaglia (ITA)
D. Sela (ISR) vs [8] N. Basilashvili (GEO)
P. Gojowczyk (GER) / T. Huey (PHI) vs [WC] M. McDonald (USA) / M. Schnur (USA)

Advertisement

Viva Las Vegas: American @StefanKozlov Nabs Sin City Title

Posted by Admin on October 23, 2017
Posted in: ATP, ATP Challenger, Las Vegas, USTA, USTA Pro Circuit. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Stefan Kozlov Beats Liam Broady To Win Las Vegas Tennis Open ATP Tour Challenger Championship

Stefan Kozlov (Photo: Penelope Eischer)

Stefan Kozlov (Photo: Penelope Eischer)

LAS VEGAS (Oct. 22, 2017) – It took a patient Stefan Kozlov a set and a few games to adjust to lefty Liam Broady’s crafty game, but once he did he was able to secure his second career $50,000 pro title by winning the ATP Tour Challenger Las Vegas Tennis Open on Sunday, 3-6, 7-5, 6-4.

“We both just put it on the line today and it was 50-50,” the 19-year-old Kozlov told the appreciative Las Vegas crowd during the trophy presentation at the Fertitta Tennis Complex on the campus of UNLV. “We were both left gasping for air and it wasn’t easy. It could have gone either way today. I was very impressed with Liam’s sportsmanship today.”

Kozlov seemed to pick up his game down a set and an early break in the second set. He broke serve for 3-all and then hit several nice finesse shots, to earn a hold at 4-3, pumping his fist and getting the crowd fired up after each point.

“I haven’t had the best last couple of months, a lot of ups and downs,” said Kozlov, who earned $7,200 with the win. “For all the downs, you have to kind of look for the ups and today I had to dig deep for my up.”
image003

Broady received treatment from the tournament trainer for some late-match cramping right after the match and before the awards ceremony, laying on a towel. He told the crowd a few minutes later that he “left it all out there, and sometimes you pay the price.”

Broady was playing in Las Vegas for his third time and received $4,240. He was watched all week by his coach David Sammel. “Obviously Kozlov has so much experience in these big matches,” he said. “Maybe I wasn’t aggressive at the right times of the match, and Koz has such good defense.”

It will be 20 years next month that Kozlov’s favorite player and Las Vegas resident Andre Agassi returned to tennis at age 27 ranked No. 141 in the world and made the final of a similar USTA Pro Circuit $50,000 Challenger in his first tournament back. On these same UNLV courts Agassi began his inspiring journey to regaining the No. 1 ranking in the world.

Like Agassi, Kozlov was a young prodigy who made his ATP World Tour debut as a wild card in Newport at the age of 15. He reached two junior Grand Slam finals in 2014, the Australian Open (lost to current world No. 5-ranked Alexander Zverev) and Wimbledon.

In the doubles final, the top-seeded team of Brydan Klein and Joe Salisbury of Great Britain beat the No. 3-seeded team of Hans Hach Verdugo of Mexico and American Dennis Novikov, 6-3, 4-6, 10-3. Tied 3-all in the super tiebreaker after splitting sets, Klein-Salisbury rallied off seven straight points for the win. Having played together for the past six month, Klein and Salisbury split $3,100. Both Hoch Verdugo (Abilene Christian) and Novikov (UCLA) each played college tennis and were playing for the first time together. They split $1,800.

“It was an amazing week of tennis at the Fertitta Tennis Complex,” said tournament host Owen Hambrook, the head UNLV men’s tennis coach. “This event keeps growing each year and it’s become one of the favorite stops for the players on the ATP Challenger tour. It was great to see a bunch of our up and coming American player do well this week, and we know we’ll be seeing them at the bigger ATP events in the future. Without the support of the amazing Las Vegas tennis community, this event wouldn’t be possible.”

FINAL RESULTS
Men’s Singles – Finals
[4] Stefan Kozlov (USA) def. Liam Broady (GBR), 3-6, 7-5, 6-4
Men’s Doubles – Finals
[1] Brydan Klein (GBR) / Joe Salisbury (GBR) def. [3] Hans Hach Verdugo (MEX) / Dennis Novikov (USA), 6-3, 4-6, 10-3

Qualifying Concludes (and Begins) Sunday @CitiOpen

Posted by Admin on July 30, 2017
Posted in: ATP, ATP Qualifying, Citi Open, Washington, WTA. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Qualifying Concludes (and Begins) Sunday @CitiOpen
Steve Fogleman in Washington

This slideshow requires JavaScript.


It was easily the coolest day at Citi Open in five years. Rain started and stopped all day at the Citi Open in Washington yesterday, sending players on a scramble to get on and off of courts all day. In the end, all women’s qualifying matches were cancelled, setting up a frenetic Sunday full of double-headers. As a fan, I loved it. A plethora of main draw entrants running around the grounds and no throng of crowds to stop them always makes for a great day at this site.

The men’s qualifying matches were completed. Marinko Matosevic was a 6-1, 6-1 victor over Patrick Kypson. He’ll meet Ramkumar Ramanthan today. Also one step closer to a spot in the draw is Liam Broady, whose 6-2, 6-4 win over Frank Moser came just as the day’s first rain delay began. “It feels good,” he told me and knew the notorious DC summer heat would return to Rock Creek Park soon enough. Broady returns to Rock Creek Park today to face Yuki Bhambri.

American Akexios Halebian was in good spirits after beating Wil Spencer in three sets, 6-1, 5-7, 6-4, and will face Australian Marc Polmans. The other remaining American men in qualifying will meet each other today after Sekou Bangoura dispatched a comeback effort by young Ryan Goetz and Austin Krajicek easily handled fellow American Connor Farren, 6-2, 6-2.

Yesterday’s rain has given way to beautiful skies and temperatures which will feel unseasonably pleasant today. That will help ease the burden of WTA qualifiers with matches starting at 10:00 am. Winners will square off again after 3:00 p.m. to book their ticket into the main event with main draw play commencing tomorrow.

RESULTS – JULY 29, 2017

Mens
Qualifying Singles – First Round

Qualifying – [3] M. Polmans (AUS) d [Alt] N. Reyes (USA) 61 63

Qualifying – [4] A. Krajicek (USA) d C. Farren (USA) 62 62

Qualifying – [5] E. Leshem (ISR) d [Alt] A. Rybakov (USA) 62 76(6)

Qualifying – [6] J. Sorgi (BRA) d [WC] D. Gooch (RSA) 46 61 62

Qualifying – [7] S. Bangoura (USA) d [WC] R. Goetz (USA) 62 67(2) 60

Qualifying – [8] A. Bega (ITA) d [WC] D. Thomas (USA) 76(3) 63

Qualifying – [9] L. Broady (GBR) d [PR] F. Moser (GER) 62 64

Qualifying – [10] A. Gonzalez (COL) d [WC] U. Blanch (USA) 63 64

Qualifying – [11] M. Matosevic (AUS) d [Alt] P. Kypson (USA) 61 61

Qualifying – A. Halebian (USA) d [12] W. Spencer (USA) 61 57 64

Mens
Qualifying Doubles – First Round

Qualifying – [1] J. Cerretani (USA) / M. Polmans (AUS) d [WC] U. Blanch (USA) / D. Thomas (USA) 75 63

Qualifying – [2] R. Bemelmans (BEL) / D. Medvedev (RUS) d T. Fabbiano (ITA) / D. Sela (ISR) 76(5) 64

ORDER OF PLAY – SUNDAY, JULY 30, 2017

STADIUM start 10:00 am

WTA – Qualifying – [1] H. Watson (GBR) vs E. Sema (JPN)

Not Before 11:00 am

ATP – Qualifying – [1] R. Ramanathan (IND) vs [11] M. Matosevic (AUS)

ATP – Qualifying – [4] A. Krajicek (USA) vs [7] S. Bangoura (USA)

WTA – After Rest – Qualifying – [1] H. Watson (GBR) or E. Sema (JPN) vs S. Aoyama (JPN) or [6] U. Arconada (USA)

GRANDSTAND 1 start 10:00 am

WTA – Qualifying – S. Aoyama (JPN) vs [6] U. Arconada (USA)

Not Before 11:00 am

ATP – Qualifying – [2] Y. Bhambri (IND) vs [9] L. Broady (GBR)

ATP – Qualifying – [3] M. Polmans (AUS) vs A. Halebian (USA)

WTA – After Rest – Qualifying – [2] J. Loeb (USA) or [WC] S. Morton (USA) vs S. Chang (USA) or [8] D. Khazaniuk (ISR)

GRANDSTAND 2 start 10:00 am

WTA – Qualifying – [2] J. Loeb (USA) vs [WC] S. Morton (USA)

WTA – Qualifying – [WC] C. Morra (USA) vs [5] V. Grammatikopoulou (GRE)

ATP – Qualifying – [6] J. Sorgi (BRA) vs [8] A. Bega (ITA)

WTA – After Rest – Qualifying – [3] D. Aiava (AUS) or S. Xu (CHN) vs [WC] C. Morra (USA) or [5] V. Grammatikopoulou (GRE)

COURT 1 start 10:00 am

WTA – Qualifying – S. Chang (USA) vs [8] D. Khazaniuk (ISR)

WTA – Qualifying – [4] L. Chirico (USA) vs O. Rogowska (AUS)

ATP – Qualifying – [5] E. Leshem (ISR) vs [10] A. Gonzalez (COL)

WTA – After Rest – Qualifying – [4] L. Chirico (USA) or O. Rogowska (AUS) vs J. Lu (CHN) or [7] N. Abduraimova (UZB)

COURT 2 start 10:00 am

WTA – Qualifying – [3] D. Aiava (AUS) vs S. Xu (CHN)

WTA – Qualifying – J. Lu (CHN) vs [7] N. Abduraimova (UZB)

ATP – Qualifying – [1] J. Cerretani (USA) / M. Polmans (AUS) vs [2] R. Bemelmans (BEL) / D. Medvedev (RUS)

If You Don’t Like American Tennis, You’ll Hate The @CMPChallenger in Charlottesville

Posted by Admin on November 2, 2016
Posted in: ATP, Charlottesville. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment
dscn3403

Denis Kudla, 2016 Charlottesville Challenger (Photo: TennisAtlantic.com)

If You Don’t Like American Tennis, You’ll Hate The @CMPChallenger in Charlottesville
Steve Fogleman, Tennis Atlantic

CHARLOTTESVILLE, NOV 2–Like the headline says.

But first, almost-local boy done good, Denis Kudla.

If there’s such a thing as a home court advantage, it might belong to Denis Kudla more than the entire contingent of UVA tennis players, past and present, in the main draw. It certainly looks like Kudla’s Castle after a breezy 6-1, 6-2, 56 minute victory on Tuesday over Tommy Paul at the USTA $50,000 Charlottesville Men’s Pro Tennis Challenger at the Boar’s Head resort in Virginia.

“Maybe a little bit of a home court advantage (at the Boar’s Head resort). I’ve come here and practiced a lot, so I’ve really gotten used to these courts. I love playing here. I’ve told a lot of people and a lot of people know, this is probably the best court for me in the world. Maybe on grass courts too, but on this court, I play my best tennis. I am so comfortable. I am really happy here.”

Kudla draws UVA recruit Carl Soderlund from Stockholm in the 2nd round.

“The UVA Freshman is really good and I look forward to the challenge,” he said.

US main draw direct entry players at the Challenger are an astounding 12-5, which doesn’t sound astounding until you figure that four of the losses were to OTHER American players. Noah Rubin, last year’s USTA Australian Open Wild Card Challenge champ, was the only direct entry American to lose a match against a non-American, so the record is more like 12-1. That’s Solid Gold. We’re used to all these American ATP 250s that hand out Wild Cards like funny money to local celebrities and they all get destroyed in the first round.

Not here.

Austin Krajicek defeated Great Britain’s Edmund Corrie, 7-6(3), 6-4 and Brian Baker took out Tim Van Reithoven of the Netherlands, 6-4, 6-2 in less than an hour.

Broady defeated US qualifier J.C. Aragone, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, and was kind enough to venture down a dangerous trail with us in discussing the US Presidential election and Brexit’s impact on British players.

dscn3404

Peter Polansky, 2016 Charlottesville Challenger (Photo: TennisAtlantic.com)

Peter Polansky showed up late for his match against 2016 USTA Australian Open Wild Card champion Noah Rubin and dealt the Long Island native an early setback in his hopes of repeating the feat in 2017. Since the USTA format allows for the best two scores in the three round event, Rubin can still repeat with strong showings in Knoxville and Champaign.

Bjorn Fratangelo dug himself a huge first set hole before battling back for a straight sets win over Belgium’s Joris De Loore, 7-6(3), 6-2. He spoke with us after the match.

Later, Michael Mmoh won a convincing match over compatriot Dennis Novikov 6-3, 6-2. Mmoh has roots in the Washington area, and is pleased to advance here in Charlottesville.

Tim Smyczek: What can you say about him? Love the guy, but at this point, he’s just knocking off young, often-American talent and he needs to go be a great coach. In this case, Tim’s victim was Thai “Favorite” Son Kwiatkowski of UVA, 6-4, 2-6, 6-3.

Top seed Frances Tiafoe prevailed over UVA’s Ryan Shane in three, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4. He will play fellow American Mackenzie McDonald, a winner over American Gonzales Austin, 7-6(0), 7-6(2).

In the ONLY singles match not involving at least one American yesterday, Switzerland’s Henri Laaksonen defeated qualifier Yuki Bhambri, 6-3, 7-6(3).

Seeing a trend here? This is the most American event of American events ever. And I, for one, welcome our new American Tennis Overlords.

Qualifying Complete @CitiOpen: @RyanHarrison92, @NaomiBroady Interviews, Monday OOP

Posted by Admin on August 2, 2015
Posted in: ATP, Citi Open, Steve Fogleman, WTA. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Qualifying Complete @CitiOpen: @RyanHarrison92, @NaomiBroady Interviews, Monday OOP
Steve Fogleman, Tennis Atlantic

Ryan Harrison qualified for the main draw at Citi Open today, and became the only ATP American man to do so. Harrison upended Mischa Zverev 6-3, 7-6(3).

Darian King
Darian King, you’re from Barbados? It’s always been close enough for us! King, who I last saw in Charlottesville (where he was defaulted for not hitting a linesman with his racket toss), played a solid match against Ze Zhang, taking the match back into his own hands each time Zhang attempted to pull ahead.

In the last match of the day, American Sanaz Marand pulled a rabbit out of her hat in outlasting #2 qualifying seed Elizaveta Kulichkova 7-6(9), 7-6(6).

The Belarussian you expected in the main draw (Vika) couldn’t make it, but An-Sophie Mestach was happy to become the second Belgian there as she advanced to the main draw at Citi Open with a sound thrashing of Tamira Paszek. Does that make any sense? As for expectations as the top seed in qualifying, Mestach said “the last couple of tournaments I’ve played, I’ve been the first seed. It doesn’t make a difference. Tamira Paszek, she’s been injured but she’s coming back. I knew it wasn’t going to be an easy match.”

Mestach will play doubles with fellow Belgian main draw participant Alison Van Uytanck.

Naomi Broady is such an amazing person. She has put up with too much, having been both an early adopter and early victim of social media. England’s Lawn Tennis Association tried to pretend like she didn’t exist, but indeed she does. She spoke with me today about the challenges of going it alone when your national association turns their back on you for something that wouldn’t even register today on the internet. Don’t even get me started about those national associations, USTA. Oh, and yes, Broady qualified big time for Citi Open, beating Aliaksandra Sasnovich 3&3 today. 24 aces and straight sets on the weekend. Take that, you stodgy posh toffs at the LTA. She got on without you. Imagine that.

Nothing like a little love and affection to end a post. Tomorrow awaits!

CITI OPEN – WASHINGTON, D.C., USA
USD 1,753,020.00 (ATP)
USD 250,000.00 (WTA)
3 – 9 AUGUST 2015

ORDER OF PLAY – MONDAY, AUGUST 03, 2015

STADIUM COURT start 1:50 pm

WTA – [WC] L. Chirico (USA) vs H. Watson (GBR)

Not Before 4:00 pm

ATP – J. Duckworth (AUS) vs [Q] R. Harrison (USA)

Not Before 5:30 pm

ATP – [Q] Y. Nishioka (JPN) vs A. Zverev (GER)

Not Before 7:30 pm

ATP – D. Young (USA) vs [WC] T. Haas (GER)

ATP – [3] R. Bopanna (IND) / F. Mergea (ROU) vs A. Murray (GBR) / D. Nestor (CAN)

GRANDSTAND 1 start 2:15 pm

WTA – M. Brengle (USA) vs [6] I. Begu (ROU)

Not Before 4:00 pm

ATP – D. Sela (ISR) vs H. Chung (KOR)

Not Before 5:00 pm

ATP – [PR] G. Dimitrov (BUL) / M. Fish (USA) vs V. Pospisil (CAN) / J. Sock (USA)

WTA – [WC] T. Townsend (USA) vs I. Falconi (USA)

WTA – [8] Z. Diyas (KAZ) vs L. Davis (USA)

GRANDSTAND 2 start 4:00 pm

ATP – V. Estrella Burgos (DOM) vs [WC] N. Jarry (CHI)

ATP – [Q] M. Matosevic (AUS) vs R. Bemelmans (BEL)

WTA – S. Aoyama (JPN) / E. Hozumi (JPN) vs E. Bogdan (ROU) / N. Broady (GBR)

WTA – [5] A. Cornet (FRA) vs [Q] A. Mestach (BEL)

COURT 1 start 4:00 pm

WTA – K. Nara (JPN) vs Y. Putintseva (KAZ)

Not Before 5:30 pm

WTA-After Suitable Rest – [4] B. Bencic (SUI) / K. Mladenovic (FRA) vs I. Begu (ROU) / C. Vandeweghe (USA)

ATP – T. Gabashvili (RUS) vs B. Becker (GER)

COURT 2 start 4:00 pm

WTA – M. Niculescu (ROU) vs L. Arruabarrena (ESP)

ATP – [Q] D. King (BAR) vs G. Soeda (JPN)

ATP – R. Berankis (LTU) vs Y. Lu (TPE)

RESULTS – AUGUST 02, 2015

Mens
Qualifying Singles – Second Round

Qualifying – [10] Y. Nishioka (JPN) d [3] I. Dodig (CRO) 76(2) 63

Qualifying – [5] G. Pella (ARG) d [WC] E. Quigley (USA) 63 64

Qualifying – [9] J. Smith (AUS) d [6] A. Gonzalez (COL) 76(3) 61

Qualifying – [7] R. Harrison (USA) d [Alt] M. Zverev (GER) 63 76(3)

Qualifying – M. Matosevic (AUS) d [Alt] T. Niki (JPN) 62 64

Qualifying – [Alt] D. King (BAR) d [Alt] Z. Zhang (CHN) 75 63

Mens
Qualifying Doubles – Second Round

Qualifying – [2] A. Krajicek (USA) / N. Monroe (USA) d [1] T. Huey (PHI) / S. Lipsky (USA) 46 63 10-8

Women’s
Qualifying Singles – Second Round

Qualifying – [1] A. Mestach (BEL) d T. Paszek (AUT) 62 61

Qualifying – N. Broady (GBR) d [3] A. Sasnovich (BLR) 63 63

Qualifying – [6] J. Glushko (ISR) d [4] A. Kalinina (UKR) 62 64

Qualifying – S. Marand (USA) d [2] E. Kulichkova (RUS) 76(9) 76(6)

Day 2 Qualifying Report From @RolandGarros 2015

Posted by Admin on May 20, 2015
Posted in: French Open, Guest Writer, On Site, Roland Garros. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Day 2 Qualifying Report From Roland Garros 2015
Stefano Berlincioni for Tennis Atlantic

What a long day once again! As tennis was played at Roland Garros for over 12 hours on court from 10 am to 9.30 pm when last match was suspended due to darkness.

I will begin by discussing a match played at the end of the day: Andrea Arnaboldi – Pierre-Hugues Herbert has been (and still is!) a pretty epic match. Arnaboldi started playing great attacking tennis (*5-2 up), I left on 6-4 and it was clear that the Frenchman had stepped up his level. I came back later on 5-5 third set and players kept holding quite easily. Arnaboldi missed a really feasible passing shot when he had the one and only match point. Match will be resumed tomorrow from 15-14 Arnaboldi.

I didn’t watch many other men’s matches, just the end of Norbert Gombos-Yoshihito Nishioka (The Japanese saved 2 mps, the second one with an incredible dropshot, and after that Gombos lost his compsure, and the match in abrupt fashion),  and the third set of Radu Albot- Liam Broady with the Moldavian being more consistent and pulling out a win. I also caught the the end of Aleksandr Nedovyesov-Yuki Bhambri, as Bhambri won again, forcing his opponent to play too many risky shots.

Nishioka d. Gombos 2-6 6-2 8-6
Albot d. Broady 6-7 7-6 6-2
Bhambri d. Nedovyesov 6-3 3-6 9-7

Luca Vanni against Thomas Fabbiano was a strange match, until the beginning of second set Fabbiano looked like he would bet the winner, but then some clouds helped Vanni, because without the sun he looked fresher, and started playing more aggressive. Fabbiano was just defending and Vanni had an easy time winning the match from a set down.

Vanni d. Fabbiano 3-6 6-3 6-2

I don’t follow WTA that much but I know women’s tennis is famous for being full of drama, and today we had at least two epic matches.

First one was Michelle Larcher De Brito against Clothilde De Bernardi. I admit that I went to this match just because some Portuguese fans asked me on Twitter. To my pleasant surprise it was a great match with both players hitting hard and looking for winners! I didn’t expect De Bernardi being so good and I thought she was done when she went from *2-1 40-15 to 2-4 during third set. The great support fo the public helped the Frenchwoman who refused to give up and managed to go *5-4 up when it started raining. Larcher De Brito was desperate for the De Bernardi comeback and started crying, asking the umpire to stop the match for the rain. The umpire rejected her request and a few seconds later the Portuguese woman was crying again but going off the court.

De Bernardi d. De Brito 4-6 6-2 6-4

While I was watching Vera Dushevina against Jelean Ostapenko I heard a rumour of racquet breaks, I turned on the next court and I saw the score Paula Kania-Alla Kudryavsteva 7-5 0-0 15-0

I noticed a racquet broken

so I understood the Russian had a penalty point. My interest in this match suddenly raised and it was a real drama, with Kudryavtseva complaining loudly with herself and then crying

Kania obviously won and here is a short video that shows how that happened

Kania d. Kudryavtseva 7-5 6-4

Earlier I watched Anett Kontaveit against Kat Stewart and I have to say I was very very impressed by the Estonian Kontaveit. She has stunning power and Stewart was outplayed there. When I was on the stands I heard a guy telling to Kontaveit’s coach “It’s over” on 6-3 3-0, the coach replied “Never say that!”. That was pure jinxing because Stewart fought and came back but Kontaveit managed to win the second set tiebreak.

Kontaveit d. Stewart 6-3 7-6

I watched also first set of the 16 yo Tessah Andrianjafitrimo and the girl has been quite impressive: short and with a pretty weak serve but she moves very well and from baseline is dangerous. Surely one to watch in the future, she beat Patricia Mayr-Achleitner in straights.

Andrianjafitrimo d. Mayr-Achleitner 6-2 6-4

Quick impressions also in regards to Nastassja Burnett (outpowered Lin Zhu), Elizaveta Kulichkova (far from being impressive against Yi-Fan Xu), and Naomi Broady (great performance on serve against Cagla Buyukakcay).

Burnett d. Zhu 6-2 6-1
Kulichkova d. Xu 6-2 6-2
Broady d. Buyukakcay 6-1 7-6

I watched the second set of Veronica Cepede Royg-CiCi Bellis and that set was surprisingly a bagel. Bellis didn’t play bad tennis at all but on clay she didn’t manage to find a way to hit through the short girl from Paraguay. Cepede Royg played an excellent match, perfect from baseline.

Cepede Royg d. Bellis 6-4 6-0

It has been another crazy weather day: sick wind, then rain, then cold, then sun. Tomorrow and on Friday should (should!) not feature rain.

@Glenysfurness chats with UK young gun Liam Broady (@liambroady)

Posted by Admin on February 7, 2015
Posted in: Guest Writer, Interview, LTA, Memphis. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

@Glenysfurness chats with UK young gun Liam Broady
Glenys Furness for Tennis Atlantic

Embed from Getty Images

UK Tennis blogger Glenys Furness caught up with 21 year old Liam Broady, The Englishman is currently at a career high ranking of 180 in the world and just turned pro last season. Since turning pro he has already reached final round qualies at the AO this year, and reached an ATP challenger final last year at the end of the season, along with multiple futures tour titles. He and his sister Naomi are both UK based tennis professionals  and he appears poised for a breakthrough. Broady was prepped for success at the junior level as he reached two junior slam finals (Wimbledon 2011, US Open 2012), and won two junior grand slam doubles titles (Wimbledon 2010, Australian Open 2012) between 2010 and 2012.

——————————————-

Liam Broady took time out of his preparations for the Memphis ATP 250 qualifying to talk with me.  I am grateful to both Liam and to his fitness trainer Ric Moylan for giving me some time.  Liam is ranked 180 in the world currently, and is the British number 4 men’s singles player by ranking.

“How did you get involved with (Life Coach) Adrian Tannock”
“I got involved with Adrian via Ric (Moylan) around 4 years ago. My Dad was looking for assistance in finding ways to develop the psychological element of my tennis.  Ric and Adrian had worked together previously with other athletes so after Ric introduced us, we developed a strong relationship from there.”

“What does Ric have you doing during the off season”
“Ric has me doing pretty much everything that hurts.  I’ve grown to love doing the hard work that Ric has taught me will bring me success, and he’s an indispensable member of my team.”

“If British Davis Cup Captain Leon Smith selected you for the Davis Cup, what would this mean to you”
“It would be amazing and an honour to represent my country at the highest level of tennis, playing the sport I love around fantastic people.  Playing Davis Cup has always been at the top of my ambitions to achieve.”

“What match from the US Challenger matches last year has resonated the most, and why?”
“The biggest result on paper was beating Tim Smyzcek in 3 sets after losing to him pretty comfortably only a few weeks before although the match I think I played best in was against Peter Torebko the round after.”

“There has been a lot in the press recently on the financial burden on players, how do you make ends meet and what sacrifices have you made?”
“Tennis is an expensive sport to participate in and at lower levels the rewards financially are next to none. Over the last couple of years since I left home I have had sponsorships from Nike and Dunlop that have helped massively and of course support from the LTA has been invaluable.”

“Looking ahead, what is your next major goal?”
“My next major goal is to finish the year in the top 100. Apart from that I just want to focus on improving as a player and a person.”

“Who do you feel are the next up and coming stars of British Tennis?”
“I would like to think that myself and Kyle Edmund are! But after that I’m not too sure, I haven’t spent much time in England the last few years but I know that Marcus Walters who is coached by Leighton Alfred in Nottingham plays very well as does Max Stewart who is also at Nottingham.”

Thank you again to Liam and Ric for the opportunity to speak together, and best of luck in the Memphis qualifying.-Glenys
Tennis Atlantic Basel