Stockport’s Naomi Broady and Neal Skupski produced a storming comeback to keep their Wimbledon hopes alive with a shock win.
Skupski and Broady are the only remaining all British pair in the mixed doubles at the All England Club – and they are loving every second.
They went behind in their third round match with Florin Mergea and Elina Svitolina but stormed back to win 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 to delight a partisan home crowd on No. 1 court.
And the draw is now opening up for them, after the elimination of some top seeds yesterday. Pakistan’s Aisam Qureshi and Russia’s Vera Dushevina, the number 16 seeds, now lie in wait in the quarter-finals.
“We’re just having amazing fun, it’s brilliant, we are loving every second of being out there still,” said Broady.
“To be honest when we started we thought every day we can stay in the tournament we’ll get our expenses paid. I was happy just to make the second week and now we could make the second weekend. It’s just brilliant.”
Broady has already endured one appearance on No.1 Court at this Wimbledon – going down in straight sets to Caroline Wozniacki in the second round of the women’s singles.
But this was a happier memory.
“When I saw we’d been scheduled there I was really excited,” she added. “Last time I played pretty rubbish, so this was much better.”
Skupski, who only recently graduated from US College tennis at the Louisiana State University, admits he can’t believe how well his Wimbledon debut has gone.
After exiting the men’s doubles in the first round, playing with Broady has also been lucrative for the newly-turned pro.
“We didn’t have a lot of expectations at the start but now it’s getting pretty serious,” he said.
“It was amazing to play on that court and think of all the players who have been on it before me. Hopefully we’ll get another show court in the quarter-finals and the support will be the same.
“Everyone was so into the game, it made a big difference when we were one set down.”
As the Official Banking Partner of The Championships, HSBC is helping fans get closer to Wimbledon by giving them the chance to win a coaching clinic with Tim Henman. For further information, visit www.wimbledon.com/hsbc
Main image courtesy of UKFast via YouTube, with thanks.
