Liam Broady vowed to continue racking up the cash against the world’s best after stunning fourth seed Casper Ruud in the second round at Wimbledon.
The world No.142 from Stockport delivered a daring, defiant display in front of a packed-out Centre Court to battle from behind against the three-time Grand Slam finalist and book his place in the last 32 for a second consecutive year.
Experienced Broady, 29, is a veteran of the gruelling tennis treadmill and in characteristically gutsy style, required all five sets to lower the colours of the highly-rated 24-year-old from Norway.
The British No.5 dropped just three games in the final two sets as he brilliantly ‘bagelled’ the recent French Open runner-up 6-0 in the decider to book a third round date against 26 th seed Denis Shapovalov.
Broady had already scooped a cool £85,000 by navigating his way past Constant Lestienne in the first round and was watched by his mum, Shirley, on a sun-baked Centre Court.
And after teeing up a clash against former Junior Wimbledon champion Shapovalov, 24, later today, he joked: “I said to my mum this morning, she doesn’t like watching – but I said I’ve already won £80,000 this week so she can chill out a bit.
“The money’s not bad for a day’s work – that enables me to reinvest in myself and put a little bit away.
“It’s difficult because you see so many players that end up having had better careers than myself but end up with nothing from the sport.
“I’m very wary – and don’t want to end up being like that myself, so today is massive in that sort of sense.
“Denis is a mercurial talent – he’s one of the best players in the world, as is Casper.
“He’s won Junior Wimbledon and is an amazing player.
“But with a crowd like this, then why not have a go again?”
After bursting onto the scene at Wimbledon back in 2015, no one can accuse Broady of not putting in the hard yards behind the scenes.
The indefatigable left-hander has embarked on a globetrotting tennis tour competing in several – often unglamorous – Challenger events and knows days like this at sport’s most famous postcode don’t come around too often.
Broady admits to living life at a million miles an hour during his early career but has recently settled down in his pursuit of both sporting, and financial, stability.
He added: “This opportunity might not come by again.
“I’m 29 years old and going into this tournament I’m 150 in the world.
“I’ll only have so many Wimbledons left in my career, so this has to be seen as a reward and you have to take the bull by the horns with these opportunities.
“It is the pinnacle of the sport and it’s the pinnacle of almost any sport, Centre Court of Wimbledon – obviously to have then got the result as well is the icing on the cake.”
Katie Boulter insists she will come out all guns blazing against defending champion Elena Rybakina in her hotly-anticipated third round clash.
The British No.1, 26, battled past belligerent Bulgarian Viktoriya Tomova in three sets on Thursday and will now face ice-cool Kazakh Rybakina, the current world No.3, in the last 32.
Just like Broady in his decider on a magical afternoon in SW19, Boulter bagged the first set on Court 12 without dropping a game.
And despite Tomova, ranked ten places below Boulter in the world, levelling in a scrappier second, the recent Nottingham champion held her nerve to edge over the line and secure a crack at Rybakina, who beat world No.6 Ons Jabeur in the women’s final last year.
Boulter, who also reached the third round at the All England Club last summer, said: “It’s a super great opportunity for me and I’ve got nothing to lose.
“She’s clearly the defending champion for a reason – I’m going to have a swing and go for it.
“I’ve got a lot of tennis behind me and it’s time for me to test my skills against an incredible champion.
“I think I’m playing really well – I’ve played a lot of matches on the grass and feel very comfortable.”
Elsewhere on Thursday, fellow Brit Jan Choinski suffered a straight sets defeat against 17 th seed Hubert Hurkacz.
German-born Choinski, who qualifies as British through his Southampton-based, ballerina mother, was unable to dance into the third round after his memorable maiden Grand Slam triumph against Serbian Dusan Lajovic on Monday.
The 27-year-old said: “I have learnt a lot during the past couple of days.
“I’m just going to take out all the positive bits – I’m super happy about winning my first Grand Slam match.”
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