Two hugely contrasting wins against former Top 100 players saw Liam Broady qualify for a main tour ATP 250 tournament for just the third time in Dallas, Texas yesterday.
Sunday night’s match against former top 40 player Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan was a nail biting roller-coaster, which required every ounce of Broady’s renowned fighting qualities to enable him to emerge triumphant from the jaws of defeat.
By contrast, his victory over Italian Thomas Fabbiano on monday afternoon was a dominant one from the off with the 6-2 6-3 scoreline flattering his diminutive opponent.
Broady’s quest to qualify for the inaugural Dallas Open got off to a confident start as he broke the 35 year old Istomin at the first time of asking, striding into an early 3-0 lead.
Broady gained two more break points in the next game, before Istomin finally got his name on the scoreboard with a long hold.
Broady was holding confidently and making inroads into the Uzbek’s service games bringing up a breakpoint in the sixth game and he looked set to seal the first set when he led 5-3 40-0 before a stunning turnaround saw istomin reel off five points in a row to bring the opening set back on serve.
Broady fought hard to regain the advantage forcing Istomin to deuce four times before parity was restored at 5-5, but the momentum was now all with the Russian-born man as he broke Broady again and held to wrap up a remarkable turnaround and gain his fifth game in a row for a 7-5 first set verdict.
There was no immediate sign of halting Istomin’s advance as he opened the second set with another break and it was a relieved and rattled Broady that finally broke a run of 7 straight games by holding to trail 1-2.
Slowly but surely, the Heaton Chapel born left hander pulled himself back into the tie and when he brought up two break points in the sixth game of the set, he only needed one of them to seal the break and bring the match back to 3-3.
Both players held without major alarms to take the second set to a tie-break but istomin looked to have the match in the palm of his hand when two blistering returns earned two mini breaks to give Istomin a 4-1 tie-break lead.
And when a powerful first serve brought up 6-4, Istomin had two match points. He blew the first when he netted an easy looking putaway with the match in his grasp and Broady didn’t need asking twice as he brought up his own set point and then sealed the second set, 8-6.
Any thought that Istomin might be finished was soon banished as he held to love at the start of the third set and with both players serving confidently it was a major alarm when Broady conceded two break points in the eighth game.
However Broady was able to find four first serves to extricate himself from that spot and despite some lung-busting rallies there was a certain inevitability to this tie reaching a tie break in the final set.
Again Istomin went into an early lead, heading Broady 3-1, 4-2 and 5-3 but Broady’s serve was now consistent and two first serves saw him rack up his own match point at 6-5.
The match was swinging one way and then the other with Istomin saving a match point and gaining his own at 7-6. Then Broady also saved and then gained a match point, but in a fevered atmosphere neither player could seal the deal, until finally Broady took advantage of a second serve to bring up a thrilling 11-9 third set tie break verdict and with it the match.
This win booked him a final qualifying match with Italian Thomas Fabbiano, but the Italian with a decent pedigree himself was no match for Broady from the outset. and was forced to save four break points in his opening service game.
Although Broady allowed those opportunities to slip by, he didn’t make the same mistake at the next time of asking, taking the break to move into a 3-1 lead.
Both players were playing elegantly from the baseline but Broady seemed to have the greater power and accuracy and Fabbiano was having to labour in every service game to hold.
Fabbiano served to try and stay in the set at 2-5 but Broady had him on the hook and when the 5’6″ Italian hit a forehand long, Broady sealed the set 6-2.
Broady was in no mood to relinquish his advantage and raced into a 4-0 lead with the increasingly exasperated Italian roaring his frustration. But just when it looked like the fat lady was preparing her metaphorical vocal chords, Fabbiano raised his game, coming to the net a little more often and eradicating one of the two breaks that he trailed by.
After holding with unexpected comfort to come back to 4-2, it was clear that Fabbiano was determined to keep his run in the lone star state going as long as possible and Broady was forced to work hard to hold for 5-2 and put himself within one game of the main draw.
Fabbiano kept Broady honest with a comfortable hold and even had 15-30 on Broady’s serve as the Stockport man came under pressure. But two good serves brought up a match point and when Fabbiano was forced to hit a deep Broady forehand long, the left hander knew he had booked his place in the main draw.
The main draw has paired Broady with 32 year old German, Peter Gojowczyk, but in this form Broady will be going all out to try and reach the second round and further close in on his target of a place in the top 100 of the ATP rankings.