Liam Broady made it a perfect four out of four as he came through a match of contrasts to beat Aussie Christopher O’Connell 7-6 6-0 and book his place in the main draw of the BNP Paribas Masters in Indian Wells, California in the early hours of this morning.
O’Connell was down as the bookie’s favourite with one high roller allegedly having bet over £16,000 on him to emerge victorious last night after an impressive opening to the season which saw him take Andy Murray to the brink before being defeated in Dubai last time out.
But Stockport-born Broady, who had already successfully qualified for the last three main tour events this year, has also been in fine form.
It was O’Connell who started the brightest, breaking Broady’s opening service game and holding in authoritative fashion to claim the early advantage. But Broady gained a foothold in the match and then broke back with a service return winner on an O’Connell first serve to draw level at 3-3.
Broady continued to press the Australian’s serve bringing up two break points in O’Connell’s next service game and a set point at 5-4 only to see the opportunities slip by.
Broady was forced to fend off a breakpoint himself at 5-5, before this super tight set reached its natural conclusion with a tie break.
O’Connell drew first blood bringing up a 3-1 lead in the tie break, but Broady roared back to hold two more set points at 6-4.
This titanic battle wasn’t over as O’Connell again restored parity and saved a fourth breakpoint at 7-6 before the Stockport left hander finally sealed the first set, 9-7.
O’Connell was visibly frustrated at slipping behind, and his mood didn’t improve as Broady broke him at the start of the second set after edging another long game.
The second set featured lots of close games, but despite holding several game points, O’Connell wasn’t able to convert any of them as Broady broke twice more to kill the game as a contest.
O’Connell cut a desolate figure as Broady served out to love in the final game to bring up the dreaded bagel, taking the second set 6-0.
Broady will chalk up another 16 ATP points for this superb qualifying win and will be looking to keep his run going against 22 year old Serbian star Miomir Kecmanovic in the main draw first round, with former US Open champion and Wimbledon finalist Marin Cilic awaiting the winner in the second round.
REPORT- INDIAN WELLS v Ramanathan
Stockport Tennis star Liam Broady opened his campaign to qualify for Tennis’s ‘fifth’ slam, the BNP Paribas Masters in Indian Wells, California, with a win over Indian Ramkumar Ramanathan.
Broady has already recorded a hat-trick of qualifying successes on the big stage this year, by following his qualification for the Australian Open by also winning through to ATP 250 main draws in Dallas and Delray Beach.
This was Broady’s first match back after a toe injury hampered his progress in the Delray Beach event, and he started like a house on fire, putting pressure on his Indian opponent from the outset. Broady brought up a break point in Ramanathan’s second service game, but whilst the 27 year old extricated himself from that tight spot, he wasn’t able to do it again in the fifth game as Broady took advantage of a second serve to bring up the game’s opening break.
Broady was holding huge authority and won a straight sixteen points in the first set without dropping a single one, and he reinforced his advantage by breaking and holding again to seal a comfortable first set 6-2.
Ramanathan was clearly determined to start the second set better and was attempting to get to the net behind every first serve in an effort to re-assert some authority.
A marathon first game saw him fight off two more breakpoints whilst being denied four times on his own game point before finally pumping his fist as he was able to chalk up the opening game.
Broady had shown remarkable consistency to win the first 22 points on his own serve, so it was a major shock when Ramanathan went from 30-0 down to breaking Broady’s serve to bring up a 3-1 lead.
Broady returned to holding with confidence but Ramanathan was also winning some cheaper points now and brought up three set points at 5-3 when a strong forehand forced Broady to hit wide. Broady kept him guessing by saving the first two but the Chennai based Indian drew level when putting away a smash to seal the second set 6-3.
Broady started the third set strongly and having worked an opportunity for a break point, he got into the net and sealed an early break with a superb forehand volley. Any hopes that this might seem him coast towards the finish line were abruptly shattered when Ramanathan worked himself an immediate break-back point with a blistering forehand return on a Broady second serve and when he forced Broady to hit a forehand long on the next point, the match was back on serve.
Both players held without alarms to bring the game to 4-4 when Broady came under pressure on his own serve as he was pegged back to Deuce, but a superb backhand down the line and an unreturned serve meant that Ramanathan would have to serve to stay in the match.
Broady got ahead in the ninth game when the Indian netted with a backhand approach shot and when he volleyed wide to bring up 0-30, Broady sniffed his chance. Broady came out on top after a long rally in the next point, as he worked the Indian around the court before a forehand down the line winner.
Having brought up three match points, Broady was in no mood to let them slip by and he launched himself into a blistering second service return on the first of them which Ramanathan was only able to divert into the net to seal Broady’s 6-2 3-6 6-4 victory.
He will play Australian Christopher O’Connell in the final qualifying round tonight as he seeks to join world number 1 Daniil Medvedev, the returning Novak Djokovic and Brits Andy Murray , Dan Evans and Cam Norrie in the main draw.