Liam Broady’s ambition of following his Australian Open qualification by also making the main draw in the season’s second Grand slam in Paris, was ended after a close-fought 6-1 6-7 6-4 defeat to home hope Geoffrey Blancaneaux.
Broady had previously beaten the Frenchman in a one-sided contest but Blancaneaux made it clear that this would be a much tougher assignment by storming out of the blocks in a dominant first set which he won 6-1.
Blancaneaux was being backed by a noisy home crowd and was hitting winners off both sides as Broady struggled to get a foothold in the match and he was soon in trouble again when, after a comfortable hold for the Frenchman, more sparkling strokeplay saw him bring up two break points in Broady’ s opening service game of the second set.
Broady dug deep, however, taking the final four points of the game to get on the scoreboard at 1-1.
Broady was starting to let the Parisian know that he was in a fight and a beautiful down the line backhand winner brought up 30 All in the set’s fifth game, with Blancaneaux celebrating as he clinched that one with a forehand winner.
Broady also had to scrap hard to get through the sixth game which lasted over ten minutes and went to four deuces before restoring parity. And the tide seemed to be turning when Broady having brought up 15-30 in his next return game produced a deft lob to send Blancaneaux scurrying to the back of the court. The Frenchman’s desperate through the legs return was more in hope than expectation but he also managed to reach Broady’s drop shot volley to get back to 30 All, rather than facing two break points.
Broady saved game point and brought up his first break point with a delightful lob. Three times Blancaneaux staved off break points, with a service return winner attempt being millimetres away from clinching the crucial break before Blancaneaux finally held.
Broady took a tight game to level again at 4-4 and after two routine holds apiece the second set went into a tie-break. A double fault gave Broady an early advantage which a delightful return from the right handed Blancaneaux overturned.
Broady went 3-1 up with a drilled passing shot and then got lucky when his smash hit the net and looped onto the baseline before a volley winner sealed the point for 4-2. Broady was in no mood to surrender the advantage and the rattled Frenchman served up his second double fault of the breaker to seal it 7-2 in the Stockport-born left hander’s favour.
A commanding hold put Broady on the board and his groundstrokes were dominating as he brought up a 2-1 lead.
Blancaneaux had been holding on, but the increasingly noisy home crowd sensed an opportunity as a 20-shot rally was won by the former Roland Garros Junior champion to bring up two break points at 15-40. Broady fought off the first, ending a dominant rally with a volley winner, but at the second time of asking, the tables were turned as a drop volley winner sealed the break.
The noisy Court 6 crowd were chanting their support and Broady was in danger of being blown away as Blancaneaux sought a second break after a routine hold. Three times he held break points, but Broady was resolute, fighting them off and after a total of six deuces, a wide serve forced Blancaneaux to hit a forehand wide to keep Broady in touch at 4-3.
Both players held, to leave Blancaneaux serving for the match at 5-4, but Broady was determined not to go down without a fight and after a brilliant lob had brought up 15-30, a down the line winner gave Broady two break points.
However, Blancaneaux was not to be denied and saved the second with a deft backhand winner before sealing the match on his first match point to the wild acclaim of the appreciative home crowd. Broady was given a generous reception as he made his way off court in the early evening sunshine in recognition of a great battle, but to the victor, the spoils.
Blancaneaux showed that his form was no one off by sailing into the main draw with a 6-1 6-3 win the final qualifying round to reach the main draw for the first time.
Topsy-turvy Olivo match sees Broady thru in Paris
A game that swung one way and then the other ultimately saw Liam Broady edge to a deceptively tight 6-0 4-6 6-0 victory over Argentinian Renzo Olivo in the first qualifying round at Roland Garros.
Broady started brightly, serving with confidence and after a routine hold in the opening game he was straight on to the front foot, bringing up two break points in Olivo’s first service game. Olivo staved them off but was soon back in trouble and the power of Broady’s ground strokes proved a test too far, as at the third time of asking Broady brought up an early break.
Olivo proved that the Stockport left-hander wouldn’t have matters all his own way when bringing up two break points of his own, but Broady whose first serve percentage was over 85% in the first set, held firm to bring up an early 3-0 lead.
And the Brit’s dominance continued into the fourth game, when despite falling 40-15 down he refused to buckle and ultimately sealed a second break.
The pattern continued as Broady took the fifth game on serve and then again saved break points before bringing up ‘the bagel’ to seal the first set, 6-0.
It had felt as if the scoreboard had been misleading in that first set with Broady winning many close games and Olivo was relieved to get on the scoreboard at 1-1. And the closer nature of the second set was illustrated when a broken string at 30-all saw Broady hit wildly long to bring up an Olivo break point. Broady saved that break point but Olivo’s booming looping forehands were winning him a foothold in the rallies now and he held at 3-3 and then under more pressure for 4-4.
The second set’s ninth game proved crucial, with Olivo getting lucky when a hopeful lob landed on the baseline to bring up 0-15. He followed it with a sizzling backhand winner and a forehand service return that also clipped the baseline to bring up three break points. Broady kept battling, saving the first two with aggressive play before putting a backhand into the net after a good wide serve had opened up the court to go 5-4 down.
The Argentinian was in no mood to relinquish his advantage and held to love to even the match at one set all.
The early stages of the final set were always going to be crucial, and Broady, having replaced his white shirt with a blue one started aggressively, hitting the lines repeatedly to seal the opening game.
Broady followed the dominant service game with an equally dominant and assertive game to gain an early break. He was now the aggressor, moving Olivo from side to side and finishing with three delightful winners, to seal an early 2-0 lead.
He was taken to Deuce in the next game but moved into a 3-0 lead when Olivo could only net a serve that clipped the line.
Despite the commanding lead, Olivo wasn’t giving up and it took a marathon 4th game of the set to secure Broady’s ascendancy. Broady hit an array of brilliant forehands culminating in a down the line winner to start the game well and an equally dominant point that ended with a smash brought up 0-30.
But Olivo wasn’t finished and brought up a game point with a forehand winner of his own. Broady saved that game point and brought up a break point with a shot that landed on the baseline and forced the scurrying Olivo to hit long.
Another attempt at a forehand winner slipped agonisingly wide and after saving another two game points Broady saw two more break points slip by- the second after he reached a drop shot but just pushed his down the line shot inches wide.
The 11 minute and 45 second game finally went Broady’s way when a strong service return to the back of the court forced Olivo to hit a forehand wide to bring up a decisive 4-0 lead.
Still, the Argentinian wasn’t giving up on a place in Roland Garros easily and he saved a game point before forcing a break point of his own which Broady saved with a down the line forehand winner, and Broady let out a huge roar when at the third time of asking he sealed the game as Olivo netted weakly.
Olivo cut a dejected figure as Broady brought up his second bagel of the match but the crowd showed their appreciation to both men knowing what a hard-fought contest it had been.
Broady will face homegrown French prospect Geoffrey Blancaneaux in the second qualifying round on Wednesday.