Katie Boulter and Liam Broady gave Wimbledon fans something to cheer about, and Andy Murray showed hopeful signs of joining them, as the sun broke through on day four at Wimbledon.
Murray led Stefanos Tsitsipas, the world No 5, 6-7 (3), 7-6 (2), 6-4 and was in the ascendancy when the 11pm curfew meant their second-round match was suspended. Boulter and Broady are already through to the third round, however, with both players holding their nerve in tight contests.
Boulter beat the Bulgarian Viktorya Tomova 6-0, 3-6, 6-3 on Court 18 on Thursday afternoon and raucous cheers had barely subsided before Broady, the world No 142, claimed the result of his life as he beat the No 4 seed, Casper Ruud, in five sets, 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 on Centre Court.
After two days blighted by rain, the Centre Court crowd were ready for something to get behind and while Murray received his customary backing, it was Broady who raised the retractable roof. The 29-year-old from Stockport found himself two sets to one down against the Norwegian, runner-up at both the French and US Open in the past year, and might have been expected to crumble under the pressure. But Broady dug deep and took the match to Ruud, forcing error after error and placing precise winners when he needed them. By the time the match entered its fifth set Ruud looked like he had ceded the contest, and Broady duly punished him.
With a gleeful and unabashed delight, Manchester City fan Broady bounced around the court in celebration of his victory, mimicking his favourite player Jack Grealish as he conducted the noise of a crowd that was only happy to reciprocate his enthusiasm. Broady said the occasion was something he had dreamed of since the age of five and a victory that had helped exorcise demons that had lingered ever since his time as a junior player.
“It feels good,” he said, “because as a junior, I was very good, I got to No 2 in the world. I played on Court 1 in the finals of the juniors. I was a set and a break up. I completely choked it, completely guffed it. That has kind of haunted me my entire career, to be honest. It always bothered me coming back and playing on the bigger courts, and never really feeling like I was comfortable and had performed.
“That’s why it felt good today. I feel like it’s taken a monumental effort for me personally to be able to win a match on Centre Court at Wimbledon. I’m 29 years old. The opportunity might not come by again for one reason or another.
“I felt more excited than anything going out there today,” Broady said. “Because as hard as it is, you still have to kind of relish the opportunity. It is the pinnacle of the sport. 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. That was a big one for me.”
Boulter will anticipate returning to Centre Court herself too, with last year’s champion, Elena Rybakina, her next opponent. Last year Boulter pulled off a shock by beating former finalist Karolina Pliskova on Wimbledon’s main stage, but this year she will have her sights set on going further, the British No 1 having displayed a degree of control in her matches so far. On Thursday she remained calm as she held off a fightback from Tomova. She had shown a similar response when her delayed first-round match was disrupted by Just Stop Oil protesters.
“It wasn’t easy out there in any way, shape or form,” Boulter said of her victory. “But sometimes you have just got to back yourself and trust the process. Hey, if I go for it and I lose, I have no issue with that at all. It’s the moments that I don’t go for it that I struggle with.”
Of Rybakina, who came through in straight sets against an injured Alize Cornet, Boulter said: “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. It’s time for me to test my skills against an incredible champion.”
