BROADY’S PEP TALK

LIAM BROADY has hailed British tennis chiefs for doing a Pep Guardiola and giving youth a chance.

Ten Brits made it through the first round of singles competition – the biggest haul since 1984.

And Broady (below), who plays Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman today for a place in the third round, says it has not happened by chance.

“It’s kind of like Pep Guardiola at

Man City with the youth system,” said the 28-year-old City fan, sporting a Jack Grealish hairdo.

“The culture at the Lawn Tennis Association has changed in the last four, five years. The way the schedule is done with practice involving everybody.

“If you’re GB, I think top 25, you just tell LTA base coach Matt James when you want to practice and he mixes you in with everyone.

“The brilliant thing about that, which maybe I didn’t really experience when I was 18 or 19, is the younger guys get to play with everyone and everyone gets to know each other. When I was 18 I was just practicing with other 18-year-olds.”

Broady believes this approach plays a huge role in “acclimatising” players to the level of professional tennis. “The LTA are doing a brilliant job and I feel like people are very slow to give them credit,” he added.

Two of the young guns are back in action today with Jack Draper taking on No.19 seed Alex de Minaur of Australia and Alastair Gray facing 11th seed Taylor Fritz of the USA.

“Right now British tennis is looking in good shape,” said Gray.

“We’re all spurring each other, pushing each other higher and higher.

“We know we have the game to win, it’s about doing it, not about worrying about pressures and tension.”