Mind games are working a treat for in-form Liam
MINDFULNESS and a growing maturity have helped Stockport’s Liam Broady hit the form of his life.
The 27-year-old has already won 13 matches at second-tier Challenger level in 2021, reaching two finals, and two more wins in qualifying for the Miami Open this week have seen him reach the main draw of one of the biggest events on the ATP Tour.
That may already be enough for him to surpass the career-high ranking of 154 he set in 2018, even if he loses his first-round clash with Miomir Kecmanovic today.
A top junior, Broady’s career has not yet sparked into full flame, and he has been open about the mental challenges of life well out of tennis’ spotlight, but the signs are promising that his best days are to come.
He said: “It’s not much that’s changed over the last year or two. I’ve probably been a bit more focused and a bit more committed towards tennis and taking care of the stuff around the court a lot better, which I think has made a bigger difference on the court.
“I get ripped for this, but I do a little bit of mindfulness each morning, a yoga-type thing. My diet (has changed). I suppose because of Covid there’s less opportunity to get up to mischief. It’s all come together quite well. I’m just feeling good.
“There’s always going to be stress and doubts but I feel a lot more equipped to handle them now.
“I think maturity is a large part of it. I’m still very immature with a lot of things, but I think over the last year or two I have started to mature a little bit in the right ways.”
The fact Broady has climbed around 60 places in the rankings in a year is particularly impressive because of the changes to the system to protect players’ points during the pandemic that have made it a lot harder to move up.
In the ATP race, which measures performances in 2021 only, Broady sits 76th, but he will not be doing cartwheels if he finds himself higher than 154 a week on Monday.
“I’ve not really been concerned with the career-high ranking,” he said. “I’d probably be quite a bit higher than it now if it was down to the normal rankings, but the last year or so especially I’ve been more focused on improving myself and improving my game and trusting that eventually that will pay dividends.
“I’m probably not going to be back in the UK until the grass-court season now because of the travel restrictions,” he added.
“It’s not ideal but I’m playing the sport I love and I’m able to go to work every day when a lot of people aren’t. It think it’s important to keep a little bit of perspective.”