Broady stands by Fed Cup boycott after falling out with LTA
Naomi Broady – who will begin the Centre Court schedule this afternoon against defending champion Garbine Muguruza – is an anomaly in British tennis: the woman who refuses to represent her country in the team environment of Fed Cup.
Broady’s boycott dates back to the Lawn Tennis Association’s decision to cancel her funding 11 years ago. She was a promising 17-year-old at the time, who posted a supposedly raunchy photograph of herself cuddling a condom machine on social media.
Her supporters argue that the LTA made her a scapegoat for the generally undisciplined behaviour of the juniors training at Bisham Abbey at the time, even though she is said to have been one of the more focused players in the group.
The fallout – which led to Broady’s father Simon selling the family home to fund the training programmes of Naomi and her brother Liam – left such deep scars that she will not climb down, even if it means missing out on the Olympics.
“If it were as simple as representing my country,” said Broady, “I would love to play for Great Britain in the Olympics. It is a shame it is so intertwined and they made the ruling that you can’t play the Olympics if you don’t play Fed Cup. As long as it is like that, I don’t think much is going to change.
“So much has gone on that so many people don’t know about. It’s quite frustrating to have people who don’t know what happened judge the situation. A lot of people who were involved no longer work there [the LTA], but some people still do.”
The All England Club have been prepared to overlook Broady’s Fed Cup stance, awarding her a wildcard into the main draw. Yet the LTA has understandably declined to assist her at its own events this summer.
With earnings of around £50,000 so far in 2018 – the sort of figure that is quickly swallowed up by flights and training costs – Broady could certainly use a more positive relationship with the governing body. But whatever the rights and wrongs of the argument, she is sticking to her guns.