Net profit as Broady makes breakthrough
LIAM BROADY played the richest game of his life and joked he knew the perfect way to celebrate.
He may not get any ranking points for his week’s work, but Broady’s 6-4 4-6 0-6 7-6 6-1 win over No.12 seed Diego Schwartzman of Argentina certainly carried a financial reward.
The prize at Wimbledon for reaching the third round of the singles is £120,000.
“I might just withdraw it all and, like, lie on it,” Broady said with a laugh.
“No, I’ve no idea what I will do with the money, to be honest. I’m getting a bit older now so I need to start looking for somewhere to live other than my parents’ house.
“That could go towards that a little bit, as well.
“But at the end of the day, as nice as the prize money is, I’m not playing that sort of match. I’m not serving at 5-1 and thinking, ‘F***, I’ve got 120 grand here on the line.’
“I’m serving and thinking that I’m about to beat Diego Schwartzman. That said, it is a nice bonus and I’m sure my mum and dad will be buzzing. I pay the board and all that, but maybe it will go up a bit now!”
Broady, 28, is ranked No.132 in the world and has always been accused of not playing to his full potential by one of his biggest fans, Andy Murray.
The pair regularly send each other banter via social media, but Broady admitted he did not quite know what the protocol was with him having reached the third round and the former world No.1 already sat at home, having suffered a four-set defeat at the hands of American John Isner in the second round.
“Andy has always been probably one of my toughest critics, but he’s also been one of the greatest advisers that I’ve had,” said Broady.
“It’s easy for people to say, ‘You have to believe in yourself more, you’re a great player’.
“When one of the greatest of all time says that to you, it does kind of strike home a lot harder.
“Whenever I have a good win, I text him and say, ‘Have you seen any results of note today?’”
Jack Draper raised hopes of setting up the biggest game between British men at Wimbledon for 25 years.
But a tie-break whitewash stopped his momentum as Australian Alex de Minaur booked a third-round place against Broady with a 5-7, 7-6, 6-2, 6-3 victory.