Liam Broady thrilled a partisan Centre Court crowd Thursday as he became the first British man to defeat a top-four seed at Wimbledon since 2013 with his upset victory over No. 4 Casper Ruud.
After winning the first set, Broady, a wild card who is ranked No. 142 in the word, dropped the next two sets before rallying for a 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 victory — the biggest of his career.
“When I went to bed last night, I was thinking about what to say if I won the match,” Broady told the crowd during his on-court interview. “I really don’t know what to say now.”
After three days of action at the All England Club were affected by rain, organizers were optimistic of getting in a full day of tennis Thursday. Only eight matches were completed Tuesday, with all of those being played on either Centre Court or No. 1 Court — the only ones covered by roofs.
Because of the all the disruption, there were a handful of first-round matches being played on Day 4. Normally, the first Thursday of the tournament would wrap up the second round.
Broady cut down his errors and produced a run of strong service games to take charge of the fourth set, and his first ace of the match forced the deciding set.
“It’s a pretty terrifying, exhilarating experience, coming out on Centre Court at Wimbledon,” Broady said. “It’s been my dream since I was 5 years old.”
Ruud started to wilt in the final set, needing medical attention for blisters on his foot. Broady broke to love in the opening game of the fifth set and, using his double-fisted backhand to good effect, he came from 40-0 down to break again and served out to love for 4-0.
“In the fifth, he was just dominant,” said Ruud, who reached the final at three of the last five major tournaments but has never gotten past the second round in four appearances at the All England Club.
“Of course, ranking-wise it’s an upset, but I consider him a better grass court player than me,” said Ruud, who hadn’t seen a grass court until he was 16. “His shots are much more effective than mine on grass. He moves probably better. I was slipping a little here and there, losing my balance.
“It’s just difficult. But I’m going to keep trying. I have a goal to try to do well here at some point. It didn’t happen this year but I honestly love coming here. It’s such a special place.”
Americans
Also among the winners on Thursday was Stan Wawrinka, a three-time Grand Slam champion from Switzerland who beat No. 29-seeded Tomas Martin Etcheverry of…
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