World No.242 Liam Broady has continued his fairytale run at the St Petersburg Open by reaching his first ever ATP quarter-final.
The 23-year-old fought back from the brink of defeat to stun French fourth seed Adrian Mannarino, a player ranked 211 places higher than him. Initially the match was going in the way of the fourth seed, who lead by a set and a break. Then underdog Broady staged an impressive comeback by clinching eight consecutive games to seal the upset.
“This week has been really emotional. Tough emotionally, tough physically. I came out today and I felt a little bit tired, but I knew Adrian hadn’t played a match yet. So maybe he wasn’t as loose as I was.” Broady said after the match.
“I wasn’t sure if I was going to win. I hung in there, I fought hard and I got rewarded for it.” He added.
Earlier in the week, the Brit scored wins over Radu Albot in qualifying followed by Ernests Gulbis in the first round.
Broady first rose to prominence by winning two grand slam doubles titles during his junior career. Since turning pro, he has won seven Futures titles and peaked at a high of 158th in 2015. It has been a far from simple journey for the Stockport-born player, who remains stunned about his journey to the last eight in St Petersburg.
“This time last year I think I was sat in the pub. I wouldn’t have believed it.” He said. “Even before this week I wouldn’t have believed it. I played three, four really good players and I managed to come out on top each time.”
Prior to this week, Broady had never recorded an ATP World Tour win outside of Wimbledon. In the last eight, he will take on Bosnia’s Damir Dzumhur in what will be their first meeting since a 2010 junior tournament in Roehampton, England.
“The hard work is paying off and fingers crossed I can carry this (form) into the final weeks of the year and into the next match.” Broady hopes.
Elsewhere at the tournament, eighth seed Jan-Lennard Struff edged his way past Borna Coric 3-6, 6-2, 6-4. The German hit 11 aces and saved four out of the six break points he faced to reach his fourth tour quarter-final of the season. 27-year-old Stuff is yet to win an ATP title.
Struff will next play Italy’s Thomas Fabbiano, who defeated Daniil Medvedev 7-6(4), 7-5.
