SURBITON/STARNBERG, June 1, 2022
On Day 3 of the LTA Surbiton Trophy the sun finally arrived and a bumper day of action ensued. In a match that was played over two days, Liam Broady eventually overcame fellow Brit and doubles partner Jay Clarke 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the opening round of the ATP Challenger Tour 125 grass-court tournament. Rain delays proved to be the making of Broady as he came out the stronger of the two on Wednesday.
“I think today I played really well, managed to find my feet on the grass. It was night and day compared to the other day,” said Broady.
“Jay makes it so tricky, he’s got really good hands, he’s a good fighter, he’s got a big serve and he makes a lot of returns when he’s playing well. The first set was really frustrating and then with the rain delays over the course of two or three days made it really difficult as well but I thought it actually benefited me to have a bit of time to recover mentally and really have a think about how I wanted to play today and I think it showed. I came out and played like a completely different player and gave myself the chance to do well this week now.”
A trio of British wild card entries also booked their spots in the second round. Ryan Peniston, the World No. 195, knocked out No. 2 seed Adrian Mannarino of France 2-6, 6-1, 6-4 and will next take on his compatriot Jack Draper, who beat local qualifier Billy Harris 6-2, 6-2.
Paul Jubb defeated Kazakh veteran Mikhail Kukushkin 6-4, 7-6(9) and will next meet Finnish qualifier Otto Virtanen, who edged out No. 9 seed Thanasi Kokkinakis of Australia 6-3, 7-6(5). Alastair Gray cruised past qualifier and fellow Brit Billy Harris 6-2, 6-2 in only 56 minutes and will play Australian Christopher O’Connell in the second round. The World No. 116 from Sydney knocked off No. 3 seed Soonwoo Kwon of South Korea 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.
“First rounds are never easy, especially when you play a qualifier who’s played a couple of matches on the grass already but I thought I played a very clean match,” said Gray.
“I served well, didn’t get broken and I think I only had one break point against me and I hit a good serve on that one. Mark is a very tricky player, he doesn’t give you any rhythm, hits very good returns and hits it very hard which on grass is very difficult obviously. But yeah I’m very happy with the way I played today.”
Surbiton Trophy Results
