Wimbledon 2023: Casper Ruud dumped out by Britain's Liam Broady in major shock as Katie Boulter wins
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Updated 06/07/2023 at 16:34 GMT
It was a day to remember for the Centre Court crowd on Thursday as they witnessed the biggest win of Liam Broady's career. The British wild card stunned fourth seed Casper Ruud with a five-set triumph that sent him into the third round to face Denis Shapovalov. Katie Boulter also won, beating Viktoriya Tomova in three, but Jan Choinski lost out to Hubert Hurkacz.
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British wild card Liam Broady earned the biggest win of his career by stunning fourth seed Casper Ruud in a five-set epic to reach the third round at Wimbledon.
Broady, ranked 142 in the world, triumphed 6-4 3-6 4-6 6-3 6-0 in a three-and-a-half hour classic on Centre Court to the delight of a packed crowd.
“When I went to bed last night I was having a think about what I would say if I won the match…and I don’t really know what to say now,” a beaming Broady said after the match.
“It’s a terrifying, exhilarating experience coming out onto Centre Court at Wimbledon. It’s been my dream since I was five years old.”
It marked the first major shock of the men’s singles draw, as the No. 4 seed became the first top 10 player to crash out at SW19 this year.
Up next for the 29-year-old is a third-round tie against No. 26 seed Denis Shapovalov.
“Denis is a mercurial talent, he’s one of the best players in the world, as Casper is.
“He’s won junior Wimbledon here, I think he’s made the quarter-finals [in fact the semi-finals in 2021], he’s an amazing player. but with a crowd like this, why not have a go again?”
Things started ominously for the home favourite when Ruud took an early break to go 3-1 up in the first, but the Brit managed to break straight back.
Broady then doubled up with a second break as the fourth seed showed his first signs of weakness, and served out the opener in style with a forehand winner zipping down the line.
Ruud appeared ill-prepared for the grass-court major, having not competed at any preparatory tournaments on the surface or indeed any event at all since Roland-Garros.
But the Norwegian took an early break in the second and showed impressive composure to see off spirited resistance from Broady to serve out.
The momentum appeared to have shifted in the third when Broady double-faulted to give up a break and go 5-4 down before squandering two break-back points as Ruud edged two sets to one in front.
But the Stockport native came storming back in the fourth, taking an early break to race 3-0 in front and maintaining his advantage to take the set in 34 minutes and set up a decider.
After taking a moment to get his wrist taped up, the left-handed Broady gave the London crowd even more reason to cheer as he left them almost in disbelief by breaking Ruud in three consecutive games to leave him needing to serve out a deciding bagel set.
He only needed one match point, firing a forehand into the corner to put the Centre Court crowd on their feet in admiration at his stunning underdog success.
Broady said: “I said to my mum this morning – she doesn’t really like watching – that I’ve already won £80,000 this week, so you can chill out a bit!”
There was more good news for home fans at SW19 in the women’s draw, as British No. 1 Katie Boulter overcame Viktoriya Tomova to reach the third round at Wimbledon for a second consecutive year.
The Nottingham champion claimed a 6-0 3-6 6-3 victory and could be up against defending champion Elena Rybakina next.
Boulter got off to a storming start, racing to a first-set bagel to take full control of the contest.
But her Bulgarian opponent fired back in the second to set up a decider, which the Brit took in style.
Serving for the match at 5-3, Boulter won a thrilling all-court exchange while 15-30 down to avoid double break point.
She then landed an ace to set up her first match point, although she needed three before finally making it stick with a thunderous forehand winner.
"It definitely wasn't easy out there, but I kept backing myself and telling myself to go for it. It paid off," said Boulter.
"She is a top player and I expected her to come back with an even better game. She definitely did and made me play more balls. I tried to be as aggressive as possible and managed to do that at the start of the third set."
There was one British casualty earlier on Thursday, though, as Jan Choinski was knocked out by 17th seed Hubert Hurkacz in straight sets.
A clinical performance from the Pole earned him a 6-4 6-4 7-6(3) victory, but he was made to work hard to make it a three-set match as he saved three set points to force the ultimately decisive tie-break.
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Stream daily highlights from Wimbledon at 10pm UK time, as well as the two singles finals live on July 15 and 16, on discovery+, the Eurosport app and at eurosport.com
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