Liam Broady, the fifth-ranked player from Britain, beat Casper Ruud, the fourth-seeded player from Norway, in five sets on a crazy Centre Court. This was one of the biggest surprises at this year’s Wimbledon.
Katie Boulter, who is the best woman tennis player in Britain, also made it to the last 32. She continues to do well in the spotlight.
Broady, who is 29 years old, danced with joy after winning 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-0.
His win in the second round came soon after Boulter beat Viktoriya Tomova of Bulgaria 6-0, 3-6, and 6-3 in her match.
Hubert Hurkacz, the 17th seed from Poland, beat Jan Choinski 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3), earlier on Thursday.
Later, Andy Murray, who used to be number one in the world, will play Stefanos Tsitsipas, the fifth seed from Greece, in the final match on Centre Court.
Day 4 of Wimbledon is being covered live on TV, text, and radio.
Broady told his mother to “chill out,” and he also stays cool.
When Broady last played on Centre Court in 2016, Murray beat him in a match that Broady called a “slapping.” Murray went on to win the tournament.
The world number 142 could not have had a more different time on the famous Wimbledon show court, and he could not have won in a more different way.
In an entertaining chat after the match, Broady joked that he told his mother to “chill out” because he had already won £85,000 this week by making it to the second round.
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But the way he fought back to win a famous match — by keeping his cool and being precise — showed that he had also listened to his own advice.
Broady, a left-hander, was in trouble when he was down two sets to one against Ruud. However, he came back with grit and smarts to stun Ruud, who had been in three of the last five Grand Slam finals.
Broady broke to start the fourth set, which gave him and the home crowd new hope. He then calmly won the rest of his service games to tie the match and force a deciding set.
Ruud has lost the last two French Open finals and last year’s US Open final, but he has never figured out how to play on grass courts.
Last year, he made a famous joke that the ground was only good for golf, and Broady, who was getting more confident, made him feel even worse.
Last year, the Briton also made it to the third round at the All England Club. In the fifth set, Ruud’s body language became more negative, giving the Briton a two-break lead.
Broady won 11 points in a row, holding to love and then breaking for the third time in the set. This put him on the edge of his first career win over a top-10 opponent in front of a loud crowd.
Broady is a colorful person who often gets excited on the court. He knew that this was the time to stay focused, so he made a calm hold and finished it with a sharp forehand winner down the line.
Broady cupped his ears in celebration as 15,000 home fans cheered. When he skipped back into the middle to take in the praise on the best day of his career, he asked them to cheer even louder.
In the third round, he will play against Canadian Denis Shapovalov, who is the 26th seed.
Boulter is in charge of the British team.
Boulter, who is 26 years old, was the first house player to make it to the third round. When she took her third match point against Tomova, who is ranked 99th, she cheered and smiled with joy.
The way she celebrated showed that she was happy to be in the third round for the second year in a row and relieved to have made it through a tough service game.
Boulter is the only British woman left in the singles draw, and she could play Elena Rybakina next, who is the defending winner.
“It wasn’t easy out there, but I kept telling myself to go for it and to believe in myself. It paid off,” said Boulter, who hit 37 winners and took five of his 15 break points.
“She’s a great player, so I thought she’d come back with an even better game. She did, and she made me play balls more.
“I tried to be as aggressive as I could, and at the start of the third set, I was able to do that.”
In front of a cheering crowd on court 12, Boulter had another great day during a British grass-court season that has helped her get back into the top 100 in the world.
She is now ranked 89th and is the best hope for Britain in the women’s singles. She took over as British number one from Emma Raducanu, who isn’t there because she had surgery on her wrist and ankle.
After winning her first WTA title in Nottingham, Boulter went into Wimbledon feeling confident that she could do well again on the biggest stage of all.
She did the same as she did last year and made it to the third round.
We don’t know if Boulter can go even further, and whether she plays Rybakina or France’s Alize Cornet in the last 32, it will be a big step up in quality.
“I think I’m doing a great job. I’ve played many games on grass courts. “I’m very at ease,” Boulter said.
“I believe in myself a lot. I’ve really used it to help me win a lot of games in the last few months. I did that again for sure.”