Week 39 - Challenger ($50,000) - Napa, USA (Hard)

steven · Tennis legend

RE: Week 39 - Challenger ($50,000) - Napa, USA (Hard)

Bob in Spain · Tennis legend

My **** internet went down at 4-4 in the 1st. So I missed all the fun. By the time I was back on line, Liam had won. At least that has cheered me up after the earlier results.

indiana · Tennis legend

Liam Broady, up to challenger and still on a roll !

Bob in Spain · Tennis legend

Not much consolation for Kyle but I did hear Mike C say that Fratangelo is now on an 11 match win streak.

Spectator · All-time great

Mr Edmund will doubtless rebound - and what a win for Mr Broady. Well done.

DF · Tennis legend

Well done, Liam. First decisive win in Challengers showing how he means to go on!

Priesty · Challenger level

Considering Ginepri defeated Thiem only a month or two ago that is well impressive, and like BiS it's cheered me up after Kyle's defeat.

stevemcqueen · Futures qualifying

I didn't see Liam's match, so can't comment other than to say what a great victory!

Kyle was cruising to the win when he fell serving at 4-2, 30-15. The fall was out of view, but the yelp of pain and obvious concern of Fratangelo and the umpire were worrying. He did get back up, but his concentration had been spoilt. Perhaps he should have taken an MTO to his mind back together. The next point he hit a very weak fh half way up the net and at bp down he hit a DF to go back on serve. The other moment that stays in my mind is when Kyle served at 5-4 in the tiebreaker. He attacked a short, high bouncing ball with an inside out forehand but found the tape. His shot selection was correct, he just missed. So the score was 5-5 instead of 6-4. Kyle did have an MP but it is on Frat's serve and he saved it and went on to win the tb. In the final set, Frat played better, and Kyle threw in some errors.

I enjoyed the match, and Kyle will be back....

The Dark Knight · Improver

Well done Liam! Despite all the recent changes for you and other NTC based players you came through in style. Perhaps Mr Edmund should be placed under the same conditions as the other players (no individual coach, paying for trips, etc.). Putting all your eggs in one basket can be very foolish!

indiana · Tennis legend

I may be a bit unsure about Greg as Kyle's coach, but having such an individual coach ( although Greg as we know is far from full time with Kyle and doesn't travel with him all of the time ) seems right to me. The guy is still just 19 and an obvious real talent. While the particular support he gets and such as his WCs are topics of discussion at times, I fully support Kyle being given a lot of assistance to try and help him be all he can be.

Re expenses and funding, I stand to be corrected as I am no expert on this, but I very much doubt Liam is paying for travel.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Saw nothing of Liam's match but a really excellent result - and seemingly, from the other comments, a very good match and high level of play. Kudos to him :)

(No real comment about Kyle apart from, as said, he did seem strangely disinterested in the third set)

wolf · Tennis legend

Coup Droit wrote:
Saw nothing of Liam's match but a really excellent result - and seemingly, from the other comments, a very good match and high level of play. Kudos to him :)

(No real comment about Kyle apart from, as said, he did seem strangely disinterested in the third set)

Liam played well. Ginepri played an absolutely shocking game serving at 4-5 and then tanked the second set.

I hadn't watched Liam since his junior Wimbledon run, but there have been comments about him having a shocking on court attidude. There was no sign of that yesterday, so it seems like he has matured out of it, good to see.

paulisi · Tennis legend

I'm pleased for Liam. He seems to have got his head down and moved up a level.

I've never seen any issues with his attitude, in fact it's the opposite. He is one that I am very impressed with on and off court.

In terms of funding, there were rumours around that his funding has been cut. This would be backed up given that his coach is responsible for four guys and not two guys as was at the start of the season.

indiana · Tennis legend

I would assume there have been issues at times in the past re attitude with Liam, because I recall a number of first hand reports.

When I saw him in the spring vs Marcus his attitude was good ( as was Marcus's ), and he in particular dealt very professionally with one call that he seemed convinced was wrong.

So often a bad attitude can harm progress, so it is great that it would seem he has matured in that regard. He's certainly getting the results at the moment.

Oakland2002 · All-time great

Both Liam and Kyle of grafted hard this year some ups some downs but at 19~20 both have made significant progress. Great win for Liam today must have really lifted his confidence. I feel kyle will settle and with no poi fs to defend I am optimistic he will be playing RG qualifiers in the spring. These two guys are obviously worth investing in, both have the potential to be earning an independent living from tennis in18 months time and are likely to be the English number 1 and 2 for a decade from that point. Congratulations again to Liam for his solid body of work on the ITF US scene all summer, not always successful on a points front but a body of work that is now beginning to bare fruit.