Week 36 - Great Britain F18 ($10,000) - Sheffield (Hard)

paulisi · Tennis legend

RE: Week 36 - Great Britain F18 ($10,000) - Sheffield (Hard)

philwrig · Hall of fame

I've known Liam since just before his junior Wimby final appearance so this is a proud moment for moi as a tennis fan.
1st of many titles I suspect.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Thrilled for Liam. He comes across as a really nice, popular guy. And plays well. AND is only 19.
Well done to Rob too.

RJA · Hall of fame

paulisi wrote:
Liam seems to have got some form together at the same time Dan Evans did. Coincidence?

Both had talent they weren't producing on a regular basis until recently.

I would say that it is indeed a coincidence.

Liam's return to form occurred shortly after he stopped acting like a petulant child on court and that certainly isn't a coincidence.

Tennis36 · Masters Series Champion

well done liam, not that far off catching oli in the rankings now

korriban · Challenger level

Coup Droit wrote:
paulisi wrote:
Liam seems to have got some form together at the same time Dan Evans did. Coincidence?

Both had talent they weren't producing on a regular basis until recently.

I wouldn't really agree with the comment about Liam (definitely true re Dan).
I know he had his previous CH in 2011 and got people all excited after Junior W. but he was only a Junior. I don;t think one can expect that to translate straight away into seniors - obviously some do, and that's great, but I think the majority take a bit of time (and maybe need to grow up a bit and not expect it all to fall into their laps - see RJA's point). There was all the thing about changing coaches too - from his dad over to the LTA - that must have taken a bit of getting used to. I think getting your first win at age 19 is excellent.
I'm sure Evo's success had been a real motivation to the others (agree with other thread, Andy is out of their league, but people can relate to Evo, and the 'Wrexham-to-US-Open-in-12-months' story is just inspirational) but I also wonder if Kyle's success has been similar. Someone told me that Liam and Luke (and others?) had had their noses put out of joint slightly by Kyle (a year younger) suddenly being the new golden boy. Whether as a competitive push, or just as a sign of what can be done if you commit and believe, I think that Kyle must also have been/still be a great help. The bigger the core of good players that we have, the better - success breeds success.

-- Edited by Coup Droit on Saturday 7th of September 2013 12:02:44 PM

The fact that Kyle is simply a better tennis player than Luke or Liam at this point, and also Oli, George and the slightly older boys, and by quite a margin, is simply indisputable. Tough luck them - not Kyle's nor the LTA's problem. There is, of course, an excellent way to turn this around if the boys feel somehow left out, ignored or left behind, and that's to knuckle down, train like crazy, cut out any distractions and win lots of tennis matches. Delighted to see Liam calm down on court and also to see him start to show a few signs of delivering on the early promise he showed in Juniors. Please for him!

indiana · Tennis legend

Great to see from Liam, well done lad.

Kyle is clearly the leader of the young pack, but the two still 19 yos Oli and Liam ( just over 3 months between them ) still to my mind have real potential for a very decent senior career.

Liam has shown a real upturn in form and I'd say Oli has also picked up a bit of late. But only with a few is progress ever in a roughly linear upward direction.

I know it is a theme with some of us, but it is worth reemphasising that players mature at different rates and can still make great progression at markedly older than 19. It is far far too early to be overbothered that they may not currently have progressed as far as equivalent contemporaries of two or three years ago. Worthy of note maybe and a little concern ( more particularly as to whether they will reach the absolute top ranks ), but no more.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

"Kyle is clearly the leader of the young pack, but the two still 19 yos Oli and Liam ( just over 3 months between them ) still to my mind have real potential for a very decent senior career."

I agree. But I'd put Josh WH (also age 19) at the front of that group.

indiana · Tennis legend

Oh yes, JWH is another 19 yo making real progress. Oli and Liam were just on my mind as guys who we maybe sometimes got overconcerned about.

One could maybe debate how one would order them at this stage, but not really important.

Eamonn · Improver

I was there today. First time I have seen either player in the flesh and it was quite windy which will have affected them. Robert was 0-40 on 3 of his first 4 service games which ain't gonna win you many matches. And he made more and more unforced errors as the match went on, especially hitting long. Liam only had to play ok as the match standard went downhill from a high quality, extended first point of the match. Only 1 drop shot in the whole match with virtually no activity near the net. Hopefully Liam will move forward now but his first serves seemed like second serves to me - not an obvious threat.

Priesty · Challenger level

I think it's great if Kyle's success has put a few noses out of joint, as long as those affected respond to it in a positive way ie knuckle down and work harder as Liam seems to have done, rather than indulge in a load of jealousy-fuelled bitching as has been the case in the past. As Coup Droit says success breeds success.

Shhh · Challenger level

Eamonn wrote:
I was there today. First time I have seen either player in the flesh and it was quite windy which will have affected them. Robert was 0-40 on 3 of his first 4 service games which ain't gonna win you many matches. And he made more and more unforced errors as the match went on, especially hitting long. Liam only had to play ok as the match standard went downhill from a high quality, extended first point of the match. Only 1 drop shot in the whole match with virtually no activity near the net. Hopefully Liam will move forward now but his first serves seemed like second serves to me - not an obvious threat.

Cheers for the report Eamonn, were there many watching?

DWH · Club Coach

Here's a follow up report from the one Steven posted earlier about the final.

http://www.thestar.co.uk/sport/other-sports/tennis-rising-star-broady-wins-first-senior-singles-title-video-1-6027700

Liam says he had been injured for 8 or 9 months since US Open juniors last year, playing through the pain and not in a good head space following that.

Maybe that accounts for some of the petulance, outbursts etc. Can't be too much fun playing while you're hurting, and knowing you can probably do better.

Does anyone know what happened to him, injury wise?

paulisi · Tennis legend

shoulder and upper arm injury

Spectator · All-time great

Would certainly help to explain why he's not always played as well as people had hoped! Good to see him on an upward trajectory.

-- Edited by Spectator on Monday 9th of September 2013 09:19:51 AM