Week 45 - Challenger ($50,000) - Knoxville, TN, USA (Hard)

TMH · Futures qualifying

RE: Week 45 - Challenger ($50,000) - Knoxville, TN, USA (Hard)

TMH · Futures qualifying

And Mannarino serves it out to seal a 6-0, 6-4 win. cry Liam actually had him on the ropes at 15-30, but let him off with a massive shank.

After that horror show of a first set Liam settled a bit and played much better in the second set. Unfortunately Mannarino was just a cut above, and exposed Liam's lack of power somewhat, but good battling from Liam nonetheless. He'll learn from this, I'm sure. And he won't come up against many better than Mannarino at this level, I guarantee it.

steven · Tennis legend

SF: (SE) Liam Broady WR 199 lost to (2) Adrian Mannarino (FRA) WR 61 (CH 49 in 2011) by 0 & 4

Jeff Stelling · Club Coach

Had to watch the match on mute as the X Factor is on. Mannarino seemed to be getting fairly aggy for no real reason towards the end. Thankfully he's pruned that awful lid he was sporting circa 2011, his current lid is far preferable.

TMH · Futures qualifying

He was just getting a bit tense I think, as Liam was putting up a bit of a fight and very nearly had him. Full credit to Liam for that.

kundalini · Specialist Reporter + Intermediate Club Player

It was interesting to watch Liam against a similar type of player but better in just about every department. Mannarino's shots seemed to have far more purpose to them. I thought Liam missed several opportunities to get to the net during the rallies when he had Mannarino on the defensive.

paulisi · Tennis legend

Mannarino hardly put a foot wrong in the first and Liam was making a lot of errors and serving poorly.

Second set was a different kettle of fish, with Liam playing well and Mannarino struggling with his first set. It's a shame Liam couldn't break as it would have been an interesting third set. That super long point at 4-3 in the second set was quality and Mannarino's ability to get balls back into court all game was terrific.

You can see why he is a top 50 player.

Another good week for Liam and a learning curve.

Nice to see Sean and Marcus supporting.

I saw Sean's doubles match and they were far too good for the opposition. Elias is very solid, if Sean serves well in the final, they would be big favourites.

Madeline · Admin:Moderator + Tennis Legend

Shame, but it was a big difference in ranking, and Liam wasn't totally outplayed. It will have given him a few things to work on - but he probably won't have time before his first match in the next tournament, which is another much higher-ranked player, dammit!

indiana · Tennis legend

Strangely ( and a bit unexpectedly ) relatively poor first set from Liam.

But good to see him not go away and really up his level back to his more recent levels in the second set and really matching Mannarino, which is pretty good going.

It''s been ( yet ) another good week. Well done, young man.

BeefyDeedz · Pro player

I suppose it's that part of the season where it's challengers or nothing for the top-80/70's. I didn't get to see the match but getting beaten by a player like that should only leave positive lessons. Players get wild cards into tour events to try to make some ground but also for the experience of facing these top-100 players. Liam got it in a Challenger SF, which must be a frustrating but ultimately positive experience.

paulisi · Tennis legend

If you look at Liam's record earlier in the season, we has come back and won from losing bagels and breadsticks several times, so he seems to re-focus well in times of need.

Oakland2002 · All-time great

Only saw the second set, and it would have been difficult to work out who was ranked 61. There were a couple of missed opportunities one missed drop shot comes to mind but Liam looked like he was really enjoying the challenge.

Bob in Spain · Tennis legend

This was Liam's own explanation of what went wrong in the 1st set.

Disappointed today. I let my desire to win get the better of me in the first set but I'm happy with my week and the lessons learnt today.

Jan · Hall of fame

Good man Liam - learn from your experiences and try again next time.

indiana · Tennis legend

That actually does make quite a lot of sense. Looking a bit agitated, as commented almost unwell, snatching at things in that first set. Again, what was impressive is how Liam brought it back together within the match and that he reckons he knows to an extent what happened and intends to learn from it.

Desire to win has of course to be there, that's a given. But it is chanelling that effectively. James for instance has done so well, but just possibly he wanted to win his final too much ?