Naomi Broady

Oakland2002 · All-time great

Naomi Broady

goldfish · Futures qualifying

Naomi splits from coach Fitzpatrick - wishing the best of luck to both in their search for new partners

www.sportinglife.com/tennis/news/article/553/10625451/naomi-broady-splits-from-coach-andrew-fitzpatrick

PaulM · Tennis legend

Surprised by that. I know it's been a bit shaky recently but Andrew is right, when you move from ITF to WTA you have to appreciate you will be winning 1, maybe on a good week 2, matches a week, for more money and the same level of points, as you were from winning 4 or 5 in an ITF.

So although her results haven't been great, I don't necessarily think her progress has stalled. She's got a big start to the year, hopefully finds someone suitable and has a great off season.

Have to say I never thought Naomi would crack the top 100, that she did is a huge testament to her drive and determination, but also to Andrew,

-- Edited by PaulM on Friday 21st of October 2016 10:09:05 AM

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Yes. Fitzy sounds a bit upset.....

I think he's worked absolute wonders with Naomi - like you, PaulM, never expected her to crack the top 100 - and thrilled to be wrong.

Best of luck to both.

PockyTastic · Futures level

To join the chorus, I am also a bit surprised by that decision, as Naomi has a lot to defend in early 2017, and their partnership seemed to be pretty decent.

I'll be interested to see who Fitzy coaches next. I'm sure there are a lot of players ranked 100-300 who'd love a boost in results as Naomi did soon after starting working with him.

indiana · Tennis legend

Hmm. On the face of it a strange one, and while I appreciate the career of a tennis player is clearly time limited, from where Naomi has come working with Fitzy and how he still believes in her to be able to move on again, I would have thought at least see how the close season and early 2017 go.

All the best to both. It will surely have gone far from unnoticed generally how Naomi improved with Fitzy.

kundalini · Specialist Reporter + Intermediate Club Player

I'm not surprised by the split though I thought it would be more a case of Fitzy's marriage and the need to spend some time with his new wife, having an impact on the time he could spend travelling and training with a player who plays 30 events per year and doesn't earn that much compared to most top 100 players. Instead it does look as though Naomi's disappointing results have driven the change.

When Fitzy became Naomi's coach she was ranked outside the top 200. She is currently 88th and even if she struggles in the early part of next year, she is still likely to be inside her pre-Fitzy career high (140 I think); so clearly the partnership worked astonishingly well overall.

The big problem with Naomi is simply the lack of consistency in any part of her game. I would imagine that's something that will take years rather than months to resolve.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Naomi states that she's going to play doubles in the 2017 US Open with Darija Jurak (her World Team Tennis partner)

Jan · Hall of fame

Just for the sake of neatness, shouldn't this one be in the Individual Players section? I can't see one there for Naomi.
(Sorry - probably making work for someone!)

edit - thank you to whoever moved it!!

-- Edited by Jan on Wednesday 2nd of August 2017 11:21:29 AM

indiana · Tennis legend

Coup Droit wrote:
Naomi states that she's going to play doubles in the 2017 US Open with Darija Jurak (her World Team Tennis partner)

Nice one. Darija is doubles WR 45 so they have a current CR 124 (45+79)

Dan13l · Improver

I would love to see Naomi getting help from someone like Tim Henman on a part time basis. I think Tim could teach her so much in a very short amount of time. Block Returns, Kick Serve, Improved Slices, Improved Defence and movement, Squash like Forehand Defence, movement to the net and volleys. All things that could take full advantage of her physique and little improvements in these areas could take her to the next level. She has done very well herself with very little help from the LTA but the potential is definitely there and I hope that she can meet her potential before she gets too old. Hopefully Naomi can get some points in the bag over the next few weeks in order to break back into the top 100. I'm hoping to see back to back titles in Mexico and Templeton

-- Edited by Dan13l on Thursday 14th of September 2017 10:58:08 AM

blob · All-time great

Dan13l wrote:
I would love to see Naomi getting help from someone like Tim Henman on a part time basis. I think Tim could teach her so much in a very short amount of time. Block Returns, Kick Serve, Improved Slices, Improved Defence and movement, Squash like Forehand Defence, movement to the net and volleys. All things that could take full advantage of her physique and little improvements in these areas could take her to the next level. She has done very well herself with very little help from the LTA but the potential is definitely there and I hope that she can meet her potential before she gets too old. Hopefully Naomi can get some points in the bag over the next few weeks in order to break back into the top 100. I'm hoping to see back to back titles in Mexico and Templeton

-- Edited by Dan13l on Thursday 14th of September 2017 10:58:08 AM

Welcome, Dan13l.

Sounds very reasonable to me. Another correspondent (kundalini) noticed in the loss to Babos in Quebec City that Naomi was consulting an unknown coach with beard - I'll call him Cobie (COach With BEard). Whether Cobie is something she arranged during WTT, is purely temporary, or a trial is also unknown. Somthing akin to your suggestion seems required for her though. Not sure Tim would be the best fit for her persoanlly, but I see the rationale in the reasoning.

Dan13l · Improver

Hi Blob biggrin

Thank you for acknowledging my first post on the forum

I understand exactly what you mean about the fit between Broady Henman regards personalities. I think that it was Henmans style that was a fit for me. Naomi return is sometimes extraordinary but most of the time its less than average. An effective block return has been used by the likes of Federer and Rafter not only Henman and could really benefit her game. Not that I would want her to only use the block return but sometimes a serve is too big/heavy/wide to go for a big return. I remember Naomi's match against Radwanska at the 16 US Open and she played a great match and was nearly there. If she played like that every match every week she could be top 50 easily but that was her at her best. This year she hasn't looked anywhere near that form and a coach and structure needs to come in. I do hope that Cobie is someone if a permanent fixture that can develop at least some of the areas I mentioned in my initial post.

kundalini · Specialist Reporter + Intermediate Club Player

Naomi's WTA profile lists Jerome Adamec as her coach. Neither his twitter nor his website are up to date but Naomi gets a brief mention on both. Not sure if he is the person I saw on court in Quebec.

Naomi's attacking game has the required weapons but not the consistency. It would help if she could land the wide serve more often. Personally I'm not convinced that consistently adopting a medium paced, deep, body serve is the right choice for her 2nd serve. I'd rather see her use some faster serves though perhaps not going right for the lines, accepting more dfs as the price paid.

Her return game needs a rethink as it doesn't put enough pressure on her opponents. There are 2 problems with her blocked first serve return. One is not getting it in court often enough. The other is that her movement and defensive skills, especially her inability to deal with anything that lands deep, means that her opponent can win a high percentage of first serve points without taking many risks.

In 2016 her performances against Sloane Stephens and Ag Radwanska suggested top 50 might be possible but I haven't seen anything this year even remotely close to that level.

Dan13l · Improver

Has anyone got any news with regards Naomi's absence from Surbiton and now Ilkley/Birmingham? I am assuming that her lack of form meant that Boulter got her Wild Card for Birmingham and of course she was still involved in Doubles at Manchester so couldn't play qualifying. I have just checked the Ilkley draw and no signs of her in singles or doubles. I couldn't imagine the LTA would pic Lumsden for a Wild Card and leave Naomi out completely.