There is nothing a Wimbledon crowd appreciates more than a truly dogged defeat. You suspect that Liam Broady has carved his place in SW19’s heart with his performance against Alex de Minaur. The scorecard may say that the Australian took only three sets to beat him, but it felt like a lot more.
Broady’s determined spirit shone brightly to the very end. He did not win his first break of serve until 5-4 in the final set, when De Minaur was looking to serve out for victory. And yet he almost took the set to a tie-break in a never-say-die final game so thrilling that spectators didn’t just stop counting the deuces, they practically stopped breathing.
