BOULTER DEFEATS PLISKOVA IN ‘DREAM’ VICTORY, BROADY ENJOYS SHOCKING COMEBACK WIN.
It was a busy day for the Brits at Wimbledon, with Liam Broady, Katie Boulter, and Harriet Dart all in action across the courts on Thursday afternoon. Boulter knocked 2021 finalist Karolina Pliskova out in a huge upset on Centre Court to reach her first Grand Slam third round, Broady fought back to beat world No.15 Diego Schwartzman, and Dart lost out to Jessica Pegula.
Katie Boulter managed to eliminate last year’s Wimbledon runner-up and sixth seed Karolina Pliskova in a career-best win to book her place in the third round.
She won 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-4 on Centre Court to reach the third round in a Grand Slam for the first time in her career.
In a tearful on-court interview, Boulter described the win as “a dream come true”.
“I have absolutely no words right now, I’m literally shaking,” she said.
“The crowd was unbelievable, so thank you so much for getting me through that.
“Oh god, I’m really getting emotional! My Gran passed away two days ago, and I’d just like to dedicate that to her today.”
The victory sees Boulter – world No. 118 – play in her first third round match at a Grand Slam on Saturday.
“Honestly, it’s a dream come true for me.
“I’ve got hopefully many more matches to play, and if I can have you guys [the crowd] behind me for those, then hopefully I can go a long way, so thank you so much.”
There was a huge turnaround for Liam Broady who also reached his first Grand Slam third round with a stunning 6-2 4-6 0-6 7-6(6) 6-1 comeback win over 12th seed Diego Schwartzman.
The wildcard entry impressed in the opening set to take the lead, but Schwartzman’s quality proved decisive in the second to rule out the early set he conceded.
Schwartzman managed to pull the match level, before blowing the Brit away in the third set winning all six games without reply.
The world No.15 stretched his game-winning streak to 11 and looked to be cruising towards victory, but after a handful of errors gave Broady a sniff of redemption, the Brit fought back to win a tie-break in the fourth set 7-6 to level the match once more.
Broady completed the comeback and snatched the fifth and final set after just under four hours’ play to book his place in the third round, where he will either face fellow Brit Jack Draper or Alex de Minaur on Saturday.
After almost walking off the court and forgetting his post-match interview duties, Broady eventually called the match “incredible”, and thanked the fans for sticking with him.
“It was easy, wasn’t it? It’s an amazing feeling,” he said.
“I mean, I thought I was coming off court having gone down in the second round for the third time – you guys (to the crowd) were amazing out here today, it was incredible, so thank you.”
Schwartzman won 11 games in a row at one point during the match, and Broady revealed a tactical switch helped him to spark a comeback.
“I actually changed the tactics out there a little bit – I started to try and play really heavily into his forehand a little bit more. I mean, he was dominating with his backhand, he’s done that against Rafa [Nadal] on the clay, so he can do that against Liam Broady. (laughs)
“So yeah, quick change of the tactics, and like I said, sometimes I struggle a bit to put the ball in the court, but my heart’s always there, and with everyone out here today, it was incredible and there was no way of giving up.”
Harriet Dart was another Brit in action, she lost 6-4, 3-6, 1-6 to Jessica Pegula as her Wimbledon campaign came to an end.
The 25-year-old started well and won the opening set, but the class of Pegula came to fruition as Dart struggled to contain one of the tour’s stronger players.
