Fine start for Liam Broady at Wimbledon before Milos Raonic powers his way to victory on Number 1 Court

02 July 2018

Team Bath Tennis player Liam Broady produced a fine effort against former men’s singles finalist Milos Raonic before succumbing to the giant Canadian’s power on the opening day of Wimbledon 2018.

GB Davis Cup player Broady, coached by Dave Sammel and Ian MacDonald at the University of Bath Sports Training Village, impressed in the first set on Number 1 Court as the first 11 games went with serve.

However, Raonic – who lost to Andy Murray in the 2016 final and is among the favourites for this year’s tournament – managed to break wildcard Broady in the last game of the set to take it 7-5.

He then ratcheted up the power in the second set, serving at an average speed of 132mph as he rattled off six games in 24 minutes to take full control of a match played in 38 degrees heat.

Liam Broady on Number 1 Court against Milos Raonic at Wimbledon 2018
Liam Broady on Number 1 Court against Milos Raonic at Wimbledon 2018

Raonic extended his run of unanswered games to 11 before battling Broady saved two break points on his way to winning the fourth game of the third set, much to the home crowd’s delight.

He also produced a brilliant backhand cross-court winner in the final game but Raonic wrapped up the match by slamming down his 18th ace to secure a 7-5 6-0 6-1 victory.

Broady will be back in action at SW19 later in the week in the men’s doubles – he and partner Scott Clayton, a former Team Bath player, have been drawn against Frances Tiafoe and Jackson Withrow of the United States in the first round.

After missing the French Open through injury, Team Bath’s Marcus Daniell returns to the Grand Slam circuit alongside Wesley Koolhof of the Netherlands. They will start their men’s doubles campaign against the Indian pairing of Vishnu Vardhan and N Sriram Balaji.

Anna Smith and Swiss partner Xenia Knoll have been drawn against number 11 seeds Raquel Atawo and Anna-Lena Gronefeld in their opening women’s doubles match.

Broady, Daniell and Smith are all part of the Team Bath International High-Performance Tennis Academy – click here for more information.

If you are taking to the courts this summer, here are some helpful hints on improving your game from our Team Bath Tennis coaches…

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