Englishman Liam Broady was warned what it would be like.
But he wasn’t fully prepared for what the “absolutely awful” experience of playing Australian showman Nick Kyrgios on the local hero’s favourite court in the world.
Broady conceded the atmosphere was “incredible” on John Cain Arena on Tuesday night. But after being sledged and booed in his 6-4 6-4 6-3 defeat, the world No. 128 walked away with an experience he doesn’t want to repeat.
“I mean, everyone is telling me, like, Oh you’ll really enjoy it. It’s going to be amazing. But I thought it was absolutely awful. I obviously wanted to go out there and win, so, I mean, losing matches in general isn’t enjoyable,” he said post-match.
“The atmosphere was incredible, but it was, it‘s the first time I’ve ever walked onto a tennis court and been booed, which was, which for me was a crazy experience. You get sledged from the sides like you can’t believe that they don’t pick up on TV.
“So it was a very, very difficult atmosphere to try and handle, and like I said, he’s incredible at getting them behind him and he plays better for it. I think that’s very rare, especially in the sport of texjmtzywnnis. Now people don’t really interact with the crowd like he does and that’s one of his biggest strengths.
“But, no, like I said, I‘m glad to have played the match and to have got the experience, and for a Brit to go and play on John Cain against Kyrgios is probably one of the tougher atmospheres in tennis to play. So it stands me in good stead for the rest of the year anyway.”
Broady said he wasn’t taking it personally either after the crowd got right behind Kyrgios creating an environment the Aussie star said was like a “zoo”.
“You know, I mean, I know what Nick’s like and I saw a few of the guys in the lockers before and they said, Are you ready for the disrespect out there?,” he said.
“I don‘t think it’s personal. If I felt like it was personal and it was malicious, then I would probably feel like he crossed the line, but as I said, I mean, our job is to entertain the people and for them to enjoy the tennis that they come to watch and he does that and full respect to him. That’s what tennis is about, I think.”
Despite the harsh environment, Broady delivered the Australian huge praise for his capacity to play at such a high level just a week after contracting Covid.
“Yeah, that‘s incredible to me. It’s amazing that, I don’t think he’s played a match since September, and then he can come out and serve at 83 per cent, 21 aces, and be hitting two first serves and, you know, maybe from the back today he might not have been feeling as good as he can do, so I’m sure there’s probably more to come from him,” he said.
“But in my opinion, Nick‘s one of, if not the most talented player in the sport. I think he had winning records against — was it Novak and Rafa? I mean, you’re not an amateur if you’ve got winning records against players like that. I mean, I think he could win, if he could get his body right, there’s no reason why he wouldn’t be at the top of the sport and winning everything. I mean, that’s how good I think he is.”
