Tuesday 28 June 2016 16:29, UK
Andy Murray will meet a fellow Brit at Wimbledon for the first time on Tuesday. We profile his opponent, Liam Broady...
"It's a real David against Goliath, Leicester City winning the league situation, maybe even less likely."
Considering Leicester winning the league was 5000/1 (in case you had forgotten), Liam Broady does not seem to rate his chances of beating Andy Murray in the first round at Wimbledon on Tuesday.
But perhaps he is just being realistic.
After all, Murray is a Grand Slam veteran, a two-time champion with 37 tour titles to his name. Broady is ranked 235 in the world and has only played one Tour-level match since making it to the second round of Wimbledon for the first time last year.
That victory over Marinko Matosevic is the biggest of his career. It was a memorable one too.
Broady was 5-7 4-6 down against the Australian but fought back brilliantly to win in five sets and set up a meeting with David Goffin. The first set was tight, decided on a tie-break, but the No 16 seed then pulled away to win 7-6 6-1 6-1.
One of the side stories of Broady's involvement last year was his relationship with his father. The pair fell out over a dispute relating to funding from the LTA, who withdrew financial support for Broady's sister, Naomi, in 2007.
However, Broady has moved to heal the rift with his father, Simon.
He told the Evening Standard: "I stopped working with the LTA in November to try to reach out to him.
"I spoke to my dad over Christmas and we've met a couple of times since. It is better than it was. It is civil. I am not sure whether he will be watching on the court but I am sure he will be keeping a track from somewhere."
Since the second-round defeat at Wimbledon last year, Broady has largely been playing on the Challenger Tour and ITF Tour, one and two levels respectively below the top tier of men's tennis.
The 22-year-old was a wild card pick for Wimbledon but does have pedigree at SW19 as a junior. He was the junior doubles champion in 2010 and reached the final in 2011.
Broady also knows Murray well, having been a part of Britain's Davis Cup winning team last year. However, he admits he would have preferred to face any of the other 127 players in the first round.
"It must have been about a week ago I said I'd take anyone in the draw ahead of Andy. And the one player I drew was Andy," he said.
But he added: "To be able to play, hopefully on a big court, against debatably the best or second best player on grass in the world, is a once in a lifetime opportunity."
If Broady needs any extra motivation, then he might look to how Murray struggled in the opening rounds of the French Open. The world No 2 was taken to five sets by Radek Stepanek and Mathias Bourgue, both outside the top 100, before eventually prevailing.
Murray has also admitted it will be a "bit strange" to face a fellow Brit for the first time at Wimbledon.
For Broady, who has won some $46,000,000 less in career prize money than Murray, the occasion of playing on Centre Court might be stranger. But whatever the outcome, it should be one to savour for the Stockport player, and certainly one he is looking forward to.
"I always enjoy playing in front of a crowd. It brings the best out of me because I don't want to disappoint. And I am hoping it will do the same this year."
