Tennis: New British No 3 Liam Broady hits new heights in world rankings

Liam Broady has spoken of his satisfaction after breaking into the world’s top 200 for the first time and becoming the new British No 3.

The 20-year-old, who was runner-up in Wimbledon juniors in 2011, reached his first final at the second-tier Challenger level in Charlottesville on Sunday evening but lost a close match to Australia's James Duckworth.

Stockport's Broady, who is now ranked behind only Andy Murray and James Ward in Britain, won the first set but 22-year-old Duckworth rallied to win 5-7 6-3 6-2.

It has been a swift rise for Broady, whose ranking has climbed almost 200 places in four months to a high of 199.

He has won three titles on the third-tier Futures tour and has carried that form onto the tough Challenger circuit.

Aiming high

Broady said: "At the start of the year I couldn't imagine myself being here but I expected myself to be here, and then over the summer my tennis has progressed massively in certain areas and I do feel I deserve to be here now and even higher.

At the start of the year I couldn't imagine myself being here but I expected myself to be here, and then over the summer my tennis has progressed massively in certain areas and I do feel I deserve to be here now and even higher.

"You realise everyone's human and everyone's got their weaknesses. It's having the confidence to know that you can compete with these players.

"And not just get close to them but actually beat them, because there's a big difference. That was a big mental barrier for me to overcome.

"About 15 months ago I was ranked 800-900 in the world. I'd been 600 and I'd made the finals of junior slams, and I felt like I was going backwards.

"I was very young but I expected a lot of myself. There are times when you think, 'What am I doing? Is this actually worth it?'

"I guess the measure of someone is how you deal with adversity. It's easy to play well and be positive when things are going great but it reveals your character when you are still working just as hard but nothing's going your way.

"That's something I've really tried to incorporate in my life."

Broady will aim to continue his upward momentum at this week's Challenger tournament in Knoxville, Tennessee.