The British women's No 3 made it back-to-back victories over the sixth seed; she will take on Harmony Tan, Serena Williams' victor, in the third round; Liam Broady spent nearly four hours on court against No 12 Diego Schwartzman
Friday 1 July 2022 06:24, UK
Britain's Katie Boulter and wildcard Liam Broady have both made it into the third round of Wimbledon for the first time in their careers.
British No 3 Boulter prevailed 3-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 on Centre Court to made it back-to-back wins over the sixth seed, having beaten her more experienced opponent in Eastbourne last week.
She was able to counter Pliskova's huge serve and thrived off the home crowd to come back from a set down.
Boulter now steps into unchartered waters at the Championships and will take on Harmony Tan, Serena Williams' victor, in the third round.
Broady spent nearly four hours on No 3 Court and played in only his third fifth-set match against Diego Schwartzman. He overcame a run of 11 games against him to prevail 6-2 4-6 0-6 7-6 (8-6) 6-1.
The wildcard described it as the "biggest win" of his career and he'll take on Australian Alex De Minaur.
"I've got absolutely no words, I'm literally shaking," Boulter said after her victory. "The crowd was unbelievable, thank you so much for getting me through that."
The 25-year-old then shared that this match had fallen at an extremely difficult time for her and her family, who were watching in the Player Box on Centre Court.
"I'm going to get emotional. My gran passed away two days ago so I'd just like to dedicate that to her today," said the 25-year-old.
"I actually had a phone call from my grandpa the night before I played.
"He didn't mention anything, but he kind of gave me the inkling that it might be coming. I didn't know anything until after my first match where my mum basically pulled me aside and told me after the first match.
"It's been a tough few days for sure. I've tried to kind of get my emotions out and deal with the situation, try and keep my head on the tennis. I was lucky because my grandpa managed to come down from Leicester, so we could keep him company and keep supporting him at the same time."
This was the second year in a row playing on Centre Court for Boulter, after her narrow loss to semi-finalist Aryna Sabalenka in the second round last year.
Sabalenka's run was ended by Pliskova, who reached the final, but this season the Czech missed the Australian Open with a broken arm and has not managed to find true momentum.
Boulter started the faster of the two; she swung freely through the ball and really gave the Centre Court crowd something to cheer about.
However, Pliskova used her experience to regroup well and once she found her spots with her powerful first serve, took the opening set away from Boulter.
The British No 3's head didn't drop after the 6-3 first set against her though, and when her opponent's accuracy dropped slightly on serve, she pounced to break for a 3-1 lead.
However, twice Boulter was broken back and in the end, the second set went to a tense tie-break.
At crunch time, Boulter raised her level further and won the first four points. Pliskova mounted a response but the Brit stayed cool to take her second set point.
With the confidence of having beaten Pliskova recently, Boulter kept her opponent at arm's length throughout the final set.
She then coolly served it out and when a final volley went into the open court, Boulter beamed at the crowd and at her family after an emotional win.
Broady and Schwartzman had met at the same stage at the All England Club last year and the Argentine proved too strong for the British player.
Out on Court 3, Broady claimed the opener and looked to set out his stall against the higher-ranked player.
The second set proved to be more evenly matched and Schwartzman showed his quality with a crucial break in the 10th game to level up.
It would be another 59 minutes before Broady got back on the board, with a bagel handed out by the world No 15 in the third set.
Britain's fifth-ranked male would go 3-0 down in the fourth but showed incredible resolve to end his 11-game losing streak.
After getting the set back on serve, Broady managed to outlast Schwartzman in a number of long rallies and forced errors, which sealed a close tie-breaker.
Broady's bang of the chest signalled his intentions for the decider and there was no looking back for the home favourite, with two breaks able to seal his best result since he turned professional in 2014.
"I hung in there and it's the biggest win of my career," the 28-year-old said on-court.
"It is an amazing feeling. I thought I was coming off court having gone out in the second round for the third time but you guys were amazing.
"Sometimes I struggle to put the ball in court even though my heart is always there. With the support of everyone, there was no way I was giving up."
Broady was proud to give the tight-knit British playing group something to shout about after he stunned Schwartzman.
"I think it kind of played on my mind a little bit yesterday," the 28-year-old explained. "I saw some of the things online about Emma and Andy's results.
"At the end of the day tennis is a lottery. That's why people watch it. It's never a guarantee as to who's going to win. Those guys both came out against in-form players and sadly didn't get the job done.
"But I kind of wanted to get a little result for the British players myself to give us something to hold on to."
Harriet Dart failed to make it a British clean sweep as she lost 4-6 6-3 6-1 to the American eighth seed Jessica Pegula.
"I was obviously frustrated. I was missing so many balls, playing pretty average," Dart said. "Naturally I was getting frustrated," she said.
"I don't think beforehand I felt any different to how I have done prior to any other matches. I knew that I needed to keep my level, and I wasn't able to do that."
Jack Draper was last on No 1 Court and together with opponent Alex De Minaur, the British 20-year-old thrilled the crowd.
The two players spent a little over three hours duelling, with Draper losing out 5-7 7-6 (7-0) 6-2 6-3, however the match continued to show how promising the Brit's future is.
De Minaur is the 19th seed and he was forced by Draper to play almost faultless tennis for the final three sets. The Australian's victory marked a good day in his household, after girlfriend Boulter triumphed earlier in the day.
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