Wimbledon 2016: Liam Broady hoping to get one over on Andy Murray for a second time ahead of anticipated SW19 battle
World No.235 claims he once beat top Brit in a drill as duo prepare to clash in front of expectant Centre Court crowd
LIAM BROADY has beaten Andy Murray before — just not in a proper tennis match.
But world No 235 Broady will take every piece of encouragement as he prepares to become the first Brit to play Murray at Wimbledon today.
The pair have practised together down the years and Broady claims the notoriously competitive Murray did once come a cropper in a drill which started each point with a underhand serve.
Broady said: “Andy would probably deny it but we played an ‘11 out of the hand’ once and I beat him.
“I think we played best of three and I won one of them. So I’ll see if the umpire says we can play without a serve!
“I’m going to go and compete as hard as I can, fight for every point and do myself justice — and see what I can get out of it.”
It will be Broady’s first chance to play on Centre Court where as a very young boy he watched Jamie Delgado — now Murray’s assistant coach — play Andre Agassi.
On Sunday, the Stockport-born left-hander had a quiet moment to himself in tennis’ most famous arena.
Broady revealed: “I remember being four years old and watching Jamie Delgado play Andre Agassi there up in the nosebleeds.
“So it was a bit surreal to be actually on the court and walking about. It’s not as big as I remember it being.
“I remember practising with Rafa Nadal on the Arthur Ashe at the US Open before Djokovic played Federer in the semis there and that was getting pretty full 30 minutes before their match.
“That was daunting, how big that was, it was like a colosseum with 25,000 people. I walked on to Centre and it feels much more intimate, not as intimidating.
“But I’m sure I will feel different when there are 15,000 people in there! I always play well in front of big crowds so I am excited.
“I’ve played on Court One in juniors, the finals of doubles and then the final of singles the following year. So I know what to expect.”
But Murray has much more experience of the atmosphere and the expectation.
The British No 1 said in his BBC column: “This will be my 11th Wimbledon and I would say it feels different to when I first played.
“Then there was no expectation and winning the first match was a good, positive start. Now if I don’t win the first match it’s a disaster!”
As Broady himself admitted, a disaster for Murray today would be the tennis equivalent of Stockport County, let alone Leicester City, winning the Premier League.