Aussie fans barracking for Nick Kyrgios last night were “absolutely awful” with their sledges according to Briton Liam Broady.
The former world No.13 cruised to a 6-4 6-4 6-3 victory over Broady at John Cain Arena, and it appears the loss will have lasting impact on the British player.
The home crowd went out of its way to make life hard for Broady, booing the player at will as he at times laughed to himself during the match about the high-octane response from the crowd. However, during his post-match press conference, Broady conceded the crowd was “very, very difficult” to deal with.
READ MORE: Manly star Martin Taupau addresses ‘garbage’ rumours
READ MORE: Khawaja thanks Cummins, teammates for Ashes gesture
READ MORE: Novak Djokovic faces major ‘consequences’ in GOAT race
“I mean, everyone is telling me (before the match), 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.
“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.
https://twitter.com/josemorgado/status/1483405972823543810?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
“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 tennis. 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 was asked if he could repeat any of the sledges he copped during the match, he laughed and said”
“Not much of it, no. I was pretty surprised at it, to be honest.
“But at the end of the day, as tennis players we’re entertainers, and as long as the crowd are enjoying it I think we’re doing our job. So I try not to let it, obviously it’s got to be water off a duck’s back. You’re focused on trying to win the match. But it was definitely a different experience.
“I suppose the Battle of the Brits team event we played a few years ago was pretty similar, so I had a little bit of experience on how to handle it because I remember at that event at first I would spend time interacting with the guys sledging me and you would end up losing focus on the match, which was a good thing because at the start of the match today people were sledging you and your instant reaction is to sledge them back, but you end up losing focus on the match and it’s worse, so you just got to try and block it out and just get on with the match.”
He added: “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?
“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.
“Well, it wasn’t me that used it (the word disrespect). Someone said to me, are you ready for the disrespect out there? Because sometimes he makes you feel stupid with the shots he hits, with the underarm serves through the legs and the little lobs and the dinks and then the big hits, and sometimes you feel like a bit of a club player out there. That’s what he does.
“Again, that’s one ever his biggest weapons. I don’t think you would ever, I think if you told Nick to stop all of that showmanship and all the stuff that he does it would take away a big strength of his game. So, I mean, yeah, I am all for it, to be honest, even when it’s against me.”
For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here!