Liam Broady revealed his unique experience playing against Nick Kyrgios in a recent interview with CLAY.
British tennis player Liam Broady recently shared his thoughts on facing Nick Kyrgios, as the two met during the 2022 Australian Open. Despite losing the match in straight sets, Broady described the encounter as "good fun" but also "stressful," primarily due to the intensity of the crowd and Kyrgios' unpredictable playing style.
Broady explained that playing against Kyrgios often feels like a practice match, with periods of relaxation interrupted by sudden bursts of focus and skill.
"It was good fun, stressful, the crowd was crazy, obviously Nick is pretty crazy in a tennis court as well. Sometimes it doesn’t feel like a tennis match to play with him, it can feel almost like a practice, because the way he plays makes you relax and then he plays really good and focuses, and then he drops again."
The Brit compared the experience to a game of cat and mouse and went on to emphasize the importance of learning to handle such an environment, particularly for players of his ranking.
"It's like playing a bit of cat & mouse. It was a fantastic experience for me, and I think it was good to face a crowd so strongly for the other player. It was great to maybe learn how to handle it and deal with it yourself. Especially to someone who is my sort of ranking. Biggest matches are in that sort of environment."
For quite some time it won't be possible for the two to meet as Kyrgios is struggling with an injury while Broady struggles to qualify for the biggest ATP events. But he will be hoping to turn that around with some home events on the grass courts.