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Wimbledon: Katie Boulter and Liam Broady fail to join Cameron Norrie and Heather Watson in the fourth round | Tennis News

Wimbledon: Katie Boulter and Liam Broady fail to join Cameron Norrie and Heather Watson in the fourth round | Tennis News

Katie Boulter and Liam Broady exit Wimbledon at the third round stage leaving Cameron Norrie and Heather Watson as the last Brits standing in the draw; British No 1 Norrie faces Tommy Paul while Watson takes on Jule Niemeier of Germany on Sunday

Last Updated: 02/07/22 5:14pm

British duo Katie Boulter and Liam Broady both exited Wimbledon at the third-round stage

British duo Katie Boulter and Liam Broady both exited Wimbledon at the third-round stage

Katie Boulter’s fine Wimbledon run ended in disappointing fashion with a one-sided defeat by Harmony Tan, while Liam Broady’s best effort at the Grand Slam ended with a straight-sets defeat following a classy display by Alex de Minaur.

Boulter produced the best result of her career by upsetting last year’s runner-up Karolina Pliskova on Thursday but was unable to get into the match against Tan, who has built on her first-round victory over Serena Williams brilliantly and is through to the last 16 at a Grand Slam for the first time.

Tan, ranked three places higher than Boulter at 115, was in control from the start and eased to a 6-1 6-1 victory in just 51 minutes.

Boulter, who has been mourning the loss of her grandmother earlier this week, might have sensed it would not be her day when, in her first service game, she broke a string and saw two Tan shots land favourably after clipping the net cord.

If the Frenchwoman had a slice of luck, though, she more than earned her superiority in the rest of the first set, serving superbly and making Boulter’s life very uncomfortable.

While the British No 3 was happily able to trade pace with the flat-hitting Pliskova, this was a very different assignment, with Tan chipping the ball back and mixing up angles and spins.

Boulter suffered a 6-1 6-1 loss in just 51 minutes to Tan, who continued her stellar Wimbledon debut to book her maiden fourth-round spot at a Grand Slam

Boulter suffered a 6-1 6-1 loss in just 51 minutes to Tan, who continued her stellar Wimbledon debut to book her maiden fourth-round spot at a Grand Slam

Boulter looked all at sea in the first two games of the second set as dreams of a first run to the second week of a Grand Slam began to rapidly fade.

There were flashes of the shots that wowed Centre Court but most of the highlights came from Tan, including a tweener on her way to breaking serve again to lead 4-1.

Two games later, the contest was over, Boulter ending a match she will want to forget with a double fault.

“No I don’t believe it yet – if I sleep a little bit, tomorrow maybe I will believe it, but it’s amazing,” Tan said on court.

“I think I like grass, I never play on this court but I like to play with slice and volley and everything with my game so I’m really happy.

“It was really emotional for the first round against Serena and after it was just playing match by match and today was really good tennis.”

Broady, the British No 5, had achieved a career-best win in round two over Diego Schwartzman to make the last 32 for the first time but ran into an in-form 19th seed De Minaur on Court One who won 6-3 6-4 7-5.

It was the second match in a row the Australian had ended the hopes of a home player after he dumped out Jack Draper on Thursday and he simply proved too efficient once again.

Two big aces in the opening service game from the 23-year-old were a sign of things to come but the Briton did try his best to trade blows after De Minaur moved 4-2 up, he soon wrapped up the set.

Broady was beaten in straight sets by an impressive Australian Alex de Minaur

Broady was beaten in straight sets by an impressive Australian Alex de Minaur

Another sumptuous lob sealed an early break in the next for the world No 27. He was looking rock-solid on his service game and the latest to love put him one set away from the last 16.

De Minaur was given the chance to serve for the match in the third but an unexpected break did go the way of the player ranked 132nd in the world.

Court One reacted with glee but any hopes of a fourth set were short-lived when the Australian immediately broke back and, at the second time of asking, did serve out – although only after a 12-minute final game.

For Broady, who is expected to drop in the rankings due to the lack of points on offer at the All England Club, he will now aim to build on this for the hard-court season.

‘What kind of question is that?’ – Venus rebukes Serena and Andy comparisons

Jamie Murray and Venus Williams were involved in an entertaining exchange with a reporter during their press-conference on Friday

Jamie Murray and Venus Williams were involved in an entertaining exchange with a reporter during their press-conference on Friday

Venus Williams engaged in an exchange with a reporter about the targets she and mixed doubles partner Jamie Murray have set at this year’s Wimbledon.

The pair spoke after their winning start following a three-set, 6-3 6-7 (3-7) 6-3, victory over Alicja Rosolska and Michael Venus on Friday.

Question: So are you guys in it to win it or is the first target just to get past the third round where Serena (Williams) and Andy (Murray) failed to reach?

Jamie Murray: We are better than them, aren’t we? We are better than them. Come on.

Venus Williams: What kind of question is that? We are in it for a stroll (sarcastic response). Come on.

Question: So are you here for the experience or are you going to go all the way?

Venus Williams: Huh?

Question: Are you here for the experience or are you going to go all the way?

Venus Williams: Are you going to write a good article or just a halfway decent one?

Question: I am going to do what I usually do.

Venus Williams: Us too.

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