Her brother may have been the Broady on everyone's lips last month, but with a performance such as the one she produced in the opening round of the Washington Open, Naomi Broady will soon be the most talked about sibling. The British number three produced a stunning performance off of the back of fighting through qualifying to defeat Jarmila Gajdosova 3-6 7-5 7-6(6).
Broady fights back from opening set loss
Playing against the world number 78, Naomi Broady had to call on all of her power as she upset the apple cart in beating an opponent who had beaten her in their only other encounter in 2010. Broady has come a long way since then, recovering from a fallout with the Lawn Tennis Association and her performance in the American capital was an example of that.
However, all did not go to plan, with a nervous Broady stumbling through a first set against her vastly more experienced opponent, as she gifted the Aussie three break point opportunites and played altogether poorly. Gjadosova made the most of her opportunites, and comfortably saw out the first set 6-3 and it seemed Broady's run was on the cusp of ending.
But, she appears to be made of far sterner stuff and the Brit wrestled her way back into the match as she began to play much more freely in the second set, hitting 9 aces to her opponent's solitary effort. Broady had been unfortunate to lose at Wimbledon this year, and in her maiden Washington appearance, she seemed determined to prove herself.
With a break as the game remained finely poised, Broady sealed the second set 7-5 and suddenly looked the clear favourite to seal the contest.
The third set would prove equally as close, with neither player giving the other an inch, but Broady continually had the upper hand as she fought her way to two break points, which were ultimately saved by her opponent. But Gjadosova's luck eventally ran out, as she was defeated in the tie break by 6-8 and left Broady visbily delighted to have sealed her first ever victory in the main draw at Washington.
She took to social media shortly after the match to express her delight and she now remains the sole Brit in the WTA half of the Washington draw, after Heather Watson's opening round defeat. 'And of course even out here in Washington the spectators and fellow players who came out to support me [❤️] means a lot. Thanks everyone' Broady tweeted after the match. She will now face the daunting prospect of playing against number one seed Ekaterina Makarova who was victorious earlier in the day.