Nick Kyrgios made Liam Broady feel ‘stupid’ in Australian Open loss – ‘It was awful’ | Tennis | Sport

Liam Broady admitted Nick Kyrgios made him feel “stupid” with his trick shots at the Australian Open – but insisted he didn’t take it personally. The Aussie conjured an underarm between-the-legs serve in his first service game on his way to a flamboyant 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 win over the British No 4.

Kyrgios then dropped the F-bomb in his courtside interview live on TV before taking a swig from a fan’s beer on his way off the raucous John Cain Arena.

It was a baptism of fire for Stockport qualifier Broady in his first main draw match at Melbourne Park.

The left-hander, who wore rainbow laces in support of the LGBTQ community, said: “Everyone was telling me: ‘Oh you’ll really enjoy it. It’s going to be amazing’. But I thought it was absolutely awful.

“The atmosphere was incredible but it was the first time I’ve ever walked onto a tennis court and been booed which for me was a crazy experience.

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“You get sledged from the sides like you can’t believe that they don’t pick up on TV.

“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?’

“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.

“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 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.

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