Naomi Broady bowed out at the second round stage of Birmingham to Petra Kvitova, but she received some great news that softened the blow of defeat as she learned she would be granted a Wild Card for the Main Draw of Wimbledon this year.
For someone like Broady it is a massive boost at this stage in her career. She’s now currently outside the Top 100 and when a player has not been notching match-wins at the highest level it can hinder any player financially over a long period of time. Broady reacted to her Wimbledon Wild Card and was extremely grateful
“Yeah, although I was hoping to get one, the highest ranked singles player in the draw that isn’t off ranking, you really can never be sure. You don’t know what’s going to happen, you can’t take it for granted that you are going to get one. I’m so just so grateful that I have one.”
Broady also revealed the big impact that the additional prize money of competing in the first round of a Grand Slam Main Draw can have on her career, not just from a financial aspect, but also the fact that she can spread her wings and become more ambitious with that funding.
“A few years ago the Wild Card funded me to employ my coach and that took me into the Top 100, so they really do make such a big difference. I think people don’t realise that we play from our prize money and for someone like me who doesn’t get funding, a wildcard enabled me to hire a coach and I hope to do the same again with my prize money from this year and I’m not too far off being back inside the Top 100 now anyway, but hopefully the money from Wimbledon will enable me to hire a coach now and I’ll be able to get back inside.”
Broady also assessed how she played against two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova in a one-sided defeat. The Brit took some serious positives and recognised just how well Kvitova played on the day and her attributes as one of the game’s great grass court players.
“Petra’s obviously one of the best grass court players. She’s won Wimbledon twice so I knew it was going to be a really tough match today. It’s not necessarily her power that is so difficult, it’s just her placement of the ball, you know any short ball, any slightly softer ball that I hit she just nails into the corner.”
Broady also said she’s going to learn from the performance of Kvitova to help her own game on the grass in the coming weeks. The Brit may have lost heavily today, but the future looks bright for the World No. 111 and who knows, a good performance at Wimbledon could put her back inside the Top 100 once again, which is a goal she has set for herself this season.
