Liam Broady hailed the experience of partner Jonny O’Mara as the key factor in their men’s doubles victory at the LTA’s Lexus Surbiton Trophy.
Stockport’s Broady – who is supported by the LTA’s Pro Access Programme – and O’Mara have enjoyed a sensational week in West London, beating Australia’s Alexei Popyrin and Aleksandar Vukic 6-4 5-7 10-8 in a dramatic final.
The pair were 5-1 up in the second set, but their Aussie rivals showed immense spirit to stay in the match.
Broady admitted that the know-how of his partner, who also won the men’s doubles alongside Luke Bambridge in 2018, helped him keep his cool when the pressure was on.
“It feels really good, Jonny has actually won the tournament here before,” said the 29-year-old.
“He plays really good doubles, especially on the grass so he is the perfect partner for me really.
“Obviously being a singles player I need somebody to be out there to take the lead and to tell me how to play doubles basically.
“He does that as well as anybody, he is very experienced and it is my first ever challenger doubles title so I am really happy with the win here today.
“I was a little bit concerned when we lost the second set.
“If you are 5-1 up in a set of doubles and you lose the set it is always going to be a bit concerning.
“But Jonny said that those guys were a set down in two or three of their matches over the last few days and have saved six match points in one match and four in another.”
Broady and O’Mara were handed a walkover against compatriots Julian Cash and Henry Patten to reach the final.
And after an excellent tournament, Broady is targeting a successful grass-court season.
He added: “I have tried to play a little bit of extra doubles this year, heading into this tournament I was zero wins and five losses this year on the doubles court.
“So it felt good to turn that around here.
“I am planning to play with Jonny for the whole grass-court season, we will play Nottingham together and then we will have to see after that depending on wildcards and stuff.”
For the latest action on the British summer grass court season, check out the LTA website.
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