Lily Miyazaki qualifies for first ever Grand Slam at US Open in boost for Brits – but Liam Broady crashes out of qualifying at the final hurdle
Lily Miyazaki qualifies for first-ever Grand Slam at US Open as British boost – but Liam Broady crashes during qualifying at final hurdle
- Lily Miyazaki, the number 7 of Great Britain, has qualified for her first Grand Slam: the US Open
- She has steadily risen in the rankings to 199th in the world after a math degree
- However, Liam Broady lost to Sho Shimabukuro in the final round of qualifying
The British contingent at the US Open received unexpected reinforcements last night when GB number seven Lily Miyazaki qualified for a Grand Slam for the first time.
The 29-year-old from Surrey will play in the main draw after beating Slovak Viktoria Hruncakova 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 in the steamy humidity at Flushing Meadows in the third round of the preliminary rounds. She will face Margarita Betova in the first round.
Miyazaki was born in Tokyo, but her parents moved to London when she was ten, after emigrating to Switzerland at the age of five.
She steadily climbed the rankings to her current ranking of 199 after entering the game late after earning a degree in mathematics from the University of Oklahoma, where she combined college with tennis.
Lily Miyazaki qualified for her Grand Slam debut and will face Margarita Betova in the first round of the US Open (pictured in Surbiton)
Liam Broady failed to qualify after losing to Sho Shimabukuro in the final qualifying round for the US Open (pictured at Wimbledon)
Not long after she decided to focus on giving a proper tour, the pandemic hit, disrupting her progress. Her only notable previous achievement was taking French number one Caroline Garcia to a third set tiebreak in the first round at Wimbledon last year after being awarded a wildcard.
This summer she was eliminated in the second qualifying round of SW19 and has spent most of her time playing on the lower levels of the circuit.
Liam Broady, who has reached the top 100 in the world for the first time, remained bitterly disappointed after losing 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 to Japan’s Sho Shimabukuro in the final round of men’s qualifying.