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, British No 7, has qualified for her first Grand Slam – the US Open
- She has steadily climbed the rankings to 199th in the world after a maths degree
- However, Liam Broady lost in the final qualifying round to Sho Shimabukuro
The British contingent at the US Open found itself unexpectedly bolstered last night when GB number seven Lily Miyazaki qualified for a Grand Slam for the first time.
The 29 year-old based in Surrey will play in the main draw after overcoming Slovakia’s Viktoria Hruncakova 6-3 4-6 6-3 in steaming humidity at Flushing Meadows in the third round of the preliminaries. She will face Margarita Betova in the first round proper.
Miyazaki was born in Tokyo but her parents moved to London when she was ten, having emigrated to Switzerland when she was five.
She has steadily climbed the rankings to her current position of 199 after making a late entry into the game following the completion of a degree in mathematics at the University of Oklahoma, where she combined studying with tennis.
Lily Miyazaki qualified for her debut Grand Slam and will face Margarita Betova in the first round of the US Open (pictured at Surbiton)
Liam Broady did not qualify after losing to Sho Shimabukuro in the final qualifying round for the US Open (pictured at Wimbledon)
Not long after deciding to concentrate on giving the tour a proper go the pandemic hit, disrupting her progress. Her only notable prior performance was taking French number one Caroline Garcia to a third set tiebreak in the first round at Wimbledon last year after being given a wildcard.
This summer she was knocked out of the second round of qualifying at SW19, and has spent most of her time playing on the lower tiers of the circuit.
Liam Broady, who has been closing in on reaching the world’s top 100 for the first time, was left bitterly disappointed after losing 6-4 3-6 6-3 to Japan’s Sho Shimabukuro in the final round of the men’s qualifying.
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