Sponsors and titles on agenda for finalist Broady

Broady, 17, raced into a one-set lead and was a break up in the second set on Court One on Saturday before he eventually went down 6-2 4-6 2-6 to Australia’s Luke Saville.

The Stockport-born youngster lived up to his favourite tag in the first set with a brutal display of attacking tennis, but a huge slump in confidence towards the end of the second helped Saville destroy the home hope’s dreams.

The defeat was hard to take for the youngster, particularly given that he was aiming to become the first Briton to win the boys’ title since Stanley Matthews, son of the famous England footballer of the same name, was victorious in 1962.

Matthews failed to live up to the hype that surrounded him following his win and ended up retiring at the age of 27.

Broady, who was seeded 15th among the juniors at Wimbledon, is determined his career will not follow the same path and thinks Saturday’s defeat will make him stronger.

“Obviously I’ve got mixed emotions at the moment. I was happy to get to the final and disappointed to lose, but I think it will be great motivation for me,” said Broady. “I’ll use it to come back, train harder, get fitter, get stronger, and try to win it next time instead of making finals. Because it doesn’t feel good.

“I’d love to win Wimbledon juniors next year and see where it goes. Obviously every junior in the world would love to win Wimbledon seniors.”

There only looked like one winner at the start, with Broady breaking Saville twice and surviving three break points off his own serve in the first set.

The Nottingham-based teenager soon became frustrated by his inability to hit winners on serve though, letting his anger out in several outbursts during the final two sets.

He admits he lost his way shortly after breaking his Australian opponent in the first game of the second set.

“I didn’t serve my best,” said Broady, who heads to Yorkshire for the Ilkley Tournament this week. “He upped his game and he put a few winners past me. I played a few slack points and he played better.”

One crumb of comfort for Broady is the fact that his profile has received a much-needed boost. Since 2007 Broady has not accepted any funding from the Lawn Tennis Association because of a dispute Broady’s father holds with the governing body.

Broady’s sister Naomi had her LTA funding withdrawn after the governing body took issue with pictures of her on social networking site Bebo, and her father has refused to accept funding for either of his children since.

Broady is now hoping to earn more sponsorship to ease the burden of life without LTA funding.

“Wimbledon is one of the biggest junior tournaments in the world so hopefully I’ll be able to attract a few more sponsors now,” said the 17-year-old.