British boy shows Andy Murray the way: 17-year-old wins place in tennis final
As Andy Murray prepared for his semi-final clash with Rafael Nadal today, his potential successor had already reached a Wimbledon final.
Liam Broady, 17, beat former junior number one Jason Kubler to take his place in the boys' singles final at the All England Club.
No stranger to the big stage, having won the doubles junior title last year with partner and fellow Briton Tom Farquharson, Broady will now have the chance to be the first Englishman to win the junior title since Stanley Matthews Jnr, son of the late football legend, in 1962.
If Broady succeeds, it will be without the aid of the Lawn Tennis Association - his family have refused the body's support since it dropped his sister, Naomi, 21. The British number seven, she was given a short-term funding ban in 2007 for her comments about drinking on social networking site Bebo.
In retaliation their father, Simon, decided the family would fund the pair's tennis careers, selling their home to raise the cash.
LTA chief executive Roger Draper said: "I don't like the situation at the moment with Simon, because I don't think it's that positive for the sport.
"It's always difficult but there are always parents like that around who disagree with your coaching strategy." Liam Broady, who has practised with Novak Djokovic this week and had to turn down a hitting session with reigning Wimbledon champion Nadal because it clashed with his match today, sidestepped sensitive questions about his relationship with the LTA.
He said: "I just get on with the tennis, leave all the politics behind and focus on the court."
His 6-4, 6-3 victory continued his great run at the championships, which included defeating number one seed Jiri Vesely and an epic quarter-final contest yesterday against Robin Kern which finished 13-11 in the final set. He also won at the Aegon junior international Wimbledon warm-up tournament at Roehampton.
Murray, meanwhile, called on the Centre Court crowd to help him reach the men's final. The British No 1, who is hoping to become the first Briton to lift the trophy since Fred Perry in 1936, said he needed fans' backing if he was to beat "the best player of all time".
The Scot, 24, was scheduled second on court after the semi-final between Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Djokovic, giving people a chance to see the match on television after work.
