A chat with Naomi Broady

Naomi Broady knows a thing or two about tennis. The former player turned broadcaster has been a wildcard at Wimbledon as well as reaching two mixed doubles quarter finals at the competition, and after retiring took up a spot as a pundit on the BBC's coverage of the championships. Apparently her brother Liam isn't bad with a racquet either. 

With the AO Arena once again hosting one of the group stages of the Davis Cup, and Naomi again taking on the role of MC for proceedings, she chatted to David Adamson about what it means to have the competition in her home city. 

DAVID (D): So Naomi, how does it feel to be back working at the Davis Cup, obviously in your home city? 

NAOMI (N): Amazing. I was really privileged to be asked to do it last year because I'd never MC'd an event before. Talk about throwing you in the deep end; doing it at the AO arena, it literally couldn't be at a bigger stage, so I was really nervous, but it was amazing. I know a lot of the players personally so it was just so much fun. The crowd was brilliant and noisy, which is exactly how you want them at the Davis Cup; you want them to make noise. The players always say their favourite crowds are the noisiest and rowdiest ones. 

So to be asked back was almost more flattering than it was first time round because it means that I didn't do it completely wrong, right? It's so exciting, and you can't talk to me for five minutes without me telling you that I'm from Stockport, so the fact that we get to do it here in Manchester just makes it even more special.

D: You wouldn't necessarily associate Manchester with tennis, but now of course with the Davis Cup back again it seems like it's building a bit more of a reputation.

N: It's funny because people forget that Fred Perry's from Stockport, and when Andy Murray won Wimbledon after a 70-odd year wait, the last British man that won it was Fred, which of course we knew. 

There also used to be a tournament at The Northern in Didsbury called The Manchester Open that's come and gone. It used to be pre-Wimbledon and had the likes of Billie Jean King and John McEnroe and all these amazing players in the history of our sport playing there. So if I ever see them now I always say 'Do you remember when you came to Manchester and played the tournament at The Northern?' It got moved to a challenger event called the Aegon Manchester Trophy, and Dustin Brown won it [in 2016]. I was taking him out for food every night as his unofficial tour guide, and by the end of the tournament he was saying 'I think I'm going to look for apartments to rent and see how much it would cost to live here'. He couldn't have loved the city more. 

Manchester is, as we know, one of the friendliest places that you can be. We just welcome everybody. We're so proud of our city and to welcome the world's best in this sport back again this year is fantastic - three different countries from the ones that we had last year.; Team Canada, Team Argentina and Team Finland, taking on Great Britain and of course each other.

I can't wait to welcome them to the city and be their unofficial tour guide as well, and I'll have to let them know through you guys where to go and eat! 

D: Absolutely, send them our way.

N: Finnish restaurants might be harder to find but Argentinian should be covered easily and we can find a bit of poutine somewhere.

D: So when you're stood on the court in the arena and look around at the seats, what's that experience like? 

N: Well like most people I've been going to the M.E.N (as it was then) since I was a kid - I think my first concert was Five - so to be on the other side of that was a bit weird actually, but very cool. 

It was amazing. As I said, it's such a different crowd for the Davis Cup. I think if you've never been to a tennis event before, the Davis Cup is the one to go to get into it. Last year it went on late into the evening, so even if you finished work you can pop along. The tickets are so cheap as well, from five pounds for children and 10 pounds for adults. So if you check your phone and the matches are still going on and it's a team that you really want to come and watch then you can. 

The crowd creates the special atmosphere that the Davis Cup brings, and that's why it's so exciting that we can have it at an arena like the AO. 

D: You mention the ticket prices; it's great that should you decide one afternoon that you fancy watching some tennis you'll pay a reasonable price for it, because quite a lot of live sport now is prohibitively expensive. 

N: These are some of the best players in the world. They'll all be at the Grand Slams. They're all in New York right now playing at the US Open, and then they'll be flying direct back to Manchester to get ready for this event. So they literally are the best players in the world, and you can go and watch them after work with your mates for 10 pounds; it's just an incredible opportunity. And whether you're really into tennis or not, you'll just be gobsmacked at how hard they hit the ball, how noisy the crowd is and how lively a day it is. 

D: Yeah, because I guess Wimbledon can be seen as a little bit genteel sometimes. 

N: I remember my friends, who don't know anything about tennis, when they first came to Wimbledon to watch me and my brother they asked if they had to wear a white cardigan. I said, 'No, it's the players that have to wear the white, you can actually wear whatever you want', but that's just the sort of stigma around tennis sometimes in the UK, that's how people think of it; it's very upper class and quite restricted and not always accessible. And that's what's so great about the Davis Cup is that they've worked with the city to make sure it's about making it open to absolutely everybody.

D: So you're emceeing again, is this part of a new stage in your career? Of course you've been on the Wimbledon pundits panel as well. 

N: Yeah I got into commentary when I had the twins, and they'll be two in December,  so I've been doing it for a little bit now. But it was my first time ever emceeing last year and it's such a great opportunity to be asked to do it again, and they wanted a Mancunian, so I win by default. I'm the only Manc ex-tennis player in the media and it's just an amazing opportunity for me to take a step and do something that I'd like to do in the future and gain that experience. It's proper 'thrown in the deep end' stuff doing it at the AO Arena, I could maybe have started on a slightly smaller scale, but I just love it. 

D: And then hopefully in a few years time there'll be more Manc tennis stars.

N: Yeah, exactly. Do you know what? I don't doubt that having the Davis Cup in our city will massively inspire the next generation. 

AO Arena will be hosting the Group D stages of The Davis Cup from 10 to 15 September.

Tickets for the Davis Cup start from £5 for under 18s and £10 for adults and are available via the LTA's website 

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