> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://deep-dive-tennis.ghost.io/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Driving It Home: Broady Seals Honda Win in Ningbo Challenger - URL: https://deep-dive-tennis.ghost.io/driving-it-home-broady-seals-honda-win-in-ningbo-challenger/ - Published: 2026-10-29T11:51:25.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-29T11:51:25.000Z - Author: Jake Davies - Tags: Liam Broady, Broady, Ningbo, Challenger tennis, ATP Challenger, Naoya Honda, British tennis, Mens tennis, Tennis, Jake Delaney Britain's **Liam Broady** progressed to his first quarter-final since back in July as he came through against Japan's **Naoya Honda** 6-1, 6-7, 6-4 in the Ningbo Challenger. Broady had recently been on a nine-match losing run dating back to that last quarter-final in July, but snapped it with a solitary first round victory in Guangzhou. With that being said, I always believed Broady making the decision to play some competitive matches in Asia is a smart move to take advantage of some of the fields but also to build confidence going into a brand new tennis season. This week appears to have done just that for him. Now I will analyse the way Broady performed in this great victory over Honda and then look ahead to what will be a huge match in the quarter-final for the Brit. These Ningbo hard courts are very much extremely slow in speed and it is a big contrast to what Broady had experienced in the super fast conditions of Guangzhou the week before. But I think it suits Liam because it gives him additional time to extract errors on the back foot and I do not think it takes much away from what his game needs either. In the first set of his second round win, Broady had a lot of options to go off. Below in the first clip, Liam looks comfortable in a mid-length point, not being damaged in any capacity and then searches for a great counter-attacking backhand down the line despite being miles out of position. Liam's multitude of options came from what Honda couldn't do from his backhand groundstroke mainly. 0:00 /0:18 1× Broady hits amazing backhand down the line in first game he broke in (via ATP Challenger TV) The following point after this Liam strikes an aggressive return winner then it leads to Honda nervously double faulting on the following point to hand over the first break of serve. It kinda set the tone in terms of Liam having a stranglehold on both serve and return superiority in this set. Liam then gets into a position where he is serving for the first set and dominates the game through quick-fire points on serve. Not really something that the Brit has a reputation for, but the footage is a snapshot of how the matchup shaped up for him. Very accurate lefty serve with a lot of width creation and Honda never had any answers to it. Broady made wo aces and a couple of unreturnable serves in this game, mostly from preying on the backhand side. 0:00 /0:06 1× Great serving was a common theme from Liam all match. He remained unbroken. (Via ATP Challenger TV) The biggest change in the second set did not really come from a level collapse from Broady. The benefits from serving locations and patterns, chewing on the Honda backhand and striking a good balance between defensive and offensive tennis remained. The reason the Japanese was able to win a second set tiebreak was from spreading the court with a very good forehand and backing up the platform his serve gave him. Honda gets one poor point out of Broady (which was a loose BH error) in the breaker and then continues to combine both effectively. First video displays Honda with one of his best one-two combinations of the tiebreak and then the second is all about taking Broady coast to coast with forehand precision in both corners. 0:00 /0:07 1× Honda played a fantastic tiebreak (via ATP Challenger TV) 0:00 /0:17 1× Second example of the damage Honda was doing with FH in the breaker (via ATP Challenger TV) The biggest moment of the deciding set came in the ninth game of the set at 4-4 with Broady facing his very first break point of the whole match. The rally concludes with Honda going for broke on a rare occasion off his backhand groundstroke in a mid-length to longer rally and missing wide. Broady's fate was not in his destiny there, but then he does the admirable thing of being quite tactically flexible to get out of that tough game. In that get-out point, Broady has a central forehand to work with and then takes the plunge of transitioning forward. Broady gets an error with the pass from Honda. Exactly what he was looking for. Then Broady breaks for a very nice victory in the following game. On this match point he does a good job of utilising Honda's pace against him then it ends up allowing him to strike a very forceful forehand down the line. Honda is no more after that. 0:00 /0:18 1× Match point of Broady's win versus Honda (via ATP Challenger TV) It can be quite easy to simplify the way Broady won this through pattern play, but I felt like he served unbelievably in general. He did not look under pressure on serve at all and did what needed to be done when it came to taking advantage of a stereotypically easier lefty matchup that gave him a lot of advantages. Next up for Broady is Australia's **Jake Delaney**. Delaney may only be No.356 in the ATP rankings, but crucially he thrives on playing left-handers (28-19 career results versus lefties and 7-3 for the year in that regard) So let's see what Broady can do in the quarter-final and potentially move even closer to another Challenger win. Could it be in Asia once again? ## Sign up for Going The Distance Going beyond the scoreline, at Going The Distance we look at examining the tactical side of the sport to a greater level. We cover both the Challenger tour and ATP tour-level extensively here. Subscribe to be first to content! Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.