Liam Broady's three-year feud with dad goes on despite Wimbledon victory

There will be someone missing when Liam Broady steps on court today at the All England Club to face David Goffin of Belgium for a place in the third round of the Wimbledon men’s singles.

In 2012, the 21-year-old from Stockport fell out with his father, Simon – the man who had inspired him to take up tennis and worked so hard to support his son both emotionally and financially in what is an expensive sport.

Nothing unusual about that. Lots of teenagers have disagreements with their dads.

Except that the pair have never made up.

The rift came about when Liam decided to build a few bridges with the Lawn Tennis Association.

The LTA and the Broadys had history. In 2007 the governing body of British tennis withdrew funding for Liam’s older sister, Naomi, after she was pictured on social media posing provocatively beside a condom machine.

It was a simple error of judgement in the early, naïve days of social media. A teenage prank.

She deserved a warning, but the punishment seemed disproportionate to the crime.

Dad Simon responded by going it alone with his promising son and daughter, frustrated by what he saw as the LTA’s over-reaction together with other concerns over the organisation’s coaching set-up and personnel.

“They made life so awkward for us that we simply had to cut ties with them,” Simon told M.E.N. Sport back in 2011.

“Since then we’ve existed however we can by paying for everything ourselves.

“It’s not easy but we were left with no option.”

When Liam decided to go back in with the LTA for funding and training purposes, Simon took it hard.

The pair stopped speaking. A year went by, then two, and now three. Still no communication.

Their estrangement is a sad story for the Broady family and those of us who remember