But when tennis pro and City fan Naomi Broady met Pep Guardiola earlier this year at Wimbledon, she described the City boss as having a ‘special energy’ to him.
The 34-year-old was at Club de Padel last month to promote the 2024 Davis Cup which is at the AO Arena, Manchester for a second successive year.
The city will welcome thousands of fans throughout September 10 to September 15 as they come to support Great Britain, Argentina, Finland and Canada in the Finals Group Stage.
Broady was kind enough to talk to Manchester City about what makes the Davis Cup so special, her love for City, and how she got into tennis, starting with the latter.
“I am one of four children and it’s Liam and I who play professionally, the middle two,” Broady continued.
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“Dad just used to take us as a group to a big centre called Match Point which used to be out near like Handforth. There was definitely a bit of bribery at the start to keep us motivated to play. We’d get fish and chips on a Friday if we played and maybe a milkshake on other days.
“And from there eventually became better and better. And both Liam and I have travelled the world playing tennis which has been amazing.
“I had my twins nearly two years ago now so I haven’t played since then but I’ve got into the commentary side of things so I’m still very much involved in the sport.
“And I love it, I love this side of things as well. I’ve not retired my ranking yet, everyone says I’m like a retired players but I’m not actually officially retired because I still have my maternity ranking which the WTA allow you to have until your child turns three.
“So I’ve thought about retiring it but I’m just going to leave it as long as possible because if there is an opportunity for me to come back and play again I’d absolutely love to.”
Naomi’s brother, Liam, was on the Official Man City Podcast earlier this year and spoke about his career and love for City too. But who has a bigger affinity to the Club they grew up supporting?
“I would have to say Liam to be honest,” admitted Naomi.
“He will wake up in the middle of the night if he’s in another country to check the score or watch the game where as I won’t disturb my sleep.
“I will say I probably went to more when we were at Maine Road because I was a bit older so our godparents always had season tickets so they would take us along.
“So I would say I have the longevity but I think Liam probably follows them more intensely now. But the relationship we as a family have with the Club is just amazing, it’s the City family isn’t it.
“And we’re spoilt at the moment aren’t we and I think us as fans who have been fans for so many years know how spoilt we are because we lived through the years where it wasn’t going this well and I think we know it won’t be this great for the rest of our lives either so we’re just enjoying it whilst we can.
“We’re spoilt with the football we get to watch, that we’ve got Pep. I actually met him at Wimbledon and I almost collapsed to the floor but I knew there were cameras so I didn’t, I held it together.
“They arranged for Liam to meet him and they just stood and had a conversation for like 15/20 minutes about football, tennis, Wimbledon, about City and then I just met him really quickly in passing and was like ‘that’s my brother!’ and had a quick photo with him.
“He just has a special energy about him and I think anybody that is lucky enough to meet him knows that.
“There are so many fans around the world who are fans of Pep. Not only fans of the club but football fans in general and in sport. He is the best manager in the world and he’s ours! So we’re going to enjoy him for as longas we’ve got him.”
Broady will be MC’ing (Master of Ceremonies) the Davis Cup in her hometown and, after talking about her love for tennis and football, it was clear how excited she is to see the format of the competition emulate more of a team sport like football.
“It’s marketed as the World Cup of tennis,” began Broady. “It’s the team event, it’s not only representing your country but playing alongside other athletes that you want to win as much as you want yourself to win.
“A lot of people prefer being part of a team sport but it’s something that these players, until the Davis Cup, have never known before.
“So it’s a week that players really cherish on tour actually as a week of comradery and a week of support, a lot like football.
“And they also enjoy the week as a whole not only because of the support they’re getting from the crowd but from their team-mates as well. And as you say football fans and players will relate to the Davis Cup a lot more than the individual competitions.”
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Photography: AO Arena.
