Meet Charles Broom: From Ivy League biochemistry to the United Cup spotlight

At the 2024 edition of The Championships, Charles Broom stood on No. 2 Court in front of the Wimbledon crowd trying not to think too much about the magnitude of the moment.

The No. 248 player in the PIF ATP Rankings, the Briton had never won a tour-level match. Yet there he was, competing in the main draw of one of the most famous sporting events in the world, with three-time major champion Stan Wawrinka across the net.

“I had some set points in the second set, and I was gutted that I didn't take the second. But I think on his set point he hit a good serve, I hit a return, and he just stepped in and crunched a backhand winner,” Broom told ATPTour.com. “I was like, ‘I've seen that one a few times’. It was amazing to play him. And even Magnus [Norman], his coach, came up to me later in the locker room and said, ‘You played great. You’ve had a great year, you've got a great game. Keep going’.

“It wasn't probably until I shook hands, I was like, ‘Wow, okay. I did do that. I played Stan at a Grand Slam. That's cool’.”

Let the good times roll. Broom is continuing to break new ground to begin his 2025 season as a member of Great Britain’s United Cup team. The 26-year-old played a pivotal role in his country’s event-opening victory against Argentina, partnering Katie Boulter in the mixed doubles. He could prove an x-factor again on Wednesday evening against home side Australia.

“[I like] the atmosphere. I love having the team benches as well. When you're going there, in the change of ends or end of set, you’ve got the coaching there, all the guys supporting, all the team supporting. It's great. It’s unique, that's for sure,” Broom said of the United Cup, where he is debuting. “There's nothing else that compares to it even when I played mixed doubles at Wimbledon.

“I love that, but it was still very much that you're on your own, can't have coaching, That is just a bit different… I feel the United Cup has been eye opening, for sure. And I've loved it.”

^{Photo: Peter Staples/ATP Tour}
Broom’s journey to the global stage is uncommon. In some respects, the Briton was like many kids who love tennis. At two years old, he began playing the sport with his mom, hitting against the wall at a local club. The venue used to host a tournament and Broom played in three different age groups — the Under-10s, 12s and 14s, losing in all of them.

Then six years old, the result was insignificant. Broom enjoyed playing, setting him towards his tennis future. The Briton also played a lot of football, cricket and rugby, and it was not until he was 10 that tennis became more of a focus.

For the most part, Broom remained in school and was more focussed on his education than tennis. Getting to university was a big emphasis, and he did that by attending Dartmouth College, an Ivy League institution where Roger Federer recently delivered a viral commencement speech.

There are plenty of college tennis players who have enjoyed success on the ATP Tour, from Kevin Anderson, John Isner and Steve Johnson to current stars Cameron Norrie and Ben Shelton. But improving as a player while studying at an Ivy League school is no simple task.

Broom majored in biochemistry at Dartmouth and later studied sports pedagogy when he spent two years at Baylor University.

“That was what I was good at: biology, chemistry and maths. I was like, ‘Okay, I'll just keep going with that’. I didn't really want to explore. A lot of my teammates were in economics and a few different areas. I could have followed. But I was like, ‘No, you know what? I'm just going to stick to it’,” Broom said. “It was a lot of lab time and time spent in the library. I wouldn't have changed it. I think I'm now in a position where I can fall back on the degree if I need to.”

According to Broom, many students who took the same courses go into research — looking into fields like oncology, for example — and academia. But he would likely go down the physiotherapy route.

“I was very impressed when I was in the class. I was in the class, just trying to keep my head down and work hard,” Broom said. “For me now, it's more to see how well I can do in tennis, see where that takes me, and then go from there.”

In the 2021 NCAA Team Championships, Baylor fell to the University of Florida. Broom lost a three-setter at No. 5 singles to Shelton. Both men have come a long way since then.

Broom broke through in June at an ATP Challenger Tour event in Nottingham, where as the World No. 283 he qualified and reached the final, defeating Lloyd Harris and Daniel Evans along the way. The whole grass-court season was the highlight of his budding career.

It is not long ago that he would go to Wimbledon with his parents. In 2021 when Hubert Hurkacz defeated Roger Federer at The Championships, Broom was in the crowd.

Now it is the 26-year-old who has fans watching him. From the Ivy League classroom to centre stage at the United Cup, the Briton hopes to continue pushing forward.

“There are people now in Ivy League tennis that can go on to make it on the ATP Tour. It's not that you have to go there just because you're smart,” Broom said. “You can go there because you're smart, but you also care about your tennis, and you can progress and develop and do well.”