Fery sails into Birmingham Open semi-final with clinical ATP Challenger victory
Promising prospect Fery is enjoying a week to remember
Arthur Fery booked his place in his first ATP Challenger semi-final on grass after knocking out fifth seed Rinky Hijikata of Australia at the Lexus Birmingham Open in straight sets.
The 23-year-old had been taken to three sets by Australian opposition in each of his previous two rounds and was forced to battle back from 5-2 down in the opener against Hijikata before taking it on a tie-break.
Having gone a set up, Fery still needed to show plenty of fighting spirit with immediate breaks back on two occasions before eventually making the decisive move with a third break of the set in the eighth game.
He served it out in impressive fashion to complete a 7-6 (7) 6-3 success and clinch a place in the last four.
He said: "It was a tough match again. A different game style to Alex Bolt (on Thursday) and a quick turnaround from yesterday's match in the evening. It was essential to get out of the blocks fast with good energy.
"I thought I played well in pressure moments and stuck to my game style and really committed to it.
"It's always good to get a lot of matches under the belt (on grass), it's great for the confidence and great for my tennis."
On the other side of the draw, number two seed Kamil Majchrzak continued his impressive run with a straight sets win over Japanese sixth seed Sho Shimabukuro and will now take on Otto Virtanen of Finland in the semi-finals.
Meanwhile in the ladies singles at the Edgbaston Priory Club, American Ashlyn Krueger came from a set down to beat Taylah Preston of Australia 2-6 6-3 6-4, and will take on the winner of the quarter-final featuring 17-year-old Brit Mika Stojsavljevic and Nikola Bartunkova of Czechia.
Switzerland’s Rebeka Masarova matched Krueger in progressing to the semi-finals, beating America’s Mary Stoiana 6-4 3-6 6-0.
She will face the winner of the all-Asian match-up of Alexandra Eala and Mananchaya Sawangkaew in the last four.
There was further British interest in the doubles, with Harriet Dart and Maia Lumsden breaking early in their women’s doubles final against top seeds Talia Gibson and Janice Tjen.
For the latest updates on the British summer grass court season, visit the LTA website, lta.org.uk
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