British hopes at Wimbledon stayed alive on Thursday courtesy of Arthur Fery, who fought back from a set down to beat Finland's Otto Virtanen and reach the third round, even as Katie Swan's much anticipated return to SW19 ended in a straight-sets defeat by Madison Keys. Fery is now the last home hope left in the men's singles, with two more Britons due on court later the same day.
Fery survives a scare against giant-killer Virtanen
The 23 year old wildcard had already become the first British man this year to reach the second round, having come back from a set down to beat Bosnia's Damir Dzumhur on Tuesday. On a packed Court 18, Fery pulled off the same trick again, beating Virtanen 5-7 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 6-3 to book his place in round three. Having already shown he could fight back from a lost opening set two days earlier, Fery once again refused to let a slow start define the contest.
"It's great to do it for the UK. Selfishly I am doing it for myself first, but I'm always behind the other players and wishing them success," Fery said afterwards. "So happy with how I managed to keep my emotions in check and keep going. So happy to reach the third round."
A nosebleed, a big break point and a hard-fought set
Virtanen, the world number 140, arrived at the match fresh off the biggest shock of the men's draw so far, having knocked out fourth seed Ben Shelton in a five-set battle that kept him on court for more than four hours on Tuesday.
He carried little of that momentum into the opening exchanges, winning just four points off Fery's serve across the first five games. But when his one chance arrived, at 5-5, the Finn converted his first break point of the set and then served it out to take a one set lead.
Fery, who suffered a nosebleed during the match just as he had against Dzumhur in the first round, was again dealing with a physical setback on top of a slow start. He hauled himself level by winning the second set tie-break and did not concede another break point for the rest of the contest as he closed out the win.
A maiden Grand Slam third round and a six figure pay day
The result means Fery, ranked 114th in the world, has reached the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time in his career, and he is guaranteed at least £185,000 in prize money for it. Coming through as an unseeded wildcard makes the achievement all the more notable. He will next face an unseeded opponent, with Belgium's Zizou Bergs and Portugal's Jaime Faria still to play off for the spot.
Both Fery and Swan had Catherine, the Princess of Wales, a patron of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, watching from the stands during their matches. "I didn't know she was here. I probably would have been a bit more tight if I did," Fery admitted afterwards.
Swan's comeback story hits a wall against Keys
There was no such fairytale for Swan, who was playing at Wimbledon for the first time in three years. The 27 year old was drawn against 2025 Australian Open champion Keys in the second round and went down 6-1 6-4 to the American. The defeat ends her singles run at this year's Wimbledon, but the broader trajectory of her season remains upward.
Even so, the run mattered for Swan, who has been ranked as low as 1,114th in the world just 14 months ago and has recently been competing at the lowest rung of the ITF women's circuit. She described this year's Wimbledon as "really positive" for her.
"It's quite surreal to think I was playing on Court One today, and 14 months ago I was playing a 15K in Sharm el-Sheikh. I have come quite a long way," said Swan, who is now ranked 196th in the world. "It's been gradual and steady. That's kind of the goal from here, is to keep building my ranking week to week and earn my spot at these big tournaments."
More British interest still to come
Fery and Swan were not the only British players in action on Thursday. Jacob Fearnley and Jan Choinski were both due on court later in the day, taking on Jaume Munar and Frances Tiafoe respectively as they try to join Fery in the third round. Whatever the outcome of those matches, Fery's win already guarantees at least one British man will be through to face either Bergs or Faria in the next round.
