Arthur Fery fights back to reach Wimbledon third round, Katie Swan exits

Arthur Fery fought back from a set down on Court 18 to beat Finland’s Otto Virtanen 5-7, 7-6 (3), 6-3, 6-3 in 2 hours 58 minutes and reach the Wimbledon third round, with the Princess of Wales watching from the stands at times.

Fery became only the fourth British wild card to reach the men’s singles third round since 2000, a group that began with Andy Murray. The 23-year-old has long been tied to the All England Club: he grew up five minutes from Wimbledon, attended the tournament as a child and later played college tennis at Stanford University. For Fery, it is already his best singles run at the Championships, after previous Wimbledon singles campaigns ended in the first round.

Virtanen was a dangerous opponent, not a soft route deeper into the draw. He had already reached grass-court finals in Birmingham and Nottingham this summer and had knocked out No. 4 seed Ben Shelton in the previous round. In the first round, Fery put in ear plugs to block out Damir Dzumhur’s complaints during a heated win.

Katie Swan added a second-round win over Irina-Camelia Begu. Swan won 6-4, 6-4 and said afterward that the result felt like a “full-circle moment” after injuries and setbacks that had almost pushed her out of the sport. It was her first main-draw Wimbledon victory since beating Begu in 2018, eight years on from that earlier win.

British numbers had been thin at the start of the week, with 10 home players losing in the opening round on Monday. Jacob Fearnley came from two sets down to beat American Alex Michelsen 3-6, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 in 3 hours 30 minutes for his first career five-set win, while Toby Samuel pushed Jakub Mensik to five sets. His Queen’s Club quarter-final run in June included a three-set match against Francisco Cerundolo.