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Arthur Fery continued his strong run of form on the grass courts with an excellent win at the Lexus Eastbourne Open while British qualifier Giles Hussey cruised through to the second round.
Fery kicked off his Lexus Eastbourne Open campaign with a hard-fought 2-6, 6-4, 5-7 win over Argentina’s Roman Andres Burruchaga in the blistering sun on the south coast.
Reaching the HSBC Championships quarter-final at Queen’s Club last week, his first appearance at that stage of an ATP 500 event, the British number three continued his strong run of form on the grass by overcoming a tricky opponent in a two-hour and 17-minute contest.
Winning the first three games of the opening set, the 23-year-old kept the Argentine at arm’s length, producing seven winners to his opponent’s one and won 87 per cent of his first serves to take a one-set lead.
Burruchaga fought back in the second and managed to break Fery’s serve in his fourth game, but the Brit instantly broke back to get it back on serve at 4-5. However, with temperatures reaching well over 30 degrees, Fery was unable to serve out to level the games and the 24-year-old converted his second set point to claim the set.
It was a tightly contested third and deciding set on centre court in Eastbourne, but it looked in the Argentine’s hands when he took a 5-3 lead and had the opportunity to serve for the match.
But, as shown last week at the west London club, Fery’s determination is one of his key attributes and he showcased that once again, breaking Burruchaga’s serve and going on to win the following three games in a row, sparking a roar from the Brit after converting the match point and earning a sensational victory in front of his home crowd.
Fery will take on another Argentine in the second round, Juan Manuel Cerundolo on Wednesday, who is the younger brother of Francisco Cerundolo, who defeated the Brit in the quarter-final at Queen’s.
Hussey causes an upset
Elsewhere, having qualified for the main draw, Huessey took down Roland Garros semi-finalist Matteo Arnaldi to record just his second tour-level win of his career.
Picking up his first tour-level win at Devonshire Park in 2024, the Brit brushed aside the Italian 6-4, 6-2 in an hour and 28 minutes to secure his spot in the second round of the tournament.
The 29-year-old has had to fight a slightly longer journey compared to his other compatriots, overcoming James Duckworth (world number 78) and Marco Trungelliti (world number 94) in qualifying and he continued his fine form into his first round tie on Tuesday morning.
Hussey was quick out of the blocks and broke the world number 35’s serve in the third game of the set. Making sure he capitalised on the strong start, he looked strong on his serve, dropping just five points behind his serve and didn’t face a single break point.
The Brit managed to carve out four set points on Arnaldi’s serve but couldn’t capitalise, but ensured his strong serving saw him serve out the opener with a love hold.
He stepped up his form in the second set by winning the first four games to love, and despite Arnaldi breaking Hussey for the first time at 4-2, the world number 293 broke back and went on to claim an impressive win.
Hussey will face lucky loser Quentin Halys in the second round, who joined the main draw after Joao Fonseca’s withdrawal due to a shoulder injury.
Following Fery’s and Hussey’s success on Tuesday in Eastbourne, there will be five Brits in the second round of the men’s singles draw.
Lucky loser Hamish Steward, who was drafted in this morning after Jacob Fearnley withdrew, was defeated 7-5, 6-2 by Thiago Agustin Tirante.
In the women’s singles draw, wildcard Alicia Dudeney bowed out in the opening round to Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, losing 6-0, 6-3, before Harriet Dart suffered a 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 loss to Turkey’s Zeynep Sonmez, meaning there’s no Brit left in the main draw on the women’s side.
