Britain’s Arthur Fery beats World Cup winner’s son in Eastbourne to continue impressive grass-court form
Arthur Fery continued his impressive grass-court form with a dramatic comeback victory over Argentina’s Roman Andres Burruchaga in the first round of the Lexus Eastbourne Open.
The 23-year-old Londoner, who achieved a career-high ranking of 118 after his strong run to the Queen’s Club quarter-finals last week, appeared to be heading for defeat.
Burruchaga, whose father famously scored the winning goal in the 1986 World Cup final, had turned the contest around to lead 5-3 in the deciding set.
However, Fery rallied spectacularly, winning four consecutive games to clinch a hard-fought 6-2 4-6 7-5 victory. He now faces another Argentinian, the eighth seed Juan Manuel Cerundolo, in the next round.
Reflecting on the match, Fery told the BBC: “I don’t know where to start. It was a roller-coaster. I started off really well then I struggled in the second (set) a lot and at the start of the third.
“He was playing a lot better and I was not playing very well. I just tried to dig deep and tried to get that break back. I got it at 5-4 and managed to get over the line.”
Cerundolo notably shocked Jannik Sinner in the French Open second round, while Fery recently lost a close contest to his brother Francisco at Queen’s.
In another significant upset, Giles Hussey delivered one of the best results of his career by comprehensively beating French Open semi-finalist Matteo Arnaldi 6-4 6-2.
Italian Arnaldi had suffered heartbreak in Paris, forced to pull out shortly before his clash with countryman Flavio Cobolli due to sickness. His return came on the rather less prestigious stage of Eastbourne qualifying, where 29-year-old Hussey also earned his spot in the main draw.
Remarkably, all five of Hussey’s victories over top-100 players have come at Devonshire Park. He will next take on lucky loser Quentin Halys. The Frenchman has taken the place of teenage Brazilian star Joao Fonseca, who announced his withdrawal earlier in the day because of a shoulder problem.
Elsewhere, British players Harriet Dart, Hamish Stewart, and Alicia Dudeney all suffered defeats, alongside women’s top seed Jasmine Paolini, whose struggles this season continue.
