Ilkley Trophy: Arthur Fery overcomes challenging time to maintain focus on Wimbledon

Fery, 21, who was born in France but grew up nearby Wimbledon’s All England Club, secured his first grass court win of the year in Yorkshire.

Up against 23-year-old big-serving Croatian Duje Ajdukovic, 249-ranked Fery managed to break at the end of a tight opening set.

After another set of serve-dominant tennis, the young Brit played an excellent tie- break to close out a straight sets victory in his first round match 6-4 7-6(7-2).

“I managed to get going from the start, serve well on the fast courts, and I managed to close it out,” said Fery on his win against a player ranked approximately 100 places higher by the ATP.

“Everyone here is good, it’s a very strong draw, so I knew my first round would be tough regardless.

“He serves very well. I think it’s one of his strengths, and he hit a lot of aces today, but I managed to take my chances when it mattered.”

Fery, who entered the Ilkley tournament on a wildcard, is hoping to take advantage of the opportunities the Wimbledon build-up brings to home players.

“The past two weeks have been pretty challenging for me,” he added on the grass court season so far.

“I wasn’t far from winning my first round last week, but I couldn’t quite close it out. So, I’m happy that I managed to get it done today.

“It’s super important, playing in front of British fans along with friends and family, there’s definitely a lot at stake.

“Hopefully I can do well this week and for the next two weeks to come.”

Fery joins current and former top 50 stars Richard Gasquet (37), David Goffin (33), Radu Albot (34), and 27-year-old South African Lloyd Harris – who the British player faces next – in the second round.

Goffin, once ranked seven in the world, completed his work with a 6-3 second set victory against 152-ranked Jurij Rodionov of Austria (25) after Monday’s play was halted with the Belgian leading.

France’s Gasquet, a former ATP top 10 mainstay, used his range of skills to come from behind against 23-year-old Italian Mattia Bellucci, ranked 145, in front of a wowed centre court.

Miyazaki kicked off the action on court two with a marathon 2-hour 47-minute victory in the opening round of the women’s main draw.

The 28-year-old battled back after losing the opening set to 26-year-old Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania.

Miyazaki, ranked 147 by the WTA, came through tiebreaks in the second and deciding sets to set up a ‘Battle of the Brits’ with 22-year-old Sonay Kartal.

Kartal, ranked 275, made the semi-finals at Ilkley in 2022 and 2023 and started her 2024 campaign with a straight sets win against 193-ranked Destanee Aiava (24) of Australia.

The women’s tournament’s top seed, China’s Zhuoxuan Bai (21), fell to 136-ranked Kimberly Birrell (26) of Australia.

London-born 15-year-old, Hannah Klugman, was unable to mount a comeback against France’s Chloe Paquet after pushing the world number 118 to a tiebreak in the second set.

The match concluded minutes before more rain brought an early end to outdoor play and further disruption to the tournament.

Elsewhere, Carlos Alcaraz began the defence of his cinch Championship crown with a straight-sets win over Francisco Cerundolo.

The reigning king of Queen’s Club and Wimbledon champion stretched his winning streak on grass to 13 matches with a convincing 6-1 7-5 victory.

World No 26 Cerundolo was last seen pushing Novak Djokovic to five sets, and subsequently into a hospital bed, at the French Open.

The Argentinian proved a minor irritant to Alcaraz, too, by breaking the world No 2 early in the second set.

Alcaraz had to fend off three set points at 4-5 before the Spanish superstar wrapped up victory in an hour and 22 minutes.

“The first match in every tournament is never easy and even more difficult on grass,” he said.

“I’m really happy with the match I played and to have a really good test to play against Francisco.”

Britain’s Dan Evans had to retire from his first-round match through injury.

The 34-year-old had shared the opening two sets with America’s Brandon Nakashima when he slipped and fell at the back of the court.

After a medical time-out and lengthy treatment to his right leg, Evans was forced to withdraw .

At the Birmingham Classic, Harriet Dart advanced to the second round with a 6-3 6-3 win over Japanese qualifier Moyuka Uchijima.

But Heather Watson suffered a 3-6 6-4 7-5 loss to eighth seed Marie Bouzkova in a tussle lasting two hours and 53 minutes.

Watson took a medical timeout after the second set and led 5-2 in the decider before Bouzkova hit back.