Fery reaches third round to keep British hopes alive

'How good is that?' - GB qualifier Fery puts on a show to progress to third round

>Arthur Fery kept British hopes alive at Wimbledon as he fought back from a set down to beat Finland's Otto Virtanen and reach the third round, but Katie Swan's dream return to SW19 was ended by Madison Keys.

>Only four home players were left standing at the All England Club after the opening round, with 15 Britons falling at the first hurdle - the highest number since 1988.

>Fery became the first British man to reach the second round when he rallied from a set down to to beat Bosnia's Damir Dzumhur on Tuesday.

>And the 23-year-old wildcard continued his winning streak in similar style against Virtanen, battling back to seal a 5-7 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 6-3 victory on a packed-out court 18.

>"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.

>"So happy with how I managed to keep my emotions in check and keep going. So happy to reach the third round."

>Swiatek overpowers Pliskova to reach third round

>However, Swan - making her first appearance at Wimbledon in three years - was unable to join Fery in the third round as she fell to a 6-1 6-4 defeat by American Keys.

>Both Fery and Swan were watched on by Catherine, the Princess of Wales - a patron of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (AELTC).

>"I didn't know she was here. I probably would have been a bit more tight if I did," said Fery, who has reached the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time and is set to earn least £185,000 in prize money.

>Virtanen, the world number 140, caused the biggest shock of the men's draw so far on Tuesday when he knocked out fourth seed Ben Shelton in a five-set win.

>The Finn, who spent more than four hours on court against Shelton, won just four points on Fery's serve in the opening five games, but when he was presented with a first break point at 5-5, he capitalised on it before serving out the set.

>After suffering another nosebleed - a repeat of an issue he experienced against Dzumhur in the first round - Fery pulled himself level via a second-set tie-break and he did not offer Virtanen another break point before wrapping up the win.

>Fellow Britons Jacob Fearnley and Jan Choinski will hope to follow suit later on Thursday, when they take on Jaume Munar and Frances Tiafoe respectively.

>Fery, ranked 114th in the world, will next face another unseeded player in either Zizou Bergs of Belgium or Portugal's Jaime Faria.

>Wimbledon royalty - The Princess of Wales visits SW19

>Swan enjoyed a "full-circle moment" on her return to Wimbledon when she moved past Romania's Irina-Camelia Begu to claim her first Grand Slam main-draw win since defeating the same opponent in 2018.

>But the 27-year-old was handed a difficult second-round draw in the form of 2025 Australian Open champion Keys.

>Fresh from winning her fourth grass-court title at Eastbourne last week, Keys dropped just one game in the first set - although the opener was much closer than the 6-1 scoreline suggested as Swan squandered four break points.

>The Briton, who considered retiring from tennis in 2024 because of a persistent back injury, had better luck in the second set and twice broke back, but Keys' quality prevailed despite having a partisan Court One crowd cheer against her.

>Having been ranked as low as 1,114th just 14 months ago, Swan - now the world number 196 - said this year's Wimbledon has been "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 has recently been competing on the lowest rung of the ITF women's circuit.

>"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."