Daniil Medvedev countered a home-grown serve-and-volley barrage to reach the second-round Wednesday at Wimbledon, where the third seed downed #NextGenATP Briton Arthur Fery 7-5, 6-4, 6-3 at the grass-court major.
Medvedev delivered a highly professional display against Grand Slam debutant Fery, who grew up five minutes from the All England Club, on No. 1 Court. The World No. 3 showcased pinpoint returning from deep and was ultimately too consistent for the 20-year-old Fery, converting six of his 12 break points in a match that was interrupted for 30 minutes by rain at 5-5 in the first set.
“[I was] pretty nervous,” said Medvedev in his on-court interview. “I didn’t play here for two years and yesterday we didn’t get to play [due to rain], so it was a little bit hectic for everyone, for the supporters and the players. Back at Court 1, where I have the most wins in my Wimbledon career, so probably my favourite court so far.
“[I was] really happy for the very nice welcome and especially against Arthur, who is from Great Britain.”
[BREAK POINT]
Fery made a bright start to his tour-level debut, winning his first eight points on serve and showing aggressive intent by stepping into court to take Medvedev’s second serves early. Once Medvedev opened the fifth game with a rasping cross-court return winner, however, it proved the catalyst for increased pressure on the Fery delivery and the 20-time tour-level champion went on to break twice in each of the three sets.
Despite his defeat, Fery showed plenty of promise in his fourth match against an opponent in the Top 100 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. The World No. 391, who is in the midst of a standout college career at Stanford University in the United States, persistently moved forward to pressure Medvedev, but the former World No. 1 repeatedly proved too good.
“I just said ‘Good luck in your career’, because his career is only just starting,” said Medvedev, when asked about his exchange of words with his young opponent after match point. “It was his first main draw at a Grand Slam. [There is] a long way to go if he wants to be at the top but it was a good match.
“I think in tennis we have maybe 500 players and then juniors always coming up that can play good. Then it’s whoever can go higher than the other 499, so it’s a tough challenge, like in any other sport, and I hope he does well later.”
With his two-hour, 11-minute victory, Medvedev advanced to a second-round clash against Adrian Mannarino or Alexander Shevchenko. The 27-year-old is chasing his sixth tour-level title of the season this fortnight at the All England Club, where his best previous showing was a fourth-round run in 2021.