Wimbledon’s own Arthur Fery insists his marathon encounter with Germany’s Daniel Altmaier will bolster his long-term Grand Slam chances.
In just his second match at this level, the 21-year-old fell in the first round to Altmaier in a lengthy five-set tussle, 4-6 7-6 1-6 6-3 6-1.
Fery will still look at this meeting as a near-miss, with his narrow loss in the second set tie-break costing him what could have been a straight sets win.
But the Brit also took comfort in his performance, after coming out firing on all cylinders against the top 100 German, in a game lasting nearly four hours.
He said: “It was a long match, it was the longest I’ve ever played so I’m definitely tired but very sad and frustrated that I wasn’t able to get over the line.
“But, there are many things to take from it and I’m sure it will help me in the long run.
“I definitely felt like the better player for the first three sets. A lot of the match was decided on that second set, I didn’t manage to close it off in the tie-break and I think that hurt me.
“In the fourth and fifth I was obviously struggling physically, he’s got a lot more experience playing best of five Grand Slam matches but there are going to be a lot of things to take away.”
Fery is on the LTA’s Pro Scholarship Programme, presented by Lexus, the highest level of support for developing players aged 16-24, designed to help them crack the top 100.
It is a strong advance on his straight sets defeat to Daniil Medvedev on No.1 Court in the first round last year, and the experience helped Fery focus on his ambition to climb the world rankings.
He added: “It took me a few games and a while to get into the match fully, but I think the experience from last year also helped having that time on court already and putting myself in that position last year was beneficial.
“It was a very different feel playing on an outside court against an opponent where I wasn’t favourite, but I knew I had a good shot at winning.
“I want to be playing these tournaments regularly, earn my ranking without the need of a wild card.
“I won’t really know until I play another five-set match but I try to take the best out of all the matches that I play, whether it be in Challengers, in three sets or five sets.”
Fery will be back for the men’s doubles, where he plays Arthur Rinderknech and Nuno Borges alongside fellow Brit Charles Broom.
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