Alex de Minaur holds off Arthur Fery’s comeback in Cincinnati

Alex de Minaur resisted a dramatic second-set recovery by Arthur Fery to win 7-5, 7-6 (3) in the third round of the Cincinnati Open. The Guardian reported that the rain-disrupted match lasted more than two hours, with the fifth-seeded Australian ultimately denying the 32nd-seeded Briton a place in the next round.

Watch the highlights:

Fery began the contest strongly on serve and did not face a break point in his first five service games. At 5-5, however, De Minaur applied pressure after two missed first serves. Fery then made errors on a forehand and a forehand volley, allowing De Minaur to secure the decisive break before serving out the opening set with a love hold.

Rain repeatedly interrupted the match and helped create sharp changes in momentum. After the delay between sets, De Minaur’s defensive coverage put Fery under sustained pressure. The Australian established a double-break advantage and led 5-1 in the second set when the players were forced from the court again.

Fery returned from that stoppage with a far more aggressive command of the baseline. He won five games in succession to move from 1-5 down to 6-5, forcing De Minaur to serve to stay in the set. De Minaur stopped the run with a hold and then took control of the tie-break to complete the straight-sets victory.

Despite the defeat, Cincinnati represented another significant week for the 24-year-old Fery. After a first-round bye, he beat James Duckworth 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (4) to reach the third round of a Masters 1000 event. The Guardian noted that the win over the world number 86 was the sixth-best victory of Fery’s career by opponent ranking. He earned 50 ranking points and $36,110 in prize money, his largest payment outside his three Grand Slam main-draw appearances.

The tournament was Fery’s first since his run to the Wimbledon semi-finals the previous month. On the same day as the Cincinnati match, he was named alongside Cameron Norrie, Henry Patten and Lloyd Glasspool in Britain’s Davis Cup team for the home qualifier against Ecuador. That tie will be staged at London’s Copper Box on September 19 and 20, with the winners advancing to the Final 8 in November. For De Minaur, the result secured progress after a match in which his defense and composure survived both the weather and Fery’s late surge.