Felix Gill battled through multiple weather disruptions on his way to victory in the first round of the LTA's Lexus Birmingham Open. The 24-year-old's match against Ugo Blanchet, who made the third round of the US Open in 2025, ended prematurely on Tuesday night with the Brit having lost the opening set.
But in drier and lighter conditions in the West Midlands on Wednesday, Gill roared back, securing the only break point of the match in the third set before keeping his focus following an interruption on match point, to triumph 6-7 7-6 6-4 after two hours and 36 minutes on Court 1.
Wildcard Gill will now play second seed Kamil Majchrzak in the second round after the Pole, who made the fourth round of Wimbledon last year, beat James McCabe 7-6 6-3.
"It was a great match and I'm really happy with it," said Gill. "That was my first win on the grass for a few years. [Tuesday] was really challenging with the conditions, playing late at night, and the court was really slippery.
"It's not easy [to sleep on a match overnight] but having lost the first set, it was a bit easier because you can go back and think about what you can do better.
"It was a bit drier [on Wednesday], so I was really happy to come back out and get through it. I came out with good energy, and I was ready to come back. I took the second set and again it came down to really fine margins in a tie-break [like in the first set].
"Then I just kept plugging away in the third set and managed to get the first break of the match. From there, I held my nerve and won the match."
Elsewhere in the men's singles draw, defending champion Otto Virtanen beat Zhang Zhizhen 7-6 6-1 to make it safely through to the second round where he will meet Aleksandar Vukic.
There was also success in the women's singles draw for reigning Queen's Club champion Tatjana Maria as the German beat Linda Fruhvirtova 6-0 6-1 in their first-round clash.
For the latest updates on the British summer grass court season, visit the LTA website, lta.org.uk
