ARTHUR FERY REACHES WINSTON-SALEM OPEN SEMI-FINALS

Arthur Fery progressed to the semi-finals of the Winston-Salem Open after defeating Aleksandar Kovacevic 3-6 7-5 6-3 in Thursday's quarter-final in North Carolina. The British fourth seed recovered from losing the opening set to win five consecutive games from 5-5 in the second set. Fery, aged 24, will face James Duckworth in the semi-finals after the Australian beat Hungary's Fabian Marozsan 6-7 (4-7) 6-2 6-4.

Fery's run to the Wimbledon semi-finals in July elevated him to 37th in the world rankings and secured his first US Open appearance. He narrowly missed qualification as a seeded player for the final Grand Slam tournament of the year at Flushing Meadows and will face 13th seed Lorenzo Musetti in the opening round. Duckworth and Fery previously met in Cincinnati earlier this month.

Meanwhile, six British players were engaged in US Open qualifying matches on Thursday when heavy rain suspended and postponed proceedings to Friday. Toby Samuel reached the US Open main draw for the first time after his opponent, Chile's Cristian Garin, retired during a break in play. Jacob Fearnley trailed Austria's Jurij Rodionov 3-2 in the deciding set, having won the first 6-4 and lost the second by the same scoreline, whilst Harry Wendelken led Lithuania's Vilius Gaubas 5-4 in the second set after losing the first 6-7 (3-7).