Arthur Fery got the royal seal of approval as he battled into the third round at Wimbledon for the first time.
The British wild card came from a set down to beat Finnish qualifier Otto Virtanen 5-7 7-6 (3) 6-3 6-3, having been watched by the Princess of Wales.
Instead of heading for the plush seats in Centre Court’s Royal Box, Kate chose a spot on the plastic pews of Court 18 to support the local lad.
Like all spectators, she had to wait a few minutes on the path outside the court for a change of ends before she could take a seat.
Her arrival, alongside Wimbledon royalty Tim Henman, was pretty low-key but it still might have distracted Fery, who had conceded only four points on serve in five games but was immediately broken as Virtanen took the opening set.
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The 23-year-old promptly suffered a nosebleed, which have been an unfortunate feature of his matches both here and at Queen’s Club last month.
But Fery, who grew up just five minutes from the All England Club, stemmed the flow and pulled himself level in a tie-break.
He then brought up three break points with a superb lob, no mean feat against the 6ft 4in Virtanen, and converted the first to edge ahead for the first time.
Virtanen had caused the shock of the first round when he knocked out fourth seed Ben Shelton, but maybe those exertions were beginning to tell.
A deft Fery volley created another break point, put away by a forehand winner, and an impressive victory was wrapped up in a shade under three hours.
It is a first appearance in the third round of a grand slam for Fery, and with Shelton exiting this quarter of the draw, the youngster from Wimbledon could yet go further still.
