Lexus Birmingham Open 2026: Felix Gill up-and-running on the grass after rainy day in Birmingham
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On a wet day at the Edgbaston Priory Club, Britain’s Felix Gill proved to be one shining light after coming through his first round match at the Lexus Birmingham Open.
Having left yesterday trailing by a set to France’s Ugo Blanchet, Gill battled the elements and multiple rain delays to claim a 6-7(5), 7-6(2), 6-4 victory.
For 24-year-old Gill, it’s a first main draw win at a grass court season event – a significant milestone for a player who has made positive strides on the ITF and ATP Challenger Tour circuits this year.
He joins Arthur Fery, Billy Harris and Harry Wendelken in the second round.
“It was a great match, I’m really happy with it,” said Gill after just over two and a half hours on court across two days.
“It was challenging conditions yesterday, playing late at night and I lost that first set 7-6. I felt it was very even and it was a bit of a lottery in that tie-break, but today I came out with good energy, ready to come back.
“I took the second, really fine margins again and then I kept plugging away in the third. I took it on, held my nerve, and won the match.
“It’s not easy (coming back to finish a match a day later), but if you lose on the first day, you can think about what you can do better. Me and my team did that really well and I’m really chuffed with the way I came out.”
It was a tight match throughout, without a single break of serve in both the first and second sets.
When the opportunity arose at 3-3 in the decider, Gill was clinical, winning the only break point of the set.
Gill was made to wait to serve it out, after a rain interruption on his second match point delayed the celebrations, before he finally managed to get over the line.
“I’ve never had that before,” Gill said. “A five, 10 minute interruption with one point to go. I’m happy to have got through it and it only took one more point.”
The British star – who is supported by the LTA Pro Scholarship Programme, presented by Lexus – has been playing some of his best tennis this year and achieved a new career-high ranking at No.224 back in April.
Gill has had a lot of his previous success on clay – winning nine ITF singles titles on the surface, and has recently made the semi-finals of the Barletta Challenger in Italy.
Earlier in the season he asl reached the Pune Challenger final on hard courts, and former British No.1 Kyle Edmund has been impressed with what he’s seen from Gill this season.
In a recent exclusive interview for LTA Advantage, Edmund said: “He’s the type of player who becomes very difficult when he builds momentum. Because of his physical profile, he’s not going to blow players off the court, but he grinds opponents down and makes life uncomfortable. Those players are always tough to beat.”
In the second round Gill will face second seed Kamil Majchrzak of Poland, who knocked out James McCabe earlier today.
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