Age: 23
Rank: 114
Who does he play? Finland’s Otto Virtanen, ranked 140th
I think the grass could perhaps be Arthur’s best surface.
To be good on grass, you traditionally have needed to be super tall and a ‘servebot’, or you need a lower centre of gravity to be able to move around and get under the ball when it comes through low.
Arthur, who is well under 6ft, falls into the latter category.
His movement is second to none and his hand skills are great. I love how fast he gets forward inside the baseline on a grass court.
He quickly gets up to the net to finish a rally. He’s got great volleys but it also helps he is so close to the net by the time he is making contact.
Arthur played really well at Queen’s and reached the quarter-finals, but I think he ran out of steam at Eastbourne, where he lost in the second round.
I don’t think he will mind now that he went out a bit earlier.
He’s had an extra few days to prepare for Wimbledon and Otto, who caused the biggest shock of the men’s draw by beating American fourth seed Ben Shelton in five sets, will be knackered.
That’s not only physically, but more so mentally and emotionally.
Sometimes following up a big win is harder than getting the first victory itself, so Arthur has to back himself to push Virtanen.
