Heather Watson set for singles return at Nottingham Open

Billy Harris will look to advance to back-to-back semi-finals on grass after a three-set victory over rising star Joao Fonseca at the LTA’s Rothesay Open in Nottingham.

The 29-year-old, born in Nottingham, beat 17-year-old Brazilian Fonseca, last year’s US Open junior champion, 7-6 (5) 3-6 6-4 to advance to the quarters of final.

And for the second consecutive week, it will be the experienced Kazakh Mikhail Kukushkin who will block his path to a place in the semi-final.

Last week in Surbiton, Harris got the better of the former world number 39 in a third set tie-break, and he had to show the same resilience to set up another meeting with Kukushkin.

After winning the first set on a tiebreak, Harris had to finish the match indoors as rain halted play in Nottingham.

He said: “It was definitely a tough match, with a lot of stops and starts, going from grass to hard wasn’t an easy transition. But after losing the second set indoors, I finally got my game back and managed to change the momentum with a break of serve at the start of the third set, I felt good from then on, I started serving a little better and I. I played well to close the match.

“I felt like (Fonseca) was very consistent in his serve throughout the match, so even when we went inside he found his feet very quickly. He timed the ball very well so he caught me off guard. I was just lucky to get a good start in the third set. That was definitely the turning point of the match, when I broke his serve in the third set.

Now Harris will be hoping to emulate his performance at Surbiton a week ago as he attempts to build on a strong start to the grass-court season.

And with his previous two meetings with Kukushkin having gone the distance, with each man winning a match, the only certainty is that Harris will have to do his best to come out on top.

He added: “I’ve faced Kukushkin twice now, and each time it’s been very tough three-set matches. Last week I got the better of him, but I certainly expect another tough match. He’s still very calm on the pitch and I’m fighting until the end so I’m expecting a battle.”

For the latest action on the UK summer grass season, check out the LTA website.