Phillipson sealed his third win in recent years against a higher ranked player in the first round of the British Open, defeating Egberink 7-5, 6-2 to set up a second round encounter against Belgian sixth seed Joachim Gerard.
“I don’t know what it is about the British Open, maybe it’s the home crowd, but I’ve had some good results here over the past few years and I’m really pleased with today. I’ve made some changes to my forehand recently and it was really firing today. I play Joachim next, so it won’t be easy but I’m looking forward to it.”
Phillipson was one of six Brits to make it to through the men’s singles second round, including British No. 1 Gordon Reid and British No. 2 Marc McCarroll.
World No. 4 Reid opened his bid for a place in his second successive British Open final with a 6-3, 6-3 win over world No. 13 Satoshi Saida of Japan, while McCarroll defeated Israel’s Genadi Kohanov 6-0, 6-1.
Like Reid, Dutch world No. 7 Ronald Vink also won the last three games of the opening set of his match against Brit Dermot Bailey before also winning the last five games for a 6-3, 6-1 victory. Vink faces McCarroll for a place in the men’s singles quarter-finals.
World No. 5 Gustavo Fernandez, last year’s year-end world No. 1 ranked junior, will face current world No. 1 ranked junior Alfie Hewett for a place in the men’s quarter-finals after the Argentinian eased past Morocco’s Ayoub Ettali 6-0, 6-0, while Hewett secured a comfortable 6-0, 6-1 win over Dutchman Pim Palmen.
“I thought I played well today and I served well, so it’s a nice start to the tournament. I’m glad I’m playing someone I’ve never played before next and I’m just going to go out and give it my best,” said Hewett.
Alex Jewitt also booked his place in the second round against French eighth seed Frederic Cattaneo after dropping just one game in his all-British match against Ed Holt, while Paul Stewart prevailed in three sets against Poland’s Jerzy Kulik. Stewart will go on to face world No. 3 Maikel Scheffers after the Dutchman opened his bid for a third British Open title with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Israel’s Meir Ben Abu.
The 2012 British Open quad singles runner-up Jamie Burdekin had to come from a set down before winning his opening match against fellow Brit Adam Field as the quad singles quarter-final line-up was decided.
Burdekin, playing his first match since May’s World Team Cup after recovering from injury, recovered from a slow start against Field to eventually book his place in the last eight 3-6, 6-1, 6-0. Burdekin will now face American Greg Hasterok, the only one of the four seeds to not have a first round bye. Hasterok eased past Brit Ian Payne 6-2, 6-0.
Elsewhere, Antony Cotterill withstood a second set fight back from Sophie Fraoli of France to win their match 6-1, 7-6(3) to earn a quarter-final against second seed Lucas Sithole of South Africa.
Richard Green won his all-British match against James Shaw in straight sets to set-up a quarter-final against USA’s world No. 1 David Wagner, while Yosi Genish dropped just one game to fellow Israeli Joseph Piattell, with Genish now set to meet third seed Sarah Hunter of Canada.
The four matches to complete the last 16 line-up in the women’s singles included a three set win for British No. 3 Louise Hunt. Hunt came from a set down to defeat Colombia’s Johana Martinez 3-6, 7-5, 6-3. Hunt will now play Dutch fourth seed Marjolein Buis.
Lauren Jones reached her first second round at a Super Series event after Britain’s No. 1 ranked junior girl beat fellow Brit Val Fisher 6-2, 6-2 to earn a match against Dutch world No. 2 Aniek van Koot. However, Brits Debbie Brazier and Laura Coteman both bowed out as Israel’s Veronica Zvik advanced to a contest against Dutch third seed Jiske Griffioen and Japan’s Miho Nijo progressed to a meeting against world No. 1 Sabine Ellerbrock of Germany.
Organised by the Tennis Foundation, the British Open Wheelchair Tennis Championships is one of six events to have Super Series status, the highest tier of tournament on the NEC Wheelchair Tennis Tour outside of the Grand Slams.