Arthur Fery’s Wimbledon fairytale is showing no signs of stopping after he battled into the quarter-finals by coming through another turbulent five-set encounter.
Fery, who will break into the top 100 next week following his heroics at SW19, secured his latest win by outlasting Grigor Dimitrov, who had a two-set advantage and was a break up twice in the fourth. The Brit fought until the very end at a tournament he grew up five minutes away from. He is a former pupil at King’s College School, Wimbledon.
Besides the army of fans cheering for Fery on Centre Court, Roger Federer was also in attendance on the 18th anniversary of his memorable battle with Rafael Nadal in the final. The Swiss maestro, who holds the record for most men’s titles won at eight, was undoubtedly a welcome addition for the world No.114. Even though it did pile the pressure on him a little bit in the build-up.
“When I switched the TV on in the changing rooms for the first match, the women’s match, I saw Roger was in the Royal Box,” said Fery.
“I didn’t know he was coming, I sent a message to my team saying, ‘Look, Roger’s in the box, I’m pretty tight.’
“He was obviously in and out of the Royal Box for the whole match. But it’s incredible to be in that position where one of the greatest of all time is watching you, let alone watching me play a five-set match against Dimitrov on Centre Court, Wimbledon.”
It was hard to tell that the 24-year-old was suffering from nerves considering how he conducted himself during the match, which he later admitted he ‘settled into pretty fast.’ Early on, he seemed ready to pounce on Dimitrov and was prepared to outlast the Bulgarian veteran, who reached the semi-finals 12 years ago.
Federer isn’t the only member of the Big Three that Fery has shared a memory with. Another is Novak Djokovic, whom he practised with during the 2020 ATP Finals when he was selected to be one of the hitting partners. Although he plays down the significance it has had on his development.
Since then, he attended Stanford University to major in Science, Technology and Society. During that time, he was a two-time ITA All-American, a Pac-12 (Pacific Coast Conference) champion and Pac-12 singles player of the year.
“It was a great, great experience. I was really grateful that the ATP gave us that opportunity as the top juniors in the world to do that,” he said of his ATP Finals experience.
“It was during COVID so there were no spectators. We had to all be in the bubble in the hotel. I was spending all my two weeks around those top eight players.
“I hit with Novak, hit with Tsitsipas, loads of guys. I think Berrettini as well.
“I’m not really someone who thinks too much ahead. I can’t really put myself in my shoes of six years ago and think back.”
Djokovic is still in the draw but the only way he can cross paths with Fery is if they booth reach the final. Fery’s next match is against Flavio Cobolli, who he has already beaten earlier this year at the Australian Open. Regardless of what happens, he is not taking anything for granted.
“What I experienced today personally, I’m really going to cherish it for the rest of my life. Who knows, maybe I will never, ever get to experience that ever again. Hopefully not. I’m just trying to really soak it all in and keep the memories.” Fery concludes.
